Advice please, 4 weeks pp forceps/epsisitomy delivery

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Just wondered if anyone could put my mind at ease.

With my first son I had a really easy labour/recovery. When expecting my second son I assumed this would be the case again, silly me! Unfortunately I had to be induced & to say it was horrific is an understatement!
I wasn't monitored correctly & believed by midwifes that I was actually in labour until it was too late. I then ended up with emergency forceps/epsisitomy as he had stopped breathing. My after care was shocking and left to get on with it, I had major blood loss & should of been given a transfusion. My doctor rang me to tell me this a week after so have been on iron tablets.
I went to see my doctor again last week as my epsisitomy isn't healing at the top of my vagina with is mortifying, just what you don't want. She has told me it should heal?! If not I will need a fentons operation, I can't bear the thought of that right now. She was also concerned how red and sore I still look on one side internally, is this to be expected 4 weeks pp?! She's made me totally paranoid as she said I should probably be referred back to the hospital. I go back to see her on Thursday and she makes her mind up then.
I still feel extremely bruised down below with pressure, I've talked myself into have some kind of prolapse!
Is it normal to have bruising & pain down there 4 weeks on? When I walk I get a stabbing pain in my epsisitomy scar as well, which aches for hours. I'm terrified I'm going to have permanent damage down there. I'm glad my doctor is willing to refer me so quickly but it's made me more concerned. The pain stopped after two weeks but now I've started being more mobile I've had to start taking pain killers again.
I did the school run this morning, very slowly & all the other mums kept saying are you not feeling better yet? Made me feel even worse like I'm some kind of baby imagining all of this.

Sorry for a long rambling post, need to get it off my chest. I've turned into a nervous wreck from this, the past 4 weeks I should be enjoying with both my wonderful boys I've spent most of it in tears.

Hi. Sorry you are in so much pain with it. You've done the best thing of going to docs so hopefully it'll be investigated. I too had forceps and episiotomy and took a very long time to heal down there. I was fairly sore down there for a couple of months - things like sitting in the bath, scooting down the bed to get out (Moses basket blocking my exit) and occasionally long walks, even coughing! I didn't have stabbing pain though. It started getting better slowly. But it wasn't til about 7/8 months pp I felt completely back to normal. I took arnica tablets for internal bruising, not sure if they helped as nothing to compare to but worth a try.

Hope you manage to get some advice but don't worry too much, 4 weeks pp isn't long at all after such a procedure. Let us know how you get on.

If your episiotomy scar has not yet fully healed, it is completely understandable that you are still experiencing pain. I had a very similar experience, with a forceps delivery, and I was in excruciating, pain for the first couple of weeks. Like you, I thought that it had started to ease up, so proudly took my newborn for her first trip out in the pram at 14 days old, and then duly ended up being re-admitted to hospital 3 days later as I was in agony again.

Unless you have been through the same sort of pain, I don't think you can appreciate how debilitating it can be, so please do ignore the mums on the school run. It's great that your GP is treating it seriously, but I would allow a few more weeks for natural healing before thinking about a Fenton's Procedure. My advice would be to continue with the painkillers, taking them in advance of when you have to be mobile, and to take it as easy as it is possible to do with 2 children including a newborn!

I did end up having a Fenton's Procedure eventually, but not until DD was 4.5 years old. I was dreading it, but the recovery time was incredibly quick and relatively painless, and I wish I had booked in for it years before!

Thanks so much ladies for your replies, I think I should give it a few more weeks. Maybe I'm expecting too much of myself. Reading other peoples experiences it's usually around 6-8 weeks that people start to feel a bit better down there, just need to be a bit patient.
It was the doctors reaction that concerned me the most, she was even surprised that I'm still in any pain.

Do you mind me asking tattycatty why you had the op, was it for cosmetic reasons or pain?

Ask away! I had the Op because when DD was around 3.5 years old, I started to get all of the aching and pain back again around my Epi scar, after 3 years without any real discomfort. They discovered that one of my internal stitches had never dissolved, and when a GP tried to remove the offending suture thread, she managed to snap it and it retreated into the vaginal wall.

After many months of faffing, I eventually got a referral to a Gynae, who quickly determined that the miniscule hole left by the stitch still being in place was causing recurrent infections, hence the pain. So yes, the Op was for pain reasons, but I just want to reassure you that it was not a case of being in agony for that long before I mustered the resolve to get it sorted.

Sorry to hear you've had such a bad time. I had a forceps delivery in April last year, and ended up with an episiotomy and 3b tear. It was painful for ages but it did keep getting better though it took a very long time. Granulation tissue present after 7 months was gone when I was examined at 10 months. It was about 8 months before I could walk far without aching.

I still had a tiny bit of scar tissue that was very stingy so I had a Fenton's Procedure 10 months after the birth. It was really fine - as there wasn't too much scar tissue I had it under local anaesthetic, it was very quick and it wasn't painful for long afterwards. Maybe 5 days needing paracetamol. It worked and I have no further problems though three months on it still feels as if it is knotting together. No pain or discomfort at all.

I don't think they like to do Fenton's until at least six months on, as things can improve on their own.

Hope you feel better soon.

I had a forceps and episiotomy and was in agony for two weeks (I developed an infection after about two days and needed antibiotics)which dulled to a bad throb for about another 4 weeks.