Enemas are pretty unusual these days. I did poop while my daughter was coming out. Very normal. No big deal. The midwife wiped it away.
Re: postpartum pooping. Honestly, don't get too freaked out, and don't take stool softeners unless you really want to. I had a second degree tear, didn't take any softeners or go out of my way to eat lots of fiber, and it was no big deal. Practically no pain and it came out just fine.
A few years back, my dad had hernia surgery. One of the things he was told was for x amount of time post surgery, he could not put strain on his abdominals, including pooping. He was told if he needed to sit there for an hour with the gentlest pushes to get it out, then that's what he should do.
And so that's what I did. I took my time and just gave the lightest of pushes and sometimes sat on the toilet for a little while and it was fine. And it never took anywhere close to an hour. Maybe 15 minutes once).
I had an uneducated birth and it was mostly great. I read Mindful Birthing beforehand and dealt latched on to the idea of the non- danger pain of labor vs the danger-pain of an injury. It helps me step outside of my body while it did its thing and I ended up sleeping through most of my labor and woke up at 9and a half dilated when they broke my water to move things forward. That's the point where i wish i had nitrous to help me relax because i got really anxious and disoriented at the fast pace of everyone around me. Baby ended up coming out sunny side up which was fairly horrific and ended in a massive almost forth degree tear ( just barely avoided my butthole, it kind of curved around like a question mark). Stitching up was painful af but i survived and forgot most of it shortly after.
Pooping afterwards was scary and i was definitely nervous but in the end it ended up feeling like one terrifying contraction and then it was over.
@cdepperschmidt Saaaaame! 5 days, two 2nd degree tears, and 1 suppository later....the hemmorhoids put me on a liquid diet for a week!!
I’m asking my husband for one of those Toto washlet toilet seats for my birthday this year! It’s kinda like a bidet, and has a heated seat, and you can control two different streams of warm water (one for the front, and one for the back, for us ladies). My MIL had one installed (after my PP misery) and it’s the coolest thing! No more sitz baths or peri bottles needed!
My parents got one when my dad was diagnosed with ALS. We spent a lot of the first year of our youngest one's life at their house (helping to care for my dad and just to be together as much as possible) and that toilet seat was seriously my best friend. I am pushing my mom to give it to me now.
Re: Going natural
(sorry to be off topic)
Enemas are pretty unusual these days. I did poop while my daughter was coming out. Very normal. No big deal. The midwife wiped it away.
Re: postpartum pooping. Honestly, don't get too freaked out, and don't take stool softeners unless you really want to. I had a second degree tear, didn't take any softeners or go out of my way to eat lots of fiber, and it was no big deal. Practically no pain and it came out just fine.
A few years back, my dad had hernia surgery. One of the things he was told was for x amount of time post surgery, he could not put strain on his abdominals, including pooping. He was told if he needed to sit there for an hour with the gentlest pushes to get it out, then that's what he should do.
And so that's what I did. I took my time and just gave the lightest of pushes and sometimes sat on the toilet for a little while and it was fine. And it never took anywhere close to an hour. Maybe 15 minutes once).
Pooping afterwards was scary and i was definitely nervous but in the end it ended up feeling like one terrifying contraction and then it was over.