Old blood on C section dressing

[MumOfOneInTown123]

I had a planned c section 4 days ago and due to have my wound dressing taken off tomorrow which I'm nervous about!

On the day of c section a few hours after the op, a midwife checked my dressing and said there was some bleeding this can be normal and they will keep an eye.

The day after another midwife checked it and said its old blood, no fresh blood and all looks ok. She marked where the blood was so we could see if it spread after.

Since then its not spread but I've read some people never have any bleeding afterwards!

Also i know I'm only 4 days pp but my wound is more sore and stingy to the left side which is where most of the old blood happens to be too. Is that normal?

Anyone else have any experiences of this? Wanted to get other experiences before asking MW tomorrow.

I do wonder this. The midwives said they normally mark where any bleeding has happened to keep an eye on if it spreads or not. No idea if this is normal?!

'Old blood' means that it's blood from a few days ago, so it probably bled a little right after the dressing went on. Therefore the wound is still sterile, and there's been no further bleeding which is why it's not been changed. The longer this is left on, the less chance of infection getting into an unhealed wound. The wound also stays dry, and protected. They mark it to check from 'new bleeding' which would indicate that the wound hasn't healed properly yet.

The stinging on the same side as where the blood is fine, it's just where the stitches are, or where it's healing up a little slower. As long as there's no signs of infection, and the midwife is happy then I'd carry on. It took a couple of weeks for my wound to settle fully. Sounds like you're doing great!