Stitches come apart!

[Toobloodytired]

Just rang midwife and have been told that I need antibiotics, asked wtf they plan on doing about the bleeding (it's not a little, it's a bloody lot!), she said nothing!

Just had a look with a mirror & my fucking god, it looks like a blind person has stitched me up, it's fucking horrendous, im trying not to cry writing this! I'm bloody devastated, I've been butchered.

It only stops bleeding with a pad pushed against it but as soon as it's taken off, it constantly drips bright red blood, it's been like this for absolute days now, it isn't stopping & I'm being told they can't do anything??

I'm anaemic too! I can't afford to lose any blood, however a part of me just wants to sit on the toilet & let it run out until my levels have gone too low again so they will actually do something!!

Ffs, what am I going to do about the look of it, it's horrible!

Has the midwife actually had a look at your stitches? Could you call the postnatal ward and ask for advice?

Don't worry about how it looks now. It's a fresh wound. When it heals it will look fine.

this happened to me and it seemed horrendous at the time. The wound was gaping and the sides were no where near each other. I was really frightend and depressed about it. I couldnt understand why they wouldnt do anything and said it would heal naturally. The sides werent even touching how could it heal?!
I made the mistake of often looking at it which made me feel worse. I couldnt even walk or sit and had to lie on a bed or sit on one of those donut cusions and i bled everywhere.

But it did heal completely!!!! Like you cant even tell now!! It took about 3 months tho to be able to move about more.
What i would reccomend is lying on a towel naked from time to time to let the air get to the wound. Also stretching gently so that it doesnt heal tightly.

It does bleed a hell of a lot as well. I was anaemic for months.

Can't believe they won't re-stitch? I assume there's a good medical reason but three months seems like a long time to leave someone with an open wound

they dont re stitch now days because of the risk of stitching in infection and also that the wound wont heal naturally ie it will heal too tightly and cause more problems.
I was furious they wouldnt re stitch and then i spoke to my mother who had been restitched immediately after her stitches had fallen out in the 80s when she had me. Her wound had healed so strangely because of the restitching that she was rendered infertile because of the scarring!!
The policy on not restitching straight away nowdays seems pretty sensible to me now.
They will re stitch once the wound is completely healed in the rare occurance it hasnt healed right. I think its called a fentons procedure. But the general consensus is that its actually alot safer to let wounds heal naturally first once theyve become unstitched and then deal with any problems that arise after they have healed.

Thanks lazy I did wonder if it was something like that.

When my pony was gelded at 8 months the vet told me they never stitch the castration site. I was a bit at him having an open wound for however long it took to heal but it actually healed totally cleanly in no time. Absolutely nothing to see now, so I guess the not re-stitching makes sense.

Can't be pleasant though. OP - hope you feel better soon.

Omg thank god! I've been horribly panicking about being left looking butchered, I know it's a place I don't look at, however being 27 & not having retired from a sex life, I'm scared it won't heal properly & cause issues! I.E pain.

Is it normal that my downstairs is saggier than normal now the swelling has gone??

How is the bleeding now? If you are not happy return and get it checked again. I got them to check mine so many times as it felt such a mess down there.

My stitches also came apart after less than a week and I couldn't even walk or sit properly from the pain. I felt broken, I cried for days.

I know it feels awful right now but I promise you it will get better.

My delivery was also exactly the same as yours and was left with no feeling in my pelvic floor at all, couldn't stop weeing if I tried.

I'm now 9 weeks post partum and GP checked the other day and it's all healed perfectly. I actually have a pelvic floor again too (not perfect yet, but I no longer feel like I am going to shit myself constantly)
I hope it gets easier soon

If anything the bleeding is increasing.

I have been to hospital & told I've got an infection in my womb & been put on antibiotics for another 5 days (yesterday being the first).

I think I've got thrush from the first lot of antibiotics, so will wait until these ones are done & treat it.

I cannot wait until absolutely everything down there completely heals.

Poor you, thrush as well

Hopefully the antibiotics will sort the bleeding out

I had the exact same thing and the few stitches that did stay together they ended up cutting, 10 weeks on and much better but not completely healed, would advise to air as much as possible and I also poured warm water over it with a jug while weeing. I know how upsetting it is, try not to let it get you down.

I honestly could have written this myself. I had DC2 8 weeks ago and was devastated when it happened and couldn't stop crying. Still not totally healed 8 weeks on but 90% there and was only painful and bleeding for a couple of weeks. The pain did get better really quite quickly. (But I didn't have an infection so don't know if that changes things).
Hope you feel better soon.

I would definitely say the best advice I was given was to stop looking at it. Checking it repeatedly to see if it's improving pulls the edges apart and can delay it coming together. I know it's hard to do though.

Definitely don't look! But do ask your midwife to check your stitches/wounds for infection. Mine actually mentioned I had a skin tag hanging down (second birth and they had problems stitching due to scar tissue from previous birth). Midwifes advice was wait until at least 6 week check up before discussing with GP as to whether corrective surgery was required. I was convinced I'd need tidying up, but after all the swelling had gone down, even my skin tag had almost shrunk away to nothing and I feel and look completely back to normal. What I would say is trust your instincts if you feel your bleeding isn't normal or you feel unwell. I got told I was being overly anxious as I was really sore and had heavy bleeding for a good few weeks post birth, I also just felt really unwell compared to my first. One GP gave me antibiotics for a suspected UTI, but after being rushed into A&E and then readmitted to the Gynaecology Ward when baby was 4 weeks old, it was found I had a massive infection in my womb and needed another 2 lots of stronger antibiotics. Also had a scan for retained products but it was negative. I have never felt so unwell. I knew from the outset I wasn't well and just kept getting told it was normal. I know every birth is different but with my first I was out and about for walks when she was a few days old and back running at 3 weeks (even after surgery for a 3rd degree tear). With my second I supposedly only had grazing which required a couple of stitches on the Ward but because it was scar tissue the midwife struggled to do it and eventually called a Consultant in. I didn't leave the house other than medical appointments for the first 8 weeks, I felt so unwell.

Plug, how long did it take you to heal completely? 6weeks? Like I said I'm 90% there but starting to feel like the last little bit at top of wound will never heal. When do gynae consider repairing?

I'd probably say nearer 8 weeks. My swelling had gone, infection finally cleared up, and I felt better in myself so was getting out for walks with baby - being active promotes the healing process too. My midwife told me to ask about corrective surgery at my 6 week check which I did out of interest, but GP I saw said wait another month, then go back if needed, and she was right, I just needed a little bit more time.

Dermalmd scar serum is great. I noticed a significant difference in my 32 stitches scar that I got. It was very raised but after applying dermalmd serum for only a few days, the scar became less raised. I was very impressed!!!