Discouraged by slow postpartum recovery

klbh · March 2016

I had my six-week postpartum checkup this week, and it wasn't great. My midwife told me that my sutures are still healing (I had a second-degree episiotomy) and I should wait a few more weeks before doing any exercise that puts stress on my abdominal muscles. She advised waiting another five weeks before having sex. Now, I wasn't particularly in a hurry about the latter, but I was really looking forward to starting some reasonably intense exercise and beginning to feel strong and healthy again. I'm pretty disappointed; I'm so sick of walking around the neighborhood and ready to start sweating and building muscle.

I guess i really underestimated the recovery period. I had a relatively easy pregnancy and was quite active throughout (lots of walking, elliptical workouts, and easy light weights pretty much to my due date), which I naively assumed would mean a speedy recovery. But I still feel weaker now than at 8.5 months pregnant.

I know most of you gave birth earlier than me. Anyone else have a long recovery process but starting to feel better now?

Krisdee123 · March 2016

Don't worry you are not alone! I'm on week 10 and I still have a small area that has not healed properly yet. Or, I guess I should say I've been having setbacks. I had a third degree tear that has now built up a fair amount of scar tissue and the scar tissue is pulling and keeping the rest of the wound from closing. It's discouraging for sure, and from time to time I feel disappointed that I wasn't more prepared by my doctor for how difficult recovery could be. I feel like there is a missing link in the health care we receive regarding both and our babies. There is very little emphasis on recovery when it is sooo important in avoiding PPD and it makes me sad more women don't talk about it until after you've given birth.

claireloSC · March 2016

I am 5 weeks postpartum and am also not healed. I had a second degree tear which is still open and quite a bit of scar tissue as well. It has caused some PPD for me and I also don't feel like I was prepared for the length of recovery and difficulty. It has totally turned me
off of ever being pregnant again. I am starting to feel a bit more normal and can walk around moreso but it's still going to take a long time. I'm sorry you're going through this. It's tough. If you are feeling depressed you might want to discuss your feelings with your OB and see what your treatment options are. Good luck with your recovery. You are not alone. ❤️

kaym6 · March 2016

I can definitely relate. At my 6 week PP checkup I did not feel healed at all. I had a second degree labia tear that to put simply needed a ton of stitches. At 6 weeks I still couldn't walk far even around the block was painful or up the stairs, sitting or standing in a certain position too long hurt, and it still stung to pee and even to take a bath at times almost to the point of tears. My doctor also told me he would wait 4-6 more weeks at least before attempting sex and to only workout if I wasn't having any pain. I have what he called granulation tissue.

BUT my baby will now be 11 weeks Tuesday and I feel so much better! I still haven't had sex (so scared!) and don't think I will be ready to for a little while longer as I don't feel fully healed and can see that I'm not but honestly just not being in pain every second of every day is such a relief. I can walk however far I want, sit however I want, and workout all pain free. I guess why I'm writing all this is to let you know that it does get better! I felt SO discouraged for a long time up until about a week or two ago I thought about it allllll the time. Now it doesn't even cross my mind that's how much better it feels except when it comes to sex. I definitely don't feel well enough for that yet. Hang in there!

claireloSC · March 2016

I had granulation tissue too! So good to hear you feel that much better, I still have all the pain you describe. @kaym6

m6tonner · March 2016

I had a c section, so my story is a little different, but I had a seroma in my incision that burst 10 days postpartum. I had to do wound care and get my incision packed and drained every other day for 3 weeks. I couldn't shower for those 3 weeks because of the risk of increased infection. I literally bled from my incision for 5 weeks. I couldn't shower, I had have padding jammed into the top of those god awful mesh undies all day every day. To say that I was depressed and miserable was a huge understatement. But like everything else, it passes. It gets easier, less painful, and you get stronger, happier, and more human. Just take it day by day, and do what you can, I certainly have a renewed appreciation for my health!

mamajenna_cnm · March 2016

I had a third degree tear and although at 10 weeks I'm feeling healed and pain free, I'm having bladder leakage issues. Anytime I try and do exercise or yoga I leak urine everywhere, I also have a shift of my bladder that causes air to move in and out of my vagina which makes an embarrassing noise. My OB told me that my pelvic floor was still very weak and that I couldn't do intense yoga workouts for another month!! So I'm having to do restorative yoga which is just mainly stretching and "restoring" muscle stone and stength. I know it's great for my body, but it's frustrating because it'a not the intensity that I want. We have to remember all of the work our bodies went through to birth our babies. It's not going to be easy for most of us. My sister told me the other day, "I mean you just had a baby two months ago!" When she put it that way, it didn't seem like a very long time, and it made sense to me why I'm still in the recovery process. Give your body time, it will get there...we all will

mrsnc · March 2016

My OB noted a small bit of granulation tissue at the 6 week check. I haven't had any of the pain that you other ladies are describing, but it did hurt when prodded. My doc gave me the okay for sex but warned that if it hurt or bled, I'd need to come back in. Has anyone been in this situation and had sex? I'm a little anxious about it.

claireloSC · March 2016

@mrsnc My situation is a bit different because a hematoma burst all my stitches so my internal 2nd degree tears are still open. The granulation tissue took 5 weeks to finally go away and that was with 3x week internal wound cleaning. I would probably be hesitant to have sex until that clears up for you. If it's only a bit it shouldn't take long. My OB would clean with soap and gauze. It can be done at home.

kaym6 · March 2016

@claireloSC I hope you start to feel better soon! Around the 6 week mark I was so frustrated feeling like I couldn't even enjoy my baby because of all the pain I was in any time I tried to move around and my baby love to be moving constantly! I still have some pain and the recovery slow but it's definitely improved and I hope will continue to for all of us!

jrouge12 · March 2016

I share your frustration. I had a very minor tear and an overall easy delivery. My post partum was at 3.5 weeks after delivery and the doctor cleared me for sex and regular activity. She mentioned there was a small area that was irritated and that I might want to wait one more week for it to heal. Well four weeks later, it has only gotten worse. I have an appointment on Monday. I currently dread going to the bathroom, have pain sitting and laying down.

klbh · March 2016

Thanks for sharing! It's really comforting to know I'm not the only one still healing at this point. Hoping we will all be feeling back to ourselves soon.

kaym6 · March 2016

@jrouge12 how was your appointment? I'm 11 weeks PP tomorrow and I still have an area that's very irritated even just in the bath or peeing sometimes. Were they able to do anything to help you? At my 6 week the doc said to come back in 4 weeks if not better but I haven't made an appointment because I'm too scared and I am feeling better than I was so I'm kinda hoping it will just resolve if I keep waiting lol

maureenmce · March 2016

Wow, my issues are not nearly as bad as everyone else's in this thread, and related to that, echoing @Krisdee123, I agree there's a huge gap in information about recovery and I really wish complications and difficulties with recovering, or just how genuinely hard it is/how long it takes would be more common knowledge. I went to a friend's housewarming event for five minutes this weekend (in our same apartment complex) and one of my close friends was like, so you're basically back to normal now, right? And I was like... uh, no. Not even close.

In light of the severity of everyone's else's stuff, I feel bad for being frustrated, but I just hurt every day. I wake up feeling like I've been hit by a truck - my whole body aches, my feet ache as if I've been walking 20 miles, and I have no idea when this feeling will go away. I also have zero stamina. I can't walk for more than 10 minutes without feeling terrible. If I "push myself" by doing simple things like going to the grocery store, Target and walking the dog, I still have bleeding. But the thing I'm actually worried about is this feeling of pelvic weakness. I was doing okay but then *possibly TMI* I was pushing during a bowel movement and I felt like I pushed too hard and I messed up something in the pelvic area. Since then I've been experiencing a feeling of weakness in general, but especially while walking. I go for my six week exam Wednesday and am really hoping everything's okay. I've been doing kegels a lot since then, but I haven't felt any improvement.

I am baffled by the moms out there running again or taking high intensity aerobics classes - I seriously pushed myself so hard today to walk with the LO for 20 minutes! I feel like a weakling but my body is just saying NOPE right now.

I was reading about health care in France and how they have a whole postpartum physical therapy regimen for every single woman who has a baby and I was SO envious. I feel like our health care system is basically absent as far as recovery goes. I love my OB, but I was basically told okay, see you in six weeks, call me if you feel like you want to harm yourself, your baby, or if you pass a blood clot larger than a lemon. That's it! Crazy!

kaym6 · April 2016

Wanted to check in and see how everyone is doing?!

klbh · April 2016

I'm finally starting to feel better! I think a lot of it is down to my son sleeping well--we've been putting him down for bed earlier, around 7, and he sleeps well until about 6 am, waking a couple of times to eat but going back down easily afterwards. So my husband and I can eat dinner together and unwind before bed, rather than me being stuck on the couch cluster feeding a cranky, catnapping infant. It's such a relief, mentally. And I've been able to get into a regular, reasonably strenuous exercise routine. It feels great to be moving again, and I don't get as sore just from carrying and feeding the kiddo anymore. Still no sex until my IUD insertion in a couple of weeks, per my midwife's advice (plus, I don't feel mentally ready--I even had an anxiety dream about sex the other night!) but at least I'm not having pain and itching around my stitches anymore. I'm starting to feel like I'm actually going to come back from this, perhaps not the same as before but still healthy and strong, eventually.

How about you ladies?

maureenmce · April 2016

I had another check up today and there was still granulation tissue.

She had to put more silver nitrate on (ouch) and I have to wait another 4 weeks for sex or intense exercise. Still exhausted but physically feeling much better pelvis strength wise. Still dealing with some anxiety and depression, but I really think a bunch of that is due to 2 months of not sleeping. Can't wait till more rest and I think I'll heal up all the way. I'm hoping by week 12! (I'm 8.5 weeks postpartum today.)

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