vaginal birth - how long for recovery

[overagain]

If you have a vaginal birth how long was recovery.

For the purposes of 'recovery' I mean:

• physical recovery, not mental health or baby related exhaustion etc
• no more pain
• grazes/ cuts healed
• sex back to normal
• normal continence
• could walk comfortably over a common distance (e.g. do a full supermarket shop).
• felt 'normal' (whatever that means to you)

I just want a sense of what is normal. There's loads of threads about c section recovery! I want to know the other side.

[mehithappens]

Walking was fine.

Sex about 9 months, had to do a lot of pelvic floor exercises as leaking a bit when bending or coughing for a while so I guess the answer is 9 months. I felt normal again and fully ok. I have a big baby though.

[Anna2006]

@Verbena87 and @olicat glad to be in a club with a few other battered fannys 🙈🙈

Dear god. I think I was naive as to how much damage childbirth can truly cause to some of us.

And your are right @Verbana87 I may not have hit all the bad branches. I currently have no issue with any prolapses. An neither is there any issue with my bladder. I think considering all the trauma that area went through. It could of been much worse.

But when people say they felt recovered in like a day 😱😱😱 shock. Wish it had been that easy lol

Almost 8 months pp and finally do feel more like myself. 💓

[user1471426142]

I had an instrumental, episiotomy and pph. I definitely remember walking around at 2 weeks and being ok but the first 10 days were very painful. I really struggled with the strictches and couldn’t sit down without hurting. I think all my stomach muscles were shot as well as it really hurt to sit up and I found it quite hard to get out of bed. I remember the first poo being utterly painful so next time I’ll ask for lactalose immediately and remember to take a jug for wees. Every time anyone checked my stitches they said what a good job the doctor had done. He was super careful as I remember him telling me I had some funny veins. Sex was fine at 6 weeks but a bit sore. I had dryness for a year but I don’t know if that was the pill or labour. It took a long time for my stomach muscles to recover and I’m not sure that they ever really got back to where I was pre pregnancy.

What I’ve noticed since is that some of my friends with the best labours on paper had tears that have really badly affected them in the long-term. I think they will have c sections for subsequent pregnancies to avoid many more damage.

[BeautifulPossibilities]

I was very shaky for a few hours and was whizzed about in a wheelchair for a bit.

But I was up and walking about 5/6 hours later properly. I had a graze that took a good few weeks to stop hurting when I peed but no stitches or anything.

Sex about 7 weeks. Waiting for the lochia to stop took longer than I thought!

[mildshock]

First baby around 9 weeks. Infection during labour, stitches, more infections, mastitis, ugh. We didn't have sex for 4 months. I was constipated for 6 weeks.

Second baby, normal continence same day, I felt physically well after 2 days and walking around as normal. I did have stitches as DS was back to back, but can't remember when they healed.
Afterpains were worse than labour for me, though infrequent and they stopped altogether after 2 weeks.
No sex for 8 weeks but that was only because I waited to get my coil fitted, I felt fine to have sex much earlier than that.

[Mumstheword1987]

1st 2 days felt normal
2nd induction was long and hard took me about 2 weeks
Pregnant with 3rd so hoping quickly

[holycityzoo]

I was so so lucky with my four births. I've never had to have stitches or any intervention.
I was back to normal in a couple of weeks with all of them. My pelvic floors worse than before having them ,but not awful.
The worst recovery was with dc3 where I had awful awful after pains for about three days. The midwives put this down to him being 10lb 8.
I was worried the same or worse would happen with dc4 as the pains are supposed to get worse with each child but I didn't have any problems in fact he was my easiest. I actually got up after having him had a shower, did my makeup got dressed and walked round to post natal.
However I know this isn't normal I just got lucky.

[olicat]

Another battered fanny forceps/episiotomy /bum nerve damage person here! 5 months on and things definitely don't feel normal. Reading some of these I do feel a bit hard done by that recovery has been so hard!

• the outside stitches healed fairly quickly but the internal ones got infected so it was 12 weeks before the scar stopped burning.

• went for a walk with the buggy 9 days pp (was in hospital for a week) but it was 5 weeks before I could walk properly.

• no sex yet - far too knackered and uncomfortable

• no bladder problems but due to nerve damage have limited warning before a poo. Working on this with physio though.

[Verbena87]

overagain numb sex is sad and shit: I’m in that dubious gang as well but am holding out hope.

[Verbena87]

anna hang in there. I noticed a real improvement around 7 months, and again around 11, and apparently nerve damage can keep getting better for up to 2 years and pelvic floor for 3 years or more.

And hugs from another battered-fanny-forceps-and-episiotomy-back-to-back-awkward-baby-club. (You may not have hit all the branches; I’ve got 2 sorts of prolapse which isn’t fun, but physio has helped a shed-load with those as well.)

[overagain]

Anna2006 I started it to see just how abnormal my recovery was. It turns out very! I was 14months before I didn't need to be insight of a toilet and around 20months before I could get rid of the tena lady. I still have some leaking and now I'm 23 weeks pregnant I need the tena lady again. Sex is still bad. It no longer hurts but I'm very numb. My episiotomy scar still tugs at times. I have an anal bulge they aren't sure about or what's causing it which causes some feacal incontinence and due to nerve damage I get very little notice of when I need to poo.

[Helpmemyhairisterrible]

2 vb's. First was second degree tear. Sex at 12 weeks. Ongoing piles/continence issues until second baby 18 months later. Now 14 weeks. No sex yet as not felt like it and now in separate beds preferring sleep and not disturbing each other. Much faster recovery. Continence issues all cured with this one. Was out cutting our huge hedges at 3 weeks and back to self employed gardening at 5 weeks. Tired but very well and mental health is better this time too, despite awful time with hospital after his birth.

[stellabird]

Normal deliveries for both, stitches for both. I was up walking around within an hour or so, felt fine. (OK I went out for a cigarette , whoops !)

Bleeding stopped after about a week. Stitches healed up fine.

Sex after about 8 weeks though I didn't feel like it much - just did it to keep things chugging along.

[Anna2006]

Wow. I actually feel a bit depressed reading this thread. It’s made me realise I am in the minority and was extremely unlucky with my delivery.

Well anyway you wanted a broad spectrum of realistic answers.

I am 7 months postpartum. An would say I am only now really feeling recovered. I had a forcep delivery with episiotomy and a 3rd degree tear. Back to back baby with compound arm presentation aswell. Safe to say it was a massacre.

5 weeks for physical stitches to heal over.

Months and months of massaging the scar tissue of my stitches for it to not be uncomfortable. An even now it can pull occasionally.

A good 12 weeks before I could walk more than 10 minutes without being in a lot of pain in my pelvic vagina area.

Sex still currently hurts. But we tried sex at 9 weeks pp. but I’m still seeing physio to try resolve my painful sex issues.

I would say I have now accepted my new normal. An feel normal ish. But I will never be 100% okay with it.

I hit all the fucking bad branches on the way down clearly 🙄🙄😫

[Girlwiththearabstrap]

I was induced, had back to back births and episiotomies both times. Big PPH with dc1 though and dc2 was bigger.

No more pain - just a few days each time. I only had paracetemol and ibuprofen. The back to back births did leave my pubic bone feeling a bit bruised!

• grazes/ cuts healed. My episiotomy healed quite fast. I can't really remember how long exactly. I don't think it stung to pee for long.
  

• sex back to normal. About 4/5 weeks each time. After dc2 I felt a bit numb the first time but normal after that.
  

• normal continence. Straight away.
  

• could walk comfortably over a common distance (e.g. do a full supermarket shop). I was walking around the shops and doing the nursery run after 3 or 4 days with dc2. I was in hospital for ages first time so I'm not sure how long that took. I did have a slight heavy achy feeling if I walked too far, lifted heavy things or stood for too long. That lasted a few weeks.
  

• felt 'normal' (whatever that means to you)
  

As above - doing day to day things fairly quickly. I did postnatal Pilates after 4 weeks and that helped my.abs and pelvic floor loads. I was doing Piyo and low impact gym classes from 6 weeks and went back to my usual high impact exercise at 12 weeks and feel absolutely fine now. (Dc2 is 4 months old)

[Stillwishihadabs]

Similar to others on here.
Walking around outside 3 days first time, next day 2nd time
Bleeding a week to 10 days
Sex around a month
Never had continence issues

[FrangipaniBlue]

Sex - about 6 weeks

Cuts/grazes - maybe 48hrs or so of stinging when I had a wee?

Physical/walking around - 24hrs, I went to town on my own for bits and bobs the same day I came home

Continence - had no effect on me whatsoever

I realise however you asked what is normal, I'm fairly sure my experience isn't that though?!

[trevthecat]

Baby 1 I had forceps and was cut so was a good 4 weeks. Baby's 2 and 3 just had small grazes and felt fine after 2 days

[Verbena87]

margo so good to hear it can be so different the second time round - thanks

[MrsPworkingmummy]

Dd1 - took about 3 days before I could do a grocery shop and walk comfortably around the park. We had sex about a month later and it was a little uncomfortable as I'd had a lot of stitches.
Dd2- 3rd degree tear. Very quick (but lovely) labour. Took about 2 weeks to feel normal. Had sex about 8 weeks later and it was great.}

[SecondTimeCharm]

a good solid 2 to 3 weeks before walking/going to the loo/getting up and down felt near normal again - i had episiotomy and ventouse birth after extended labour. all healed well though.

as for sex... i think it was about 10 months! but i was breastfeeding and co sleeping with DD who fed little and often (every hour on the hour for months!) and couldn’t be arsed with it

[MargoLovebutter]

1st birth, failed ventouse and emergency forceps after 20 hour labour. Episiotomy and tore. Stitches were too tight and became infected. Was diagnosed with PTSD about 8 months afterwards. Would say physical recovery took about 5 months, although didn't have a period until 7 months afterwards, even though I stopped breastfeeding after 4 months. Mental recovery took longer, probably 10 months to a year.

2nd birth, popped out after one and a half hour labour. Did tear badly again but midwife did repair, which took as long as the labour and I healed much quicker and better. Unfortunately, I had a ragged placenta and I did get an infection again afterwards, but recognised what was going on much quicker and physical recovery was probably a month. No need for mental recover as no trauma that time.

[Numero2]

So I had a 2nd degree tear and stitches which healed well and didn't cause me any problems.

I'd say about 6 weeks to be totally 'back to normal'. I went out for a walk after a couple of days (I'm not one to sit around for long as I get bored) and got on with normal things, but I did find I was quite 'achey' down below if I was on my feet for too long until I hit about the 6 week mark. Continence wise I was fortunately OK pretty much straight away.

[BernardsarenotalwaysSaints]

I've felt 'normal' by 2-4 weeks after all of mine, sex at 5-12ish weeks after. Bleeding gone by 9days- about 10 weeks. (I have 5dc, hence the quite large differences). Was doing school runs again very soon after dc4 but had a grace period of 5 weeks after dc5 as he was born at the start of the summer hols.

[Charlottejade89]

with my dd who is now 10 weeks, I had grazes so it was quite sore but probably felt alot better after about 10 days, after that it felt fine, I could walk etc but felt a heavy sort of sensation when standing up for long periods. But only bled properly for 2 weeks and had sex after 3 weeks.