Stitches after precipitate labour

[Twitchett22]

I had a second degree tear (mw thought was 3rd degree but luckily not quite there) after a ridiculously quick labour (resulting in dp delivering baby). It was stitched and im now on day 4. Pain has been fine, just feel very bruised and it's a bit sore when i wipe. But in a couple of weeks when the tear has fully healed, are my bits going to feel 'normal' again?
I also can't bring myself to look, dp thinks i should check to see stitches look OK but i can't do it, is it really going to be that bad?

I had my DD just over 4 weeks ago and suffered a third degree tear so bit more extensive.

I was very sore and bruised for first two weeks and was in fair amount of pain but I did also need forceps and had episiotomy aswell.

I checked my stitches at 6 days pp due to me freaking out I thought I had split them (very unlikely) and MW got me to check on the phone. I wasn’t to sure what to expect but it wasn’t terrible. But could see stitches and I was very badly bruised.

I’ve been able to check them every few days since and now 4 weeks pp things are healing up nicely and although you can see where it was stitched in general unless you studied vaginas daily as a job you really wouldn’t know the difference!!

Check if you think it won’t freak you out an then you can see it as it heals. Otherwise maybe wait few weeks before you check and you will probably be surprised. It won’t be too bad!

Don't look down there. You'll have no idea how it should look at this stage, you'll probably be faced with carnage and wonder how your fanny will ever function again.

Get the MW to check it if you're concerned as they'll know exactly if it's healing properly.

It will be ok though. I had a 3a tear first time round, an episiotomy second time. It'll take time though.

First off, congratulations! Second, I suppose it depends on how you think it might make you feel if there is a lot of bruising or swelling?

I had to have an episiotomy because baby was distressed. Not sure how many stitches I had. I wasn't released from hospital for 5 days (baby was on IV antibiotics because he had inhaled meconium) so couldn't properly check mine, but did when I got home because I wanted to make sure everything looked like it had been aligned properly and that there were no signs of infection. I wasn't worried about what it might look like because it's perfectly normal for it to not look ok - you have just pushed a baby out of there, and given time it will heal! But then I'm not particularly squeamish!

I think I must have been very lucky because I had no bruising whatsoever and minimal swelling - I guess my point being: no, not everyone does experience bruising or swelling and it isn't always that bad. I did however have quite a lot of pain after (couldn't walk properly for about 3 weeks), and have only just been able to DTD without wincing (LO is 6.5 months), so I guess you win some, you lose some.

No pressure for you to look - ask the MW to check it over for you if you'd rather not see it yourself. Would you and your DP feel comfortable enough for him to have a look for you? I asked mine to have a look to check that it all looked like it was healing well at various points and he didn't mind, but appreciate some people arent that comfortable about it.

Mine took about 6 weeks for stitches to heal and for it to look and feel normal (in terms of no bumpy bits from stitches etc), but as I mentioned above, it has taken a long time for the pain to settle for me! X

Thanks for your replies. Had no problems since, i did attempt a look the other day but I haven't got a small enough mirror to hold between my legs so unsuccessful lol but I'm going to get one and give it a go. My lochia is easing off so I think it will be easier to check now. I haven't lost any more stitches and bruising has eased a lot. It doesn't feel too swollen though.