# Anyone else have to be re-stitched post-partum?



## Yo Becca (Apr 17, 2005)

I had my son at home I guess 5 weeks ago now and had a 2nd degree tear, which my MW stitched.

My HB MW checked me at 3 weeks post-partum (for the first time since birth) and told me I needed to be re-stitched. We made plans to do it at 4 weeks, but b/c of other circumstances, the appt. got cancelled. I had already scheduled a 4 wk pp visit with the CNM I saw for prenatal care also, and her immediate response was that I needed to be re-stitched. She gave me a mirror and showed me the area. Basically, one raw edge of my tear was stitched, but not to the other raw edge of the tear, so as stiched it won't heal properly. She also told me it was infected (which I had begun to sorta fear but didn't want to believe). Her supervising OB insisted that she not remove the intact sutures or re-suture the tear until I was at least 6 wks pp. She wanted to prescribe abx, but I am extremely scared of developing a yeast infection on top of everything else (been fighting thrush, so I know I'm yeasty at the moment). Instead, she prescribed bactroban locally to address the infection. I'm also supposed to do sitz baths 2-3 times a day, which is impossible but I am getting one/day.

I called my HB MW and she strongly disagreed with waiting to resuture for another week plus at this point, which I agreed with. I don't see how waiting and letting the wound get older will help. So she is coming this weekend to re-stitch me.

Has anyone else had this done? If so, what was the recovery like? How bad was it (tell me the truth, I need to prepare)? Were you needing ice packs again?

I'm pretty traumatized about it all - the not healing, the mis-stitching, the infection, the prospect of being swollen and sore again, and of course the re-suturing process, which sounds un-fun on so many levels. I had a 3rd degree tear with my DD, and despite regular sitz baths, it took forever to heal.

Any BTDT stories appreciated...


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## rubymoon (Oct 25, 2006)

I'm sorry, I don't have any experience, but I didn't realize you could be stitched so long after the birth. I had a first degree tear that I didn't get stitched up and I'm not real happy with how it's healing. I guess I'll keep it in mind that I can possibly be stitched?? Anyhow, I wish you good luck with the process. I hope you heal up soon!


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## MsElle07 (Jul 14, 2006)

No advice, but thought I'd send a


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## KiwiZ (Apr 4, 2004)

I had to have some more "work done", will be glad to share my story. I had a 2nd degree tear and it looked like it was healing "funny" to me at about 3-4 weeks pp (looked kind of like a crater, where the skin didn't come back together I guess?). Anyway, they said it could get infected with fecal material so they "burned away" the scar tissue with silver nitrate(I think). I had also been stitched too tightly in my vaginal area and they had to snip me to correct it.

I was extremely anxious about having all this done and cried and gave myself a terrible migraine/tension headache. I tried to be calm but cried in front of the doctor and I'm glad I did. She was so sweet and calming to me and explained everything that she was going to do. Turns out the procedure hurt a lot less than I thought it would. I won't lie, thats not fair to you, it did hurt for a brief moment, but was over so fast and was seriously way less pain than I had anticipated. I bled for a few days IIRC and went back to my "regular pp care" for about a week (i.e. using a squirt bottle to rinse myself with, tux pads)

Tell your HCP your fears and have them explain everything to your satisfaction. I hope my story comforts you. I'm so glad I did it, everything healed beautifully after that. Hope more people share stories so you can see you are not alone


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## HarperRose (Feb 22, 2007)

I've not dealt with that personally, but I thought I'd give you the name of a solution that we use to heal general wounds and that I've used on babies w/ diaper rash.

http://vitanetonline.com/description...rey-Aloe-Vera/

I buy it at the health food store. We love it and the kids ask for it because it doesn't burn.









Feel better! I hope you get through it all quickly and without many tears.


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## Yo Becca (Apr 17, 2005)

Thanks everyone for you responses.

KiwiZ - it's good to hear your story - thank you.


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## Baby1inMarch07 (Jan 20, 2007)

I tore, and my MW suggested not stitching and letting me heal naturally. When I had my 6 week pp check with another doc, she told me I was healing not in a straight line and that it would take a lot of time to heal properly. I asked if I could be stitched at 6 weeks and she said no, that there's only a 24-hour window to be stitched after birth or it gets infected. Is this not true? And do any of you have stories of not getting stitched for a 1-2 degree tear but it heals well in the end? How long does it typically take?


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