What should my expectations realistically be re. vagina after giving birth?

[G2501]

Sorry if TMI

Had a look with mirror and can't stop crying, I know it sounds stupid but my vagina is a mangled mess! The entrance looks like a gaping hole I had stitches in this area as this is where I tore, my perineum got away scot free, dunno if I've been stitched up badly or if I should have expected things to be super loose after a baby emerging....

I'm 3 weeks post partum. Can it get better or is this as good as I can expect?

 

[cupcakekate]

hi hun, i was shocked when i'd had isabelle and i looked and my hole looked massive!! it does get better i promise, mine is pretty much back to the same as it was it just takes time, not long since you've had your LO so try not to let it get to you too much. keep at those pelvic floor exercises! xx

 

[4 leaf clover]

I was the same! I'm 9 weeks pp now & im very nearly back to normal

 

[G2501]

Thanks for your replies! I know it sounds crazy but I was devastated when I saw it, ha! Wish I'd not looked! You've given me hope!

 

[missbabypo]

When I had a shower in the hospital after having Louie I was so shocked at how I looked down there. I didn't have any stitches but eveything as hanging out and swollen, it was horrible! Thankfully 2 weeks on everything seems to have one back but I haven't really looked x

 

[tristansmum]

i didn't have vaginal birth as ended up with EMCS but before that they tried forcepts... well my god it was all swollen and awful. It went down after a week or so... as the other ladies said it will get better.

 

[moomin_troll]

are u doing ur pelvic floor exercises?
i looked at my stitches at around 2 weeks and while it didnt look great it was ok due to my exercises...which also help healing.

things get back to normal so dont worry! a babys just come out of u so its not going to look pretty

 

[4 leaf clover]

Yes Pelvic floor are life savers!

 

[lori]

I had the same worries, but everything has gone back to normal now. After lots and lots of Kegels, I'm proud to say that I've stopped peeing my pants

 

[maddog37]

You are a braver woman than me. I was completely traumatized when I looked down on the second day and thought my vagina looked like a beluga whale (not that it actually resembled one, but that was the first thought that came to my head).

Mine feels better normal now though I still haven't looked. The entrance does feel a little bigger than before but not by much. I think I was one of those women whose hymen never broke with sex ... well, it broke now, which is why the entrance feels a bit bigger.

No longer a "virgin". Sigh.

 

[Pixxie]

Totally normal! It wont ever be the same but it does get much better xxx

 

[goddess25]

It will return to normal. My first birth was quite traumatic with multiple 3rd degree tears, in vagina, perineum and rectum and lost alot of blood and got tonnes of stitches. HUbby told me it looked like a bomb had gone off in my bits... lovely. It did however go back to normal although slowly. After my 2 births mu hubby tells me its almost normal feeling just a little bit bigger than it used to be.

 

[goddess25]

Meant to say that sex is a bit sore as there is lots of scar tissue down there but tonnes of lubrication seems to sort that out.

 

[Charl]

mine was a mangled mess as well hun, although I was quite lucky and managed to get away with no tears/stitches but did have a small graze inside.
I never looked at mine afterwards but got my OH to instead (nice of me I know lol).

Now, 3 weeks on it's pretty much back to normal and OH says apart from having to use the manhood socks it feels pretty much the same as before.

xx

 

[beth0703]

i was exactly the same as you. me and my partner had sex 2 and a half weeks after the baby and when he looked his face gave it away so i grabbed a mirror and burst out crying! he assured me it felt the same after sex and it would get better. Its now 14 weeks since giving birth and everythings back to normal you just have to think the size of your babys head got through that tiny hole so its obv going to take time to get back but it does i promise xx