After labour, stool softeners, pooping, Tmi

[rayne22]

So after my daughter was born, Dr said to me "keep your stools soft". I was so exhausted, it didn't really register with me what she was saying, and didn't really know how to keep my stools soft but I nodded in agreement anyways. At the end of my hospital stay, a nurse asked if I was taking stool softeners, and I said no cuz nobody gave me any, and she looked pissed that I didn't take any cuz she knew I would have a hard time later on. And boy was she right.

The following is tmi, but I really have nobody else to talk to besides my husband and I'm sure he is sick of hearing about it. Taking a poop after birth was the most difficult experience of my life- I would have rather gone through 3 more days of contractions then what I went through trying to go to the bathroom. My body wanted to go poop, it would NOT come out- it was pretty much stuck in my butthole- stinkiest farts ever imaginable, my body convulsing with so much pain-contractions were easier to get through. After going to the store to buy stool softeners, I finally was able to go at 5 days after birth.

Now, it's been two years, I have had trouble with my butt ever since. Almost everytime I go poop, my butt stings with pain and I have to take a shower or wipe with a baby wipe. I'm too embarrassed for the Dr to look at my butt, but the Dr has seen down there during pap exams and has never mentioned hemmoroids or anything, so I'm not sure what is going on.

Has anyone had anything close to my experience either with pooping after birth or what I am dealing with now? I've had a few close friends who have had multiple children and at no point had they warned me about after birth bathroom issues, which I almost resent them for it, but husband says "who wants to talk about that" and I always say I would have wanted to know. But maybe I did have a rare experience? Hard to tell since nobody talks about it lol.

Thank you in advance for any replies and advice.

 

[cupcaker]

Just wanted to say sorry you had/have a rubbish time with it, I'm not sure what to say as I didn't experience it, but it sounds horrible. If you are still struggling now though, I would deffo get it checked, could really be worth it for the 10 mins of embarrassment you might feel to not have to have showers/wipes etc. That must be a nuisance!

I had second degree tearing and was dreading going to the loo. Going for a poop was completely fine in the end, but weeing was absolutely horrible for quite a long time. I think it only finally came COMPLETELY right again at 9 weeks PP! I would build up to anticipate the pain too and be anxious.

ETA- I was never advised anything about stool softners. They just said not to 'hang on' after birth (out of anticipation of pain) to go for a number 2 because it would be worse.

 

[MaybeM]

Hey rayne22! I so know where you're coming from, and I feel so sorry for you; I had piles while pregnant and had to take laxatives daily. After she was born I didn't go for 4 days, in the end I had to use a glycerin suppository which got everything going, and then had to keep taking a mild laxative for another 2 weeks. Happily, 11 weeks on, I'm all good and regular lol

I would say go and see your doctor; could you ask to see a lady doctor if it would help you feel any less embarrassed? I'm really shy, but my Mum (whose a nurse) always says they've seen it all before! In the meantime have you tried taking a mild laxative to make it easier to go? Hope this helps, and you don't feel so alone xxxx

 

[rayne22]

Hey rayne22! I so know where you're coming from, and I feel so sorry for you; I had piles while pregnant and had to take laxatives daily. After she was born I didn't go for 4 days, in the end I had to use a glycerin suppository which got everything going, and then had to keep taking a mild laxative for another 2 weeks. Happily, 11 weeks on, I'm all good and regular lol

I would say go and see your doctor; could you ask to see a lady doctor if it would help you feel any less embarrassed? I'm really shy, but my Mum (whose a nurse) always says they've seen it all before! In the meantime have you tried taking a mild laxative to make it easier to go? Hope this helps, and you don't feel so alone xxxx

Hi, yes I have a lady doctor and am still too embarrassed. lol. I'm not having troubles going now so I wouldn't need a laxative, it was just horrible for the whole week after birth--and I find it suprising that nobody else has written to say that had trouble going too! I really didn't think it was a rare situation-but apparently i'm wrong!!
I think i'll just suffer through it right now, and then after baby number 2 is born I will get my bum checked out if i'm having problems. I pray to god the same thing doesn't happen again with baby number two-it's what i'm dreading the most-but i'll try stay positive!!
Thanks for replying!

 

[Dtswife]

Google anal fissures - DO NOT look at images!

Try using neosporin cream after you go for a while and see if that helps - DH and I had an accidental, uh, wrong hole reinsertion error while having sex once (it really was an accident, he wasn't being a douche) that caused some minor tears that took forever to heal. Neosporin and those flushable wet wipes to be extra gentle finally got it better, but it suuuuuuucked for quite a while.

 

[Louise88]

I know exactly what your talking about my first couple of bathroom visits after birth I was in there for around an hour! I remember wanting to cry at points deffinatly worse then labour and birth! I wasn't told about stool softeners though but then I was never given antibiotics for my tear and cut down below either. Luckily I haven't had lasting damage like you have but thankyou for the tip of stool softeners that's certainly something that will go in my hospital bag this time round!

 

[Viridian Soul]

I had similar difficulties. At the hospital, they told me milk of magnesia and faithfully...but it didn't really register for me, either. I was just sitting around going... "OMG I'm somebody's PARENT now!" and kind of freaking out a tad. It was almost a week before I managed a number two also...and dear Lord. I would have rather had l&d all over again! It was seriously the worst pain of my entire life!

Before I ever got pregnant, though, I had stage 2 internal hemorrhoids, and once I had DS it became a much larger problem. They're now a HUGE source of pain and embarrassment for me. I too use the wet wipes; regular papers, I don't care what kind, hurt far too much. As it is, almost ever time I have a BM, I bleed a little. Sadly, no insurance right now, so I'm suffering pretty much in silence (except to DH, who gets to hear everything, not that he wants to! lol).

Anyway. For all the women out there that are about to give birth: DON'T, for the love of God, FORGET THE STOOL SOFTENER!! You will heartily regret it if you do!

 

[MindUtopia]

It's possible you may have a bit of a prolapse. I did. Basically, sometimes the pelvic floor muscles can get really imbalanced after a vaginal birth, even if they were generally good before. Your muscles have to do a lot of work during labour and sometimes you end up with problems. For me, my vaginal wall became a bit weak and (sorry, this might sound gross), but a bit of my rectum kinda leaned into my vaginal cavity. Not like as in there was a hole, but if I put my fingers inside my vagina there was a bit of a bulge inside (my rectum) because the muscle between the rectal cavity and the vaginal cavity was weak and wasn't supporting me very well. So when I had to have a poo, instead of it smoothing coming down and out, it had to go around a sharp curve and it would kinda get stuck in the section of my rectum that was bulging into my vagina. This meant that when poop came out (which took a lot of effort!) it did so at a weird angle and it gave me anal fissures from the pressure of trying to push it out at a funny angle. It's called a rectocele (look it up and you might get a better idea of what I'm trying to describe). It's VERY normal and lots of women who've just given birth experience it to some degree. It can last for years if your pelvic floor stays weak. The pain of having a poo was terrible. I had a natural birth with no pain relief and the pain of birth was so manageable and easy compared to that! I actually used the breathing techniques I'd learned for my birth more for pooping than I needed them for birth!

What helped me was upping my fibre and drinking LOTS of water (especially if you're BF, you need so much more water than you think) just to help with the discomfort a bit and doing regular pelvic floor exercises, multiple times a day (I admit I didn't do them as often as I should have right after my birth). I had the pain for about 2-3 months and after about a week of the exercises, I felt fine again. I'm 4 months pp now and it's still normal. No fissures, no bleeding, no pain, pooping isn't an 'event' anymore. If I reach into my vagina now (TMI), that bulge that used to be there is gone, so my muscles have strengthened enough to support everything now.

 

[Belly bean]

For anyone wanting help with this try fiber gel it comes in different flavours but get the orange one as the others are just disgusting you mix it with a little water and drink it down fast or it goes into jelly take 1 before bed every night and it works great doesnt work like a laxative just softens and makes it so much easier and because it is just pure fiber you can use them for longer than laxatives and for those in the uk you can get them from your gp if you ask for it

 

[AmarettiEtJus]

THANK YOU for reminding me about this!!

I was not told about any stool softeners and let me just say that the pain that followed that first bowel movement was......

Sweet Jesus of Nazareth the pain was really bad.

*Immediately packs all forms of stool softeners into hospital bag*

 

[readynwilling]

the hospital provided me with a "regimen" of stool softeners, ibprofin and something else to be taken 3 times a day after birth. I took everything except the ibprofin as i wasn't in pain and didn't need it. I remember hearing about the first poop after birth and remember when i had the unmistakable urge. I put DD in her swing and sat on the toilet - and it was perfectly fine, no pain, nothing - but there was A LOT as it had been a few days... so i HIGHLY recommend getting something to take and doing you darnedest to remember to actually take!