Swollen labia and excruciating pain - why didn't I expect this?!

[bethabean]

I had my baby 4 days ago and I had to have the tiniest little episiotomy to get her out. I don't think it's the stitches that hurt but oh my goodness I can't sit, I can only waddle and even lying down hurts.
Also, I am SO swollen. My labia has tripled in width and its so huge down there, it feels like I have a football between my legs.
I guess it's normal considering what I just pushed out of my vagina but does this sound normal and does anyone have any pain relief advice?!
I've been taking paracetamol and Ibroprufen for the pain but it doesn't touch it. I also use Spritz for Bits but it doesn't do too much.

I think you need to seek professional advice from your midwife.

I don't think this is normal, it could be a haematoma for instance.

Hi, poor thing! Swelling is normal I think but shouldn't be so painful. I would think about seeing a doctor- my episiotomy was infected after my first and it was like how you describe. Like being kicked by a horse! Antibiotics made a big difference. Good luck and congratulations!

I tore and wasn't stitched as it had already started to knit together. Was in hospital for 3 days, had to poor warm water over whilst I peed. Was just generally a bit tender, it looked a bit of a car crash down there, but not swollen like you describe. Maybe get a MW to take a look?

Is the midwife coming to see you today? Get her to have a look, it might be infected if it is so swollen, you poor poor thing

I think you need to seek medical advice sharpish. That doesn't sound normal. A bit swollen, sure but triple the original size no way!

Were you pushing for a long time?

Thank you everyone for your help. It's so funny because you think and focus so much on the birth pains etc. and don't even consider the after effects! When you pair the after pains with being thrown into the deep end with looking after a new baby, it's a bit of a nightmare. Lord only knows how people do it whilst chasing a toddler around too

I have a midwife appointment tomorrow so I will ask her to take a look at it

@JustWonderingIfYou
I was pushing for 2 hours..not sure if that's long or not. As you can tell I am a first time mum and not very clued up on labour

I had an episiotomy with my dd and also ended up very swollen and in quite a bit of pain. I did in fact have an infection in the cut and needed antibiotics, so I'd certainly run this by your midwife.

I was massively swollen - it was a huge shock! My best friend gave birth a few months before me and experienced the same thing. We both said it looked like a baboons bum!
Not pretty and definitely unexpected but nothing wrong, it was just swelling.
It will go down soon.
Congrats on your baby.

I had an episiotomy and had swelling but it wasnt as bad as you describe.
It was ridiculously painful for 2 weeks following the birth though. I would even go as far as saying it hurt more than pushing the baby out!
One of my stitches came out after 3 days and so part of the wound had to granulate which took quite a long time. It wasnt infected though, just really sore.

Thank you everyone. The swelling has gone down slightly but is still painful to sit on unless I have been lying down for hours resting. Will definitely mention it to the midwife tomorrow morning