more worried about the bloody bits after the actaul birth!

[artyearl]

hi am i alone in kinda looking forward to my impending birth of first child - curious? morbid fascination? want to know what every mum has been through? convinced of 'no pain no gain' theory?! not being naive about the pain thing but sort of thinking i will cope with it somehow - happy to embrace necessary drugs or interventions etc. BUT TOTALLY FREAKED OUT BY ALL HORROR STORIES OF MESSY TORN BLOODY BITS AFTERWARDS - weeing in the bath cos its so painful...standing up only to flood like never before...etc.. am i odd in this respect? have i got it the wrong way round? can hardly believe i will just be able to sail through that bit, forget it and say like the countless others, you don't actually know or care about that?!

Walked around like John Wayne for a couple of weeks after having DS but the first wee didn't sting at all. I couldn't face going for a number 2 for almost a week, however as I was absolutely terrified but once I plucked up the courage it was fine!

Had x
couple of glasses if wine but here :
Yes I did do the perineal massage tinhg in last stages with almond oil. No it's not fun no matter what they tell you. BUT it seemed to work.
No stitches and 2nd stage of 15 mins..... the first shower is not great but just don't rub your bits too hard. I forgot in the excitement of it all and did and felt like I'd just tried to shower with a cheese grater. Ow
But first wee and poo was fine. Held a towel over my fanny moved around VERy slowy for a few days.

i didn't have any stitches so thigns weren't that painful. sometimes wees were a bit painful though so i did wees in the bath!

Ibuprofen or diclofenac tablets (you need the diclofenac prescribed) are the way forward! Arnica tablets were also great - I stopped taking them day 5 and then restarted them a couple of days later when I realised what a difference they made.
Apparently you can put maternity pads in the freezer which helps, and then NCT will lend you a valley cushion if you're really sore.
To be honest it really won't bother you that much at the time, and is a good excuse to take things slowly for the first week or so and get lots of sympathy from people.
When I had my son 6 weeks ago I had an extended episiotomy, forceps delivery and various tears, but was so delighted to be a Mum and that we are both ok it really didn;t bother me that much.
Good Luck!

with dd i didnt notice the after bit bacause dd wasnt breathing when she came out so was watching her being given oxygen but i to get off my bed because no one changed it after i gave birth!!!
but with ds i was more aware of what was going around and its not that bad, the midwife changed sheets soon sfter i was on my feet within 20 mins! but the next day dp goes to me, ' by the way you pooed when you were pushing!!' i was shocked, he didnt want to tell me because he thought id be embarrassed!!

o had an episiotomy with dd1, it was so painful, they ended up giving me laxatives to go to loo, so i didnt have to strain, tore horrifically with both ds's and had the same experience, worried myself to death over dd2's birth only to have lightening quick labour with no stitches, nothing, was bounding round the ward showing my baby off just 2 hours later.

TBH my piles hurt more than my tear!!!!