Don't know if my tear is 'normal'...can someone please tell me?

[GrrrlWith2Boys]

I had DS2 11 days ago, and had what the midwife called a 'small tear' she said it didn't really need a stitch and it wasn't bleeding, so we left it as it was.

Had a bath this afternoon, and had a little feel for the first time (1st time i felt brave enough!) it felt very strange, which i suppose it to be expected. When i got out, i had a look using a mirror, and now i wish i hadn't

There's a sort of, hole there. I don't know if it's because it's started to heal from the top down, leaving a hole at the moment, or if that was the tear. And is this 'hole' going to go away eventually? (PLEASE say yes!)

Quite spun out. Wish i hadn't looked now. Does any of this sound normal to anyone?

Mine looked like that too for the first week or so. No idea if its 'normal' but it healed fine and you can't tell now (so I am told).

Yes it will heal up properly. It may take up to several weeks. The good news is that subsequent birth tears will heal quicker and hurt less - they usually occur where your original tear line is, so when you've finished having babies and it's all healed up, you may still be able to feel a line of scar tissue. You won't be able to see it though.

You will still have quite a lot of swelling in the whole region (which is no doubt making everything look a bit distorted and worse than things actually are).

Time is everything with pregnancy - stretch marks will fade, your tummy will flatten down again, your piles will go and your fanjo will be just fine.

But don't keep looking, OK?

never looking again!

It's hard to tell exactly without being able to have a look but it doesn't sound abnormal. I expect it's just the way it is healing, as you hoped.

It can all look rather scary down there because you're not used to it, but as long as there are no signs of infection (heat, redness, increasing pain/swelling, temperature) then it will probably heal just fine.

Are you still under midwifery care? If you're still concerned, give your community mws a call or ask them to pop around and have a look. HTH!

To quote someone on here (MartianBishop I think?) 'I looked like I'd been whacked in the fanjo with an axe'.

Everyone says that things always look worse than they are down there, but ask your midwife if you are really worried.

there's no pain at all. not under midwives now, and they were pretty crap tbh.

hopefully i'll be down to my usual number of orrifices soon

really the midwives have discharged you already? only ten days after having baby, god they are doing it quicker and quicker now arent they?

it does sound fairly normal tho

and i repeat DONT LOOK, i did after ds1 and quite soon after, BIG mistake, i never looked after the others, well not until i knew the swelling had gone down and things were healed etc.

I had a hole!

It healed fine...I got the impression from midwife that it can heal any which way it feels like... so long as its not icky with pus or really painful or looking really inflamed then the skin will just 'granulate' over And yes best not to look. I did straight after birth...someone had inconveniently placed the baby incubator thing right at the foot of the bed and the plastic side acted like a mirror my dh comment was 'it was like a butchers block'...

10 days post-delivery is the standard discharge now if everything is going ok. However, you are still entitled to midwifery care up until day 28 (but if they weren't much good you might not want it!)

Your GP is another bet, but it does sound as if everything's fine, really.

phew!

as it's not sore or icky, i'll leave it a bit and if it's still there, i'll see GP.

now i'm going to try and drink enough gin to forget what i've seen

when I 1st looked after dc1 i cried, I seem to recall I had a small hole.
Didn't look after dcs 2 & 3!
Am now, 16m later, perfectly "normal", well dp and I think so anyway, and def. no holes

My midwife made me look.....
It was fascinating! But I wish it hadn't been iyswim!
It does all heal up surprisingly well.

don't know if i am too late for this thread but i wanted to say that i had the same thing - it was so painful while it healed (every time i peed - gross!) but i have been leaft with a tiny hole at one end of the tear. i asked my GP about it and she said it was 'fine' - easy for her to say! but it doesn't cause me any probs now (a year after ds born). dh doesn't seem to worry about it either. hope you're doing ok, GrrrlWith2Boys!

I had an episiotomy 13 days ago as I needed forceps to help deliver my DS. I was horrified when I first saw my wound. I had loads more stitches than I imagined I would have.
When I was discharged from hospital, it became more painful so I got the midwife to check it, and I had a slight infection. Currently on antibiotics and it's feeling better, but my fanjo still looks like it's been attacked with a machete.
Each time the midwife visits I get her to check my fanjo, and she says it's healing well. On my maternity notes, she has commented that my perinium is 'gaping'. I asked if if it will ever heal properly, as I'm convinced I'll have what looks like 2 unhealed cuts, but she assures me it will all heal up nicely in time, and that she's seen 'far worse fannies' than mine