Worried about 2nd degree tear that wasn’t stitched...

[sevenofnine]

I gave birth last Monday, 3/19. After going through a fetal ejection reflex (I didn’t push... it felt like my body was throwing up and pushed her out en caul in one insanely awful contraction) I ended up with some pretty gnarly tears.

My midwife stitched 2 of them (which was horrible considering I hadn’t had any pain relief) and tried stitching the 2nd degree partly internal tear, but ended up leaving it. I feel like she likely wasn’t competent enough to do it, but no one else was called in.

Now, 7 days PP, healing seems to be non existent as I still feel horrible down there, and swollen. I’m so worried about how it’s going to heal. I’m afraid to look.

Anyone have any experiences with unstitched 2nd degree tears? According to another doctor who looked at it briefly, it was almost a third degree tear.

I’m feeling very anxious about it.

 

[Teri7489]

At 7 days pp you will still feel horrible and looking won't do you any good. Unless you know what you are doing/looking for it will all seem horrific. 2nd degree tears generally need stiches so I'd have a word with your doctor or midwife (not sure how it works there but here we have a midwife visit until baby is 10 days old) I'd get them to check it over and ensure its healing well, then treat you if necessary. I had a 4th degree tear and wasn't checked until 6 weeks pp, thankfully all was OK but still had stitches that hadn't dissolved so had them cut. GL x

 

[second.time]

I was very swollen and sore at a week postpartum too. I had a stitched second-degree and things looked and felt pretty wonky for a while until one day they went back to normal. But if it's weighing on you, you should be able to get clarity and peace of mind and rule out any issues. Can you ask to be seen earlier than your 6-week PP visit? It's very common for women to ask for visits if they're concerned about stitching and healing. I'm always surprised that in the U.S. we don't really check up on PP injuries much as a matter of routine!

 

[sevenofnine]

Thank you for your responses- in retrospect I see I wasn’t being quite reasonable with my expectations of healing!

2 weeks in and I already feel WORLDS better! After about day 10, there was a dramatic shift in my healing. I’m starting to not feel like I’m so broken anymore.

Oh and I did end up having an appointment sooner, and apparently everything is healing well! I’m still scared to look though...