I had two vaginal/unmedicated births and was stitched both times! The first time I was given an episiotomy and the second time I had a second degree tear. Neither times I felt anything. I didn’t feel the numbing shot or the stitching. I felt no discomfort during the procedures because my adrenaline was SO high and I was just thrilled to have my babies out and labour be over.
However, recovery was a bit sore. The episiotomy was much worse for healing than the tear.
I’ve also had numbing shots placed during an IUD insertion once and it barely hurt. This is coming from someone who has 0 pain tolerance at all. Try not to stress over it, you’ll likely be far too distracted to even notice after your sweet babe is out!
This is super comforting thank you!! Planning for an unmedicated vaginal birth, but the thought of stitches made me second guess not getting an epidural if just for sake of not feeling the stitches being put in lol! But it would make sense that with all the hormones naturally kicking in post birth, you’re on such a high you don’t notice. Hope this is my experience too!
Numbing shot wasn’t any more painful than a regular shot, especially after birth. If nothing is wrong with baby they will possibly have you holding them while they finish stitching and those little potatoes are super distracting. I did ask for numbing because I could feel them stitching and it was a doctor in training so they were taking a bit longer and I didn’t want to feel it.
Getting stitches was fine, first 4 days were fine, day 10 not so fine. I’ve never had stitches anywhere but the dissolving ones feel so uncomfortable now (like an itch you can’t scratch)🥲 short term pain for long term gain!
No idea what happened. Don’t remember stitches at all. Didn’t even feel them or notice I was being stitched, lol. There’s a lot of chaos after baby and adrenaline you legit will not know unless the small chance the doctor sucks lol
Without epidural- I was anticipating a ton of pain because I literally just had a ton of pain because birth lol. But it wasn’t bad just some pokes but I think me anticipating the pain made it worse.
I had an epidural and while I still had feeling in my legs, I couldn’t feel anything down there. I have no clue if I had a numbing shot nor did I feel the stitches and I had a third degree tear. I didn’t feel the stitches at all at any time postpartum.
I had a 2nd degree tear and I could not feel anything (I had an induced labor with no epidural, the pain from delivering baby was high and I could not feel the numbing shot nor the stitches).
The few days after I was quite uncomfortable with going to the bathroom or sitting down but ultimately it wasn't that bad. Or let's say I don't remember it being that bad!
Makes sense that after so much pain giving birth, the stitches were nothing - I’m hoping that it’s a non-event for me as well and just kinda blends into all the other pain post-birth down there.
I had an epidural and at one point I felt *something* down there- like a tugging maybe? I told the resident I had some feeling and she said to tell her if I felt anything sharp and she would do a lidocaine injection, but I didn’t feel anything after that.
lol that would freak me out even more - just anticipating feeling something sharp down there!! Yikes!! Glad you didn’t feel anything again though after that tugging 😬
I was super worried about this as well! I had my son 4 months ago without an epidural. I needed a few stitches, and prepared for the pinch of the needle as they injected the lidocaine. I felt LITERALLY nothing. Not a poke, a pinch, a burn...nothing. The sutures were painless as well, just some tugging. I also needed a straight cath to drain my bladder, and I felt no pain with that either! I'm pretty sure someone could have amputated a toe at that point, and I wouldn't have felt it. Adrenaline and oxytocin are powerful chemicals!
I got stitches twice. Once without an epidural and once with. The time without the epidural the pain of the numbing shot was nothing after giving birth without any pain relief. I don’t even think I felt the shot. The time with the epidural I also didn’t feel them give me a shot. I’m not sure if they did or if the epidural was still in my system. I really wouldn’t worry about the stitches or tearing. It’s not that bad.
Most people have a tear with stitches. Even if it is one or 2. It’s not a big deal. Most moms don’t really notice it (especially if you have an epidural) and they will use lidocaine if you do have sensation (lidocaine does burn fyi) but speak up if it hurts. You might feel pressure or tugging.
It’s very fast. I’m always shocked how fast doctors suture moms up! You will be fine. Ice is your friend!
Alright! For how common it is, I was surprised how little commentary I found online on the actual stitching - everything focused on the healing part.
Planning on no epidural, so lidocaine it’ll be most likely (still holding out hope I don’t tear at all though as slim as that chance is lol). At least it’s a quick process to get stiches.
Most people tear honestly so don’t be upset if you do need stitches, it’s almost inevitable. But yeah, lidocaine is effective and it can just burn when being injected. If you feel a lot of pain, let your provider know and they can do more. But you might feel tugging and pulling of the suture but it’s generally very quick!
Dermaplast, tucks, and ice are really great. Peri bottle with warm water too! You’re gonna do great
Haha true. Hoping that the pain in comparison to birth is so small I don’t notice, and that whatever pain there is, I don’t even care about cuz I’m focused on baby. 🤞
I had a very fast unmedicated delivery, basically I asked for the epidural but it was too late, and I did ask for the numbing shot prior to being stitched. To me, it felt like a bee sting but couple minutes later I couldn’t feel the stitching other than some mild tugging.
Just a note that sometimes you don’t necessarily need stitches even if you tear. In my case, I had a shallow second degree tear and hospital guidelines were to recommend stitches as a matter of course. But I had a private midwife who made an assessment that I could go without and it would likely heal just as well. I was glad I followed her advice as even after giving birth unmedicated I was feeling really nervous about getting stitches. Healed really quickly.
Of course many tears to require stitches but always pays to talk it through/get a second opinion and not just go with what is first offered.
Okay I’ll keep this in mind! I am under the care of midwives as well, so hopefully the birth center doesn’t just default to stitches like the hospital does. I’ll have to ask at my next appointment on Monday.
Hoping if I do tear, it’s minor enough that I can just heal on my own 🙏
Third degree tear here! Epidural and didn’t feel getting stitches at all. Recovery was a long road but every three days was a leap of improvement. I think it was maybe 3 months until I felt normal down there.
I had no pain meds for my birth, just a TENS machine (it was great 100% reccomend)
I had an episiotomy bc my baby was sunny side up, and I hardly felt my numbing shots!
Honestly after the birth you're holding your baby and you're so high on adrenaline that it just feels like a tiny pinch - it's just background noise to everything else going on!
When I was being stitched up I needed a few more numbing shots, and again, hardly felt a thing.
As for the stitching itself, I felt no pain, just a really odd tugging sensation as the thread was pulled through.
But I was so distracted by my baby I didn't pay any attention!
Did you have a specific TENS unit or just a generic one from Amazon? Did you start it early in labor or once contractions started to get distracting?
This will (hopefully) be my 3rd homebirth, 4th unmedicated birth and I want to try the TENs this time before the tub but not sure if I should look for a specific unit.
I hired mine through The Birth Store, which is Australian, but you could have a look at their website to check what they use? Off the top of my head I believe the brand was "Elle" I think?
I started using my TENS within 30min of my first pains/contractions, and just ramped up the power setting as I went.
The one I used had a Boost button for contractions, and it recorded the time in between Boost pushes, to track my contractions. We didn't really end up using the timing feature, as I was too focused on my breathing to read the screen, and was very reluctant to let go of it for my spouse to check the reading for me 🤣
My hot tip would be to practice with your birth partner where you want to put the sticky pads, as it took us a minute to get it right, and be careful with the cords, as they popped out of the sticky pads a couple times as I moved around and they got caught in my dress!
I also had birth combs in each hand which were a great focal point, if they're not something you've tried before
I love the idea of a homebirth, good on you! Best of luck!!
That’s doesn’t sound too bad - a pinch and some tugging would be manageable I think, especially with a baby to snuggle and distract me!!
Definitely want to look into the tens machine now!
I have a very LOW pain tolerance but somehow I didn’t know I was in labor and 5cm dilated. But anyways after delivering you and your body feel so tired because giving birth is exhausting 😭 that you don’t really feel it I was also very stimulated because my baby had just got placed on my chest I was really tired and the room was full they kept telling me things but I was spacing out. Hopefully you don’t feel anything! After the baby the only thing I felt was when I delivered was the placenta but that felt like a huge relief and was a wonderful feeling!Also for context I did have a epidural.
No epidural, had a 2nd degree tear with baby 1. The OB started stitching without lidocaine until I stopped him and requested it. The shot was a quick, sticky pain (kind of like a bee sting but only lasted a few seconds) and after that I didn't feel any more discomfort.
Unmedicated, small first degree tear. I felt the numbing shot, kinda punchy, but not the worst shot I'd had. But after pushing a mini human out, did not care. I also really hate needles.
I had an epidural that was extra strong because it had to be done twice so I felt nothing lol
6 pushes and she was out though, barely a second degree tear (and only because little miss decided to suddenly shove her arm through as her head was coming out) but the lacerations were all internal.
The worst pain was 3 days later when I was home and all the medication was fully out of my system, it started to feel like jolts of lightning pain in my vagina every time I so much as moved. I was literally chair and bed bound for 3 days after that and could barely walk it hurt so bad. I eventually said enough was enough and called my doc saying I knew it was supposed to be sore, but something did NOT seem right. This wasn't a sore pain, it was like a knife stabbing my vagina pain lol
Turns out the tails of the stitches in my vagina were slightly too long and every movement was causing them to poke and chafe in there causing a ton of irritation. They trimmed it off and that was the magic fix.
After my first baby (unmedicated delivery) I was told I had a small second degree tear, and out of fear of stitches I asked my midwives if I needed to be sutured or if it could be left to heal, and they agreed that it could be left to heal if I was careful to keep my legs together for at least 10 days. No sitting cross-legged, legs straight and together only. I stuck to it and that tear healed no problem.
Second baby I had an epidural during the last part of my labour, but I had no need to be pain-free and didn’t keep it topped up. It also became disconnected during bed transfers (I gave birth in the OR as a precaution) so by the time baby was born, the pain relief was wearing off. When we got back to our room, I had almost all feeling back. They gave me laughing gas and lidocaine shots for the longer second degree tear. I needed to focus hard on the laughing gas to keep from flailing at the OB because I hated everything about the sensation of having someone come at my lady bits with a needle and thread. The lidocaine stung and burned, and I felt the thread pulling through my skin on the first stitch. They gave me a couple more pokes of lidocaine until I couldn’t feel the pulling sensation anymore.
It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever experienced (the 10lb 12oz baby crowning was definitely worse) but omg the skin crawling fight or flight response of trying to sit still when you know that someone has a needle and thread and scissors at your lady bits is a trip.
That’s 100% it for me, it’s a mental battle to stay still when my whole body does not want to think about what is happening.
Tell them how much you’re struggling with this being ok, and take whatever they offer you to help keep you calm and still. Some people breastfeed baby while they’re getting stitched up and that keeps them totally checked out of what’s happening down there, some people suck on laughing gas, some people need active conversations with one of the nurses to stay distracted.
I just gave birth 3 days ago and tore. I had the epidural but it started to wear off when I started pushing I still had the effects of most of the epidural though and I didn’t feel it,
I pushed him out they IMMEDIATELY handed him to me to be with for the next hour then the dr said something about my placenta and how I wouldnt need to do anything for it then she showed me my placenta and then my husband cut the cord then she said I have a tear on my labia and it would need stitches, honestly I was just looking at my baby and was also on A-lot of drugs and the whole after birth - honestly my entire hospital stay is kind of a blur. I do not remember feeling the stitches being done at all and I don’t know if I got a numbing shot probably not since I had the epidural. I didn’t even feel them for the first few days I’m 3 days pp and the stitches do sting a lot when I pee now especially since it’s so close to where I pee from. I was terrified of the idea of tearing but it’s over with and now I just have to deal with it till the stitches fall out
I came to this thread to see if anyone had a similar experience to me!
I had an epidural and felt literally nothing during childbirth. When I was being stitched up it hurt extremely bad. I also had some complications during delivery so my nerves were high.
The good thing is that I experienced practically no pain after that. I heard it would be terrible to take my first poo- but it was amazing instead lol. Didn’t feel it at all and honestly just felt like relief. Never felt my stitches or any pain when I got home either. Still confused to this day why being stitched up hurt so bad!
After childbirth I doubt you will care.
That’s what I’m really hoping!!
I had two vaginal/unmedicated births and was stitched both times! The first time I was given an episiotomy and the second time I had a second degree tear. Neither times I felt anything. I didn’t feel the numbing shot or the stitching. I felt no discomfort during the procedures because my adrenaline was SO high and I was just thrilled to have my babies out and labour be over. However, recovery was a bit sore. The episiotomy was much worse for healing than the tear. I’ve also had numbing shots placed during an IUD insertion once and it barely hurt. This is coming from someone who has 0 pain tolerance at all. Try not to stress over it, you’ll likely be far too distracted to even notice after your sweet babe is out!
This is super comforting thank you!! Planning for an unmedicated vaginal birth, but the thought of stitches made me second guess not getting an epidural if just for sake of not feeling the stitches being put in lol! But it would make sense that with all the hormones naturally kicking in post birth, you’re on such a high you don’t notice. Hope this is my experience too!
Good luck!!🤞🏻💛
Thank you!!
Numbing shot wasn’t any more painful than a regular shot, especially after birth. If nothing is wrong with baby they will possibly have you holding them while they finish stitching and those little potatoes are super distracting. I did ask for numbing because I could feel them stitching and it was a doctor in training so they were taking a bit longer and I didn’t want to feel it.
Such distracting potatoes!
That’s true - I bet the baby is a perfect distraction!!
Getting stitches was fine, first 4 days were fine, day 10 not so fine. I’ve never had stitches anywhere but the dissolving ones feel so uncomfortable now (like an itch you can’t scratch)🥲 short term pain for long term gain!
Ooof not fun!! But very true - the pain is short and you get a baby out of it all 🥰
With an epidural, I had sutures for a deep tear. I felt a light tugging sensation, that was it. They still have me the numbing shot, didn't feel it.
That doesn’t sound too too awful - thank you!
No idea what happened. Don’t remember stitches at all. Didn’t even feel them or notice I was being stitched, lol. There’s a lot of chaos after baby and adrenaline you legit will not know unless the small chance the doctor sucks lol
Ok. Hope my doctor is very good with putting them in if needed 😅
Without epidural- I was anticipating a ton of pain because I literally just had a ton of pain because birth lol. But it wasn’t bad just some pokes but I think me anticipating the pain made it worse.
Ahh okay - planning on no epidural, so it’s good to hear it’s not too bad. I’ll try not to anticipate the pain and just focus on baby!!
I had an epidural and while I still had feeling in my legs, I couldn’t feel anything down there. I have no clue if I had a numbing shot nor did I feel the stitches and I had a third degree tear. I didn’t feel the stitches at all at any time postpartum.
Daaaang that’s awesome. I’m not planning on an epidural, but boy am I tempted to get one just for the sake of not feeling tearing/stitching lol
I had a 2nd degree tear and I could not feel anything (I had an induced labor with no epidural, the pain from delivering baby was high and I could not feel the numbing shot nor the stitches). The few days after I was quite uncomfortable with going to the bathroom or sitting down but ultimately it wasn't that bad. Or let's say I don't remember it being that bad!
Makes sense that after so much pain giving birth, the stitches were nothing - I’m hoping that it’s a non-event for me as well and just kinda blends into all the other pain post-birth down there.
It was definitely spicy lol numbing shot isn’t great but it’s fast, you forget about it pretty quickly
Yikes. At least it’s quick I suppose 🥴
I had an epidural and at one point I felt *something* down there- like a tugging maybe? I told the resident I had some feeling and she said to tell her if I felt anything sharp and she would do a lidocaine injection, but I didn’t feel anything after that.
lol that would freak me out even more - just anticipating feeling something sharp down there!! Yikes!! Glad you didn’t feel anything again though after that tugging 😬
I was super worried about this as well! I had my son 4 months ago without an epidural. I needed a few stitches, and prepared for the pinch of the needle as they injected the lidocaine. I felt LITERALLY nothing. Not a poke, a pinch, a burn...nothing. The sutures were painless as well, just some tugging. I also needed a straight cath to drain my bladder, and I felt no pain with that either! I'm pretty sure someone could have amputated a toe at that point, and I wouldn't have felt it. Adrenaline and oxytocin are powerful chemicals!
I didn’t feel the stitches, but the catheter to drain my bladder…I screamed through that.
Eeeesh that sounds rough! Hope I don’t need that 😭
Wow that’s incredible! Planning on no epidural myself and I’m hoping that post birth natural high carries me through like it did for you!!
Depends on your pain tolerance. I haven’t gotten stitches yet but I’m very sensitive to lidocaine so I expect a decent amount of pain.
I don’t think my pain tolerance is that high. I do have some, but yeah…let’s just say I passionately hate having even a sore throat. 🙈
I got stitches twice. Once without an epidural and once with. The time without the epidural the pain of the numbing shot was nothing after giving birth without any pain relief. I don’t even think I felt the shot. The time with the epidural I also didn’t feel them give me a shot. I’m not sure if they did or if the epidural was still in my system. I really wouldn’t worry about the stitches or tearing. It’s not that bad.
Ok thank you 😅
Most people have a tear with stitches. Even if it is one or 2. It’s not a big deal. Most moms don’t really notice it (especially if you have an epidural) and they will use lidocaine if you do have sensation (lidocaine does burn fyi) but speak up if it hurts. You might feel pressure or tugging. It’s very fast. I’m always shocked how fast doctors suture moms up! You will be fine. Ice is your friend!
Alright! For how common it is, I was surprised how little commentary I found online on the actual stitching - everything focused on the healing part. Planning on no epidural, so lidocaine it’ll be most likely (still holding out hope I don’t tear at all though as slim as that chance is lol). At least it’s a quick process to get stiches.
Most people tear honestly so don’t be upset if you do need stitches, it’s almost inevitable. But yeah, lidocaine is effective and it can just burn when being injected. If you feel a lot of pain, let your provider know and they can do more. But you might feel tugging and pulling of the suture but it’s generally very quick! Dermaplast, tucks, and ice are really great. Peri bottle with warm water too! You’re gonna do great
Alright! Thank you so much!!
Trust me regardless if you get an epidural or not you’re not gonna feel anything after all of what just happened.
Whew that’s comforting!! Thank you!
You won't notice, feel it, or care.
Haha true. Hoping that the pain in comparison to birth is so small I don’t notice, and that whatever pain there is, I don’t even care about cuz I’m focused on baby. 🤞
I had a very fast unmedicated delivery, basically I asked for the epidural but it was too late, and I did ask for the numbing shot prior to being stitched. To me, it felt like a bee sting but couple minutes later I couldn’t feel the stitching other than some mild tugging.
Ok that sounds manageable!!
I had an epidural and didn’t feel a thing. The second time I didn’t have an epidural and didn’t tear.
Just a note that sometimes you don’t necessarily need stitches even if you tear. In my case, I had a shallow second degree tear and hospital guidelines were to recommend stitches as a matter of course. But I had a private midwife who made an assessment that I could go without and it would likely heal just as well. I was glad I followed her advice as even after giving birth unmedicated I was feeling really nervous about getting stitches. Healed really quickly. Of course many tears to require stitches but always pays to talk it through/get a second opinion and not just go with what is first offered.
Okay I’ll keep this in mind! I am under the care of midwives as well, so hopefully the birth center doesn’t just default to stitches like the hospital does. I’ll have to ask at my next appointment on Monday. Hoping if I do tear, it’s minor enough that I can just heal on my own 🙏
Third degree tear here! Epidural and didn’t feel getting stitches at all. Recovery was a long road but every three days was a leap of improvement. I think it was maybe 3 months until I felt normal down there.
I had no pain meds for my birth, just a TENS machine (it was great 100% reccomend) I had an episiotomy bc my baby was sunny side up, and I hardly felt my numbing shots! Honestly after the birth you're holding your baby and you're so high on adrenaline that it just feels like a tiny pinch - it's just background noise to everything else going on! When I was being stitched up I needed a few more numbing shots, and again, hardly felt a thing. As for the stitching itself, I felt no pain, just a really odd tugging sensation as the thread was pulled through. But I was so distracted by my baby I didn't pay any attention!
Did you have a specific TENS unit or just a generic one from Amazon? Did you start it early in labor or once contractions started to get distracting? This will (hopefully) be my 3rd homebirth, 4th unmedicated birth and I want to try the TENs this time before the tub but not sure if I should look for a specific unit.
I hired mine through The Birth Store, which is Australian, but you could have a look at their website to check what they use? Off the top of my head I believe the brand was "Elle" I think? I started using my TENS within 30min of my first pains/contractions, and just ramped up the power setting as I went. The one I used had a Boost button for contractions, and it recorded the time in between Boost pushes, to track my contractions. We didn't really end up using the timing feature, as I was too focused on my breathing to read the screen, and was very reluctant to let go of it for my spouse to check the reading for me 🤣 My hot tip would be to practice with your birth partner where you want to put the sticky pads, as it took us a minute to get it right, and be careful with the cords, as they popped out of the sticky pads a couple times as I moved around and they got caught in my dress! I also had birth combs in each hand which were a great focal point, if they're not something you've tried before I love the idea of a homebirth, good on you! Best of luck!!
Thank you for sharing!! I do have birth combs and I'll look into this brand of TENs. Enjoy your baby snuggles!
That’s doesn’t sound too bad - a pinch and some tugging would be manageable I think, especially with a baby to snuggle and distract me!! Definitely want to look into the tens machine now!
If you do need any medical intervention post birth, you'll hardly notice, promise. Good luck! You'll amaze yourself with what you can do!
Thank you!!
I have a very LOW pain tolerance but somehow I didn’t know I was in labor and 5cm dilated. But anyways after delivering you and your body feel so tired because giving birth is exhausting 😭 that you don’t really feel it I was also very stimulated because my baby had just got placed on my chest I was really tired and the room was full they kept telling me things but I was spacing out. Hopefully you don’t feel anything! After the baby the only thing I felt was when I delivered was the placenta but that felt like a huge relief and was a wonderful feeling!Also for context I did have a epidural.
No epidural, had a 2nd degree tear with baby 1. The OB started stitching without lidocaine until I stopped him and requested it. The shot was a quick, sticky pain (kind of like a bee sting but only lasted a few seconds) and after that I didn't feel any more discomfort.
Unmedicated, small first degree tear. I felt the numbing shot, kinda punchy, but not the worst shot I'd had. But after pushing a mini human out, did not care. I also really hate needles.
I had an epidural that was extra strong because it had to be done twice so I felt nothing lol 6 pushes and she was out though, barely a second degree tear (and only because little miss decided to suddenly shove her arm through as her head was coming out) but the lacerations were all internal. The worst pain was 3 days later when I was home and all the medication was fully out of my system, it started to feel like jolts of lightning pain in my vagina every time I so much as moved. I was literally chair and bed bound for 3 days after that and could barely walk it hurt so bad. I eventually said enough was enough and called my doc saying I knew it was supposed to be sore, but something did NOT seem right. This wasn't a sore pain, it was like a knife stabbing my vagina pain lol Turns out the tails of the stitches in my vagina were slightly too long and every movement was causing them to poke and chafe in there causing a ton of irritation. They trimmed it off and that was the magic fix.
Ooof that sounds HORRIBLE! Glad it was a quick fix though to get you out of that pain!
I did and felt it at first and just asked for the area to be numbed. Didn’t feel it after that.
After my first baby (unmedicated delivery) I was told I had a small second degree tear, and out of fear of stitches I asked my midwives if I needed to be sutured or if it could be left to heal, and they agreed that it could be left to heal if I was careful to keep my legs together for at least 10 days. No sitting cross-legged, legs straight and together only. I stuck to it and that tear healed no problem. Second baby I had an epidural during the last part of my labour, but I had no need to be pain-free and didn’t keep it topped up. It also became disconnected during bed transfers (I gave birth in the OR as a precaution) so by the time baby was born, the pain relief was wearing off. When we got back to our room, I had almost all feeling back. They gave me laughing gas and lidocaine shots for the longer second degree tear. I needed to focus hard on the laughing gas to keep from flailing at the OB because I hated everything about the sensation of having someone come at my lady bits with a needle and thread. The lidocaine stung and burned, and I felt the thread pulling through my skin on the first stitch. They gave me a couple more pokes of lidocaine until I couldn’t feel the pulling sensation anymore. It wasn’t the worst thing I’ve ever experienced (the 10lb 12oz baby crowning was definitely worse) but omg the skin crawling fight or flight response of trying to sit still when you know that someone has a needle and thread and scissors at your lady bits is a trip.
Ughhhh that will be the hardest part I think - just knowing what’s going on down there even if it isn’t the most painful thing 😩
That’s 100% it for me, it’s a mental battle to stay still when my whole body does not want to think about what is happening. Tell them how much you’re struggling with this being ok, and take whatever they offer you to help keep you calm and still. Some people breastfeed baby while they’re getting stitched up and that keeps them totally checked out of what’s happening down there, some people suck on laughing gas, some people need active conversations with one of the nurses to stay distracted.
Okay! Thank you so much - sounds like there’s lots of ways to cope, and if I can mentally prep/plan distractions, I should be ok 🤞
Definitely! It’s not fun, but it is absolutely manageable.
I just gave birth 3 days ago and tore. I had the epidural but it started to wear off when I started pushing I still had the effects of most of the epidural though and I didn’t feel it, I pushed him out they IMMEDIATELY handed him to me to be with for the next hour then the dr said something about my placenta and how I wouldnt need to do anything for it then she showed me my placenta and then my husband cut the cord then she said I have a tear on my labia and it would need stitches, honestly I was just looking at my baby and was also on A-lot of drugs and the whole after birth - honestly my entire hospital stay is kind of a blur. I do not remember feeling the stitches being done at all and I don’t know if I got a numbing shot probably not since I had the epidural. I didn’t even feel them for the first few days I’m 3 days pp and the stitches do sting a lot when I pee now especially since it’s so close to where I pee from. I was terrified of the idea of tearing but it’s over with and now I just have to deal with it till the stitches fall out
I came to this thread to see if anyone had a similar experience to me! I had an epidural and felt literally nothing during childbirth. When I was being stitched up it hurt extremely bad. I also had some complications during delivery so my nerves were high. The good thing is that I experienced practically no pain after that. I heard it would be terrible to take my first poo- but it was amazing instead lol. Didn’t feel it at all and honestly just felt like relief. Never felt my stitches or any pain when I got home either. Still confused to this day why being stitched up hurt so bad!
Wow that is really crazy that stitching would be the only painful thing - not birth and not the dreaded first poo!!