Hi, everyone 
This is my first post and I am looking forward to hearing from all of you ladies and hopefully being of some help to everyone myself 
OK... first, this was my birth experience:
I just gave birth to my beautiful daughter 10 days ago. I am 21 years old and this was my first baby and my pregnancy and birth was fairly uncomplicated, only complication which I am very upset is that I received a fourth degree "tear", unnecessarily in my opinion. I went into labor on my own, 8 days early, I was in labor 15 hours. I was dilating slowly but surely on my own, I did not get induced. My body was doin the work. However, I received an epidural and soon as they checked me after the epidural was in, I was already at 8 cm. (I got that far on my own but started hyperventilating from the pain so I felt if I wanted to do what was best for me and baby and to concentrate I should get the epi) An hour after the epidural was in I was 10 cm and ready to push. I have no idea why but the doctor on call, who seemed rushed because I was the only person in labor at the time, gave me pitocin after the epidural even though I was progressing fine on my own...but from the time I was 10 cm and the time my baby was delivered, it was only 30 minutes. I only pushed for 30 minutes. My baby was not huge, she only weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. No getting stuck, the pushing was problem free. After was all said and done, the doctor said I tore fourth degree. I asked what happened and he was really vague and said even though she was little doesn't mean anything because I was "tiny"...he never told me he performed an episiotomy I only found out after b/c everyone in the delivery room saw him make the incision. Of course I couldn't feel it because of the epi. So I believe he cut me unnecessarily because there was no harm or risk to me or baby really... when I saw my actual OB she agreed with me... but now I have to live with this
I seem to be healing okay... I mean I hope so. I'm 10 days pp. The first couple of days after I was discharged from the hospital were awful, and going potty was terrifying I have been cleaning after every bathroom trip, taking a full shower everyday, taking my stool softeners and ONLY motrin, no painkillers because I can't imagine getting constipated. At this point, I can sit normally and walk/move around as normal and relatively pain free. I can even pee normally, sit on the toilet like normal, and my going #2 isn't even that bad (thanks to those stool softeners). I can do kegels, I can stop my flow of urine which shows that muscles are working still. I almost feel back to normal... however, there is one small thing - passing gas through vagina. This terrifies me because I've read about fistulas and god, I CANNOT imagine... I don't always do this though. Sometimes it comes from the right place, depending on the position I'm in. I'm just wondering if this is a sure sign of a fistula or has anyone else experienced this and been ok? My 6 week check up seems forever away and I hate to worry about this. I've been through a lot already. My first few days home affected my breastfeeding which hurt my soul. We're getting back on track now. I'd love to hear your advice and thoughts.
Thanks so much for taking the time to read
This is my first post and I am looking forward to hearing from all of you ladies and hopefully being of some help to everyone myself OK... first, this was my birth experience:
I just gave birth to my beautiful daughter 10 days ago. I am 21 years old and this was my first baby and my pregnancy and birth was fairly uncomplicated, only complication which I am very upset is that I received a fourth degree "tear", unnecessarily in my opinion. I went into labor on my own, 8 days early, I was in labor 15 hours. I was dilating slowly but surely on my own, I did not get induced. My body was doin the work. However, I received an epidural and soon as they checked me after the epidural was in, I was already at 8 cm. (I got that far on my own but started hyperventilating from the pain so I felt if I wanted to do what was best for me and baby and to concentrate I should get the epi) An hour after the epidural was in I was 10 cm and ready to push. I have no idea why but the doctor on call, who seemed rushed because I was the only person in labor at the time, gave me pitocin after the epidural even though I was progressing fine on my own...but from the time I was 10 cm and the time my baby was delivered, it was only 30 minutes. I only pushed for 30 minutes. My baby was not huge, she only weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces. No getting stuck, the pushing was problem free. After was all said and done, the doctor said I tore fourth degree. I asked what happened and he was really vague and said even though she was little doesn't mean anything because I was "tiny"...he never told me he performed an episiotomy I only found out after b/c everyone in the delivery room saw him make the incision. Of course I couldn't feel it because of the epi. So I believe he cut me unnecessarily because there was no harm or risk to me or baby really... when I saw my actual OB she agreed with me... but now I have to live with this
I seem to be healing okay... I mean I hope so. I'm 10 days pp. The first couple of days after I was discharged from the hospital were awful, and going potty was terrifying
I have been cleaning after every bathroom trip, taking a full shower everyday, taking my stool softeners and ONLY motrin, no painkillers because I can't imagine getting constipated. At this point, I can sit normally and walk/move around as normal and relatively pain free. I can even pee normally, sit on the toilet like normal, and my going #2 isn't even that bad (thanks to those stool softeners). I can do kegels, I can stop my flow of urine which shows that muscles are working still. I almost feel back to normal... however, there is one small thing - passing gas through vagina. This terrifies me because I've read about fistulas and god, I CANNOT imagine... I don't always do this though. Sometimes it comes from the right place, depending on the position I'm in. I'm just wondering if this is a sure sign of a fistula or has anyone else experienced this and been ok? My 6 week check up seems forever away and I hate to worry about this. I've been through a lot already. My first few days home affected my breastfeeding which hurt my soul. We're getting back on track now. I'd love to hear your advice and thoughts. Thanks so much for taking the time to read
