Idiots guide to episiotomy recovery.

[Tribblewithoutacause]

Can people remind me of what I need to do? I've just given birth to dc2 and needed a bit of help during delivery.

Can someone remind me of good wound care please? (Please excuse the randomness, I'm very tired at the moment).

From what I remember. Hold wet clean cloth or tp on your stiches when you go to the loo and have a jug in the bathroom so you can rinse off rather than wipe after. Eat lots of fruit and drink lots of water. Full dose paracetamol and ibuprofen for a few days. Arnica tabs to help healing if you have them. Roll off the bed rather than trying to sit up suddenly. Take baths but not too hot, no soap or bubbles and air dry stitches after. Keep an eye out for any signs of infection and you'll be right as rain in no time. I put a little salt in my baths but that's a personal choice, don't know if it helped heal quicker or not. Lie down to bf if you are taking that route, good excuse for extra rest. Just go easy and remember it will get a little worse before it gets better. Good luck and congrats on your baby :)

www.nhs.uk/Conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/Pages/episiotomy.aspx

www.buzzle.com/articles/episiotomy-recovery.html

Found these for you, also I did use an ice pack for the first couple of days a bit, seemed to help.

Ice pack isn't great because when the blood returns to the area it's very painful again.
Tea tree oil in bath. Dulcolax if you have constipation. Try to have bare bum as much as possible, at night for example.

Tea tree oil and sea salt in the bath were the only things that really helped me.

Oh and sleeping with a pillow between my legs.

After the worst of the lochia is gone try sleeping on a Pampers change mat to allow the air to get to your wound.

And Lavender oil in a glass of milk poured in the bath was very soothing for me.

I had an episiotomy 9 weeks ago, recovery was fine.

Things that helped me were:

Alternating ibuprofen and paracetamol every two hours religiously to keep the pain at bay.

Arnica tablets daily

A few drops of tea tree oil, lavender and a tincture called something like calendula hypericum in a glass of milk poured into a not too hot bath. (The milk disperses the oil into the water rather than it just sitting on top).

I also made a spray water bottle up with tea tree, lavender and the tincture too. I sprayed this on after going to the loo and also onto my maternity pad. I found it cooling and refreshing as well as being a natural antibacterial.

Lots of fruit, apricots etc to help going to the loo.

I also found those moist toilet tissue wipes really good as they don't drag and help you feel clean.

I couldn't work out the whole pouring water on yourself whilst you wee thing! But luckily it didn't really sting for me anyway.

Oh and mw told me not to sit still for too long, get up and move around every hour or so to keep blood circulating in that area. I found if I did sit down for a few hours straight I got very achy.

Good luck!

Ps I got the arnica in a health food type shop and they recommended that tincture.

When sitting down on sofa sit like a mermaid to the side so you aren't putting direct pressure onto the would. When o toilet I used a jug of warm water with a drop of tea tree or lavender in it to help healing. And I used Arnica and the bruises healed really quickly.

Congratulations on your baby! The best tip that I was given was to use a hair dryer after a bath or shower to dry your nether regions . Would second what everybody else says about not sitting "normally" - lots of lounging on the sofa to keep pressure off the area whilst it heals. Definitely take lots of regular pain relief - you don't get any medals for "trying to cope", and it will take time to heal.

I didn't have an episiotomy but I had some tears. I was given an anaesthetic gel to use before going to the loo. I never felt any stinging or pain with it.

I was told to wash my hands before going to the loo, as well as after, to reduce the chance of infection. I've had 3 DC (2 episiotomies and 1 tear - so nice to have experienced both) and this last time when I was slightly maniacal about hand washing before going was the only time I didn't get an infection.

Invest in some nice handcream though...

Day 6 after episiotomy here & already feeling so much better! I had a ventouse delivery.

For the first 3 days it wasn't so much the stitches (although they were stingy) but the fact that I felt like the world was going to fall out of my bum! This was a horrible feeling but has settled nicely.

I've found that sitting with a pillow under each bum cheek with a gap in the middle takes the pressure off. Lots of baths are very soothing. When you go for a wee either tie a jug of tepid water & lean back & just pour or sit very forward so the stingy pee doesn't touch the stitch line! Regular painkillers are a must for at least a week (I'm planning to continue for a bit). Wash hands before the loo as well as after. Gently pat dry after washing/hair dryer if very sore.

Also glass of wine before bed I'm sure is helping lots!