catheter after birth? please read :(

[allchik]

Hi,gave birth to a beautiful girl on the 10th,epidural n forceps.
12th i got discharged with catheter in cus although I cud wee I had 650ml left in bladder which I couldnt feel.
Went bk this morn for it to be taken out n bladder to be checked,again could do a wee but scan showed 290ml left in bladder.
Worth saying by this point i was heartbroken,couldnt stop crying.
Theyre now talking bout self catheterisation,getting refered to a specialist etc.
Asked if I could go home without one in n go bk at 7 to see if anythings cleared...thought the pressure of hospital might have been effecting my wee.
But in last hr or so ive had a cup of tea n half pint of squash n nothing :(
Think its gonna be bad news tonight,i just cnt stop crying n feel like this is wrecking everything,just wnt to forget bout hospital but so hard with a bag of pist strapped

How did you get on allchik?
I remember in the days after the birth thinking it was the worst thing ever, I hated it.
But if anyone asks me now, I would do it over again in a heartbeat for my DS. You will get there.

Sorry should have said, he is now 6 months.

allchick Hope you got some advice and reassurance today.

I'm a women's health physio - this isn't uncommon after childbirth, particularly if you've had a bloody awful time of it instrumental delivery.

The reason you need a catheter is to make sure the bladder is emptying. If you can't feel your bladder, it's possible for it to fill and fill and fill...and well, it won't exactly go "pop", but you can land up with some very difficult consequences.

If it helps, think of the catheter as a safety valve. Lots of baths (to pee in), lots of water, lots of taking your tablets, try iceing your fanjo (most effective way is to put some frozen peas into a condom and stuff them into your crack. 20 mins or so at a time, you can do that hourly if it's hlepful. Don't serve them up for tea afterwards) and lots of Not Worrying Too Much. Yep, easier said than done.

Pelvic floor exercises will really help. You probably won't FEEL much to start off with, but it'll encourage the messages to get to your nethers - and the muscles and your bladder share some nerves. Imagine you are bursting for a pee or trying not to fart. Hold for count of 10, and then do 10 quick flicks. Do that as much as you like.

Your nethers are bruised and battered and a bit startled. You might find it takes a wee while to settle down.

Hang in there, sorry you are in this situation, takes the shine off your lovely baby a bit.

Feel free to PM me to mull things over or have a general rant.

Hang in there
x

And if I could add to the poster above, my bladder got to 3.5 litres full before they catheterised me, as I couldn't wee at all and was just told to drink lots. I thought the pain was having just given birth! I had to learn to self-catheterise and did it for a month after having each dc about 6x a day. It wasn't always pleasant, but if you have to do it, you just get on with it. We now believe I had an undiagnosed bladder condition beforehand, so I still have occasional retention issues, but as you can see from all the other posts, I'm very much in the minority. I found acupuncture got me weeing again after each birth. How are you doing now?

OP, I absolutely feel for you. This happened to me too and I had to have the catheter in for two weeks. As far as I can recall, it's better to leave it in a bit longer to give everything a chance to calm down.

If you would like to PM me, please feel free. Hands down, I think that this was the worst thing about DD's birth despite everything else as I felt like I'd failed as I couldn't do something as fundamental as being able to pee.

after having each dc

EACH, Survival?

EACH?

Blardy hell.

Please tell me you're not the mother of 12!

No! Only two! I was so busy being a new mum that I wasn't too bothered, particularly the second time round when we were more inclined to think it would be temporary, having managed to sort it out the first time. The thing that made me sad was having to go in and out of hospital and missing half of dh's paternity leave each time. He was very practical about it and said that's what it was for, to get us sorted and fit again. The leg bag was worse than self-catheterising due to the loss post-partum and the mess the combination could create. I also reckon that if I could cope with a refluxy newborn, a potty-training under two and catheterising, I could pretty much take on the world! Hopefully OP, you will be fine soon and will look back it as another part of the trial of childbirth that we go through to bring our dc into the world-and as you can see, it didn't stop me doing it again! Good luck!

Showtunes yep - having stuff wrong with your bladder or bowel control has a powerful effect on your psyche.

Glad you are now tube free and able to pee. Oh, that would make a great badge for catheter graduates...

This happened to me too but they kept me in until they were happy I was emptying properly - was discharged 5 days after birth. Don't worry it will resolve, good advice on here. Also make sure you "double void" when you go which is good practice anyway to avoid retention and infections. So do your main wee, then sit and wait for another' minute or two - usually some more will come.

Big hugs to you as I remember how upset I was about it at the time when they said I might have to self-catheterise.

Ladies I really cnt thanku all enough,I am so touched by your kind words and advice.
I am happy to report i am now catheter free,scan results werent perfect but MWs were happy that things were sorting themselves out (did a few big wee's at hospital)
I just never ever thought this would/could happen...no mention of it in my books,nct class or MW visits.
By the looks of this thread its common but maybe not talked about-
thanks again x x x x x x

Yay! Being catheter free is an amazing feeling. It's like getting your body back. The urogynae team told me to go whenever I felt the urge to avoid straining the bladder anymore than it needed to be.

I too was perplexed when the urogynae people said it was common, the consultant said it was common, the nurses said it was common and there was nothing in ANY of the books I read.

It made me feel really alone.

I had a foceps delivery. I had a catheter for 10 weeks.

It was awful, I won't lie I used to cry all the time. I thought I was going to have it for life. I was 24. :(

If you want to know ANYTHING PM me xxx

So pleased to hear the catheter is out. xxxx

Aw sleepingbunnies that is rough.

I remember when I went for my third TWOC having failed two of them spectacularly during my six days in hospital and there was a lady who was in the waiting room who was chatting with one the reception staff. The lady smiled ruefully and went maybe this month eh?

showtune very dark time... Was so pleased I only had one for a day after Dd2. :)

That's great news. I've only heard of one person in RL who has had anything remotely similar. The urogynae lot at our hospital were fantastic which made it all much more manageable. They seemed to think it was quite unusual, but it was quite a small hospital. I would like to say again that the self-catheterisation was better than the leg bag, just in case anyone else finds this thread from a search and gets that far into the process.

I've just realised I was watching your latent labour thread and had wondered why you hadn't been back. So glad that you got there in the end, although it sounds like you've had a right old time of it. Be kind to yourself and just take your time to enjoy your baby girl now as much as you can. Congratulations!

Hi and congratulations! This happened to me too. I remember being soshocked and upset. I had the catheter out after a week but i still had retained urine. But after another week (it seemed much much longer), the catheter was taken out and i was fine. Easy to say but try not to be too worried and upset and just enjoy your baby.Good luck