please tell me your experiences of tearing and stitching with no pain relief....i need reassurance!

[iamamummy]

hi ladies

this is a totally ridiculous post i know but i am 21 weeks pg with ds2 and i am having terrible nightmares about the birth etc.

ds1 was a planned homebirth but i ended up transferring to hospital for an epidural which did not take and i felt all contractions and crowning etc...ended up with a bad 2nd degree tear but i did not feel it and i also did not mind the stitches as i was also injected to numb the area.

i am now doubting myself about going through the whole process again. i am planning a homebirth again and have full support of the midwives.

so what i am asking is those of you who tore and were stitched who did not have epidurals what were your experiences? how did it feel?

i also found the recovery pretty painless even though it was very slow. so i guess what i am trying to say is at the time i knew the epidural did not work and it is stated in my notes as i felt EVERYTHING but now looking back i am thinking how am i going to cope without one? and i am doubting my ability to do it all again.

sorry this is just rambles but i have to get it out. all experiences welcome.

thanks

i had a graze that needed stitching, i had gas & air which i used from the injection of the local aneasthetic until the MW wrestled it off me again.. i really don';t recall it being painful. scratched when given the local, but really don;t remember it being painful.

Right, I tore badly with my first too (bloody epidurals!). I planned a home birth for my second and like you, I worried about tearing. I had been told at my NCT ante-natal classes that when it comes to pushing, little is best. So instead of huge pushes, quick little ones (if you have that much control) will ease the head out better and allow your skin to stretch instead of tear.

I wish I had listened to their advice. When ds came, I heard the midwife telling me to give it one big push. The little pushes flicked through my mind but I put all of my trust into the midwife and pushed with all my might.

I tore. In exactly the same place.

I was given gas and air whilst she stitched me. Trouble was that the midwife who did the stitching wasn't experienced, she was doing it under the guidance of another. I think that's why it was so painful. And I'm sorry but I won't lie to you, it was painful. However I was able to lie still and grit my teeth. I did scream at her once or twice which probably put her off, but when it was over, it was over and I could at last relax.

My advice to you is to ignore the midwife, to a certain extent, and push little and often to ease the head out. Give your dh some lubricant and ask him to massage it around your opening (if he can) whilst the baby is crowning.

If you do tear, take them up on their offer of gas and air and ask for an experience midwife to do the stitching. Don't allow them to do their training on you, they can do that in the hospital.

Best of luck!

Rather than tearing, I was cut - but I guess the outcome was the same. I didn't feel it at all and I had no pain relief. When it came to the stitching I was numbed and only felt occasional 'pricking' pains - which was nothing really. (The days following the event hurt like hell but I guess that's inevitable whatever happens

Best of luck - you'll be absolutely fine I'm sure

Hi there! With my DD I also had an epidural, had an episotomy and tore, but didn't feel anything - phew! With DS I had no pain relief so felt everything, but I didn't feel the tearing along my old episotomy scar - it was only afterwards that the midwife told me! Like Lulumama I felt a scratch with the local anaethetic for the stitching, but by that point you have your baby and nothing seems to matter then!!

Good luck and hope it all goes well!

With dd I had an epidural so didn't feel stitching, like you.

With ds, I had a tear that was (on paper) worse than dd's. But healed beautifully and was stitched expertly, so the outcome was far far more positive.

WRT to the feeling of tearing/stitching. I didn't feel the tear as such. Had the "ring of fire" that everyone talks about at crowning, but was expecting that and didn't have the sensation of anything more than I was expecting, IYSWIM.

Afterwards I had quite bad afterpains (again, something that tends to happen with second and subsequent babies). So I had gas and air even after ds had come out (and for the placenta). Then the stitching began. Had a local anaesthetic and LOTS of gas and air, and it was fine. Really, wasn't that bad. Not more than moderately uncomfortable.

DS was supposed to be born at home, but midwife shortage took me to hospital. Am aiming for a homebirth this time though.

I had a ventouse delivery following induction and was not allowed G&A during the ventouse part (as I was losing focus on pushing) and had no other pain relief in place. I had a small (I'm told) cut and tear and I had a local anaesthetic whilst they were repaired as well as G&A.

I do recall the ventouse and the stitching being the 'worse' bits of the birth but it was more that the sensations were unpleasant rather than painful.

I felt my recovery was much quicker than I expected - walked to our local pub on Day 3 (albeit quite slowly and asked for cushions when I got there)!

In retrospect, the unpleasant part was very short and not too unpleasant but I know it is easy to say that when I'm not currently pregnant. I am sure I too will become nervous if I have another baby. In the event though, it will be like last time - you just deal with situations as they arise on the day.

Have you been able to discuss alternative at-home pain relief options with your midwives? Someone else here may be able to advise better than me but I think meptid/pethidine may be available for some homebirths.

I had a homebirth for my DD, had no drug relief but was in a birth pool which was fantastic. Highly recommended.
It was a very quick delivery. I asked to be left alone as much as poss. My MW didn't tell me when to push and I can't say I actively did push, I let my body do what it wanted.
I had 1st dg tear on perenium and grazed labia. I wasn't stitched though so can't enlighten about that. I got over the birth very quickly and on baby's 5 day check I confessed I would do it all over again.

I too had a home birth. DD was 8lb 8oz and I only had gas and air. I had a 2nd degree tear .

To be honest I didn't even notice it had happened as I was a bit distracted pushing a human being outta my fadge .

It happened very quickly and I was already in so much pain (not very comforting I know) that the tear didn't really up it iyswim

My lovely midwife stitched me up very efficiently too and that didn't really hurt at all.

The finger up the bum thing was bizarre though

I had several (eeeks tears with DS1) 5 weeks early born in five hours and weighed 6 14. I had them stitched and they had to numb the area and it was the worst part of the whole birth! So when DS2 was born two years ago I was just like you. Dreading it.

DS2 was 3 weeks early and 8 14 and I did tear again, but did not notice and the midwife was quick smart at stitching me up!

I had an epidural which worked on my left side only, which was great, because I tore on that side only, so did not feel a thing!

Good luck and having two boys is just fabulous, full on, but I just love saying/yelling 'boys'come on!

I had an episotomy(sp) and stitches on gas and air, sore but as bunnylebowski says it was bearable along with the other pain already experiencing,

I just had to keep reminding myself that it was nearly over, I think thats what got me past it

i tore quite badly with Dd3 - shoulder dystocia - but stiching was fine with LA and gas and air. What I did find interesting was they ran around to find an experienced MW to stitch me becuase apparently most MWs don't get as much stitching practice as you'd expect because a lot of the tricky assisted deliveries are done in theatre and stitching done by doctor. So make sure if you need stitches it is someone who knows what they are doing !