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I am pretty sure I wont get a vaginal birth but just incase I had some Q's about tears and cuts.
With both of my kids I was cut. DS was right there and they ended up cutting a chunk of his hair off. I didnt have any issues relating to it. It healed fine. I was of course sore for a while after his birth. With DD I was cut and it wasnt nearly as bad as it was with DS.
Ive heard mixed things about tearing is better/worse than being cut.
I tore with my daughter (when they used the vacuum) and it was bad, but i cant compare it to anything else since she's my only one so far. It was a 3rd degree tear, and i needed a lot of stitches and actually had scar tissue inside for about 9-10 months after the birth which made sex really REALLY painful (even with tons of lube!). Im not sure if I would want to be cut though...if you get cut you know you will need stitches, where as if you tear naturally there is a chance you will need less stitches, or maybe not tear at all!
Im glad you brought this up. Im going to ask my OB at my next appt what the practice is here about tearing/cutting.
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I was cut with Alex and will have them cut me if necessary. The pain from the cut was minimal, the stitches healed fine, and you can't even tell now that it was done.
i tore with both. What I was told when pg with dd made sense to me so i went with that theory for both deliveries.
It was explained to me that the skin is like a piece of cloth. if you cut a piece of cloth it tears much easier than if not....so i decided not to be cut and take my chances. I had more stitches with serena than i did with xander. but serena's head was bigger.
Xander i have two stitches (one in front and one in back). very minimal and the pain was not bad at all..
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Pam
Mommy to Serena (12-9-01) and Xander (4-13-09)
I had some major tears inside from the vacuum being forced inside of my vaginal canal. I actually had very little pain. My SIL tore (4th degree) and was miserable. My OB said cutting is better than tearing because with tearing, you could have a jagged tear which would make repair much more difficult. With a small cut, it can usually be repaired without any issues and easier healing.
I had a 3rd degree tear with DS and had to go to surgery to get stitched up - i have no idea how many stitches i had, but i remember the surgeon telling me that he'd fix me up so well i'd never know anyone had been there, lol. I was really lucky and healed pretty quickly (i had epson salt baths and washed 'down there' after everytime i went #2 - and used a blow dryer to dry the area after all baths and showers.
With DD i sooo didnt want to tear again so they gave me an episiotomy instead (which is apparently the same as a 2nd degree tear) and the doc just stitched me up inthe labour room, and lucky i again healled really quickly.
Out of the 2, i would definitly go with the cut - when i tore it was the single most stinging painful thing ive experienced. I will most likely end up with another cut this time too - but it for me, it was better then tearing so i dont mind too much.
I don't really know which is better or worse, I had both and the tear was easier to recover from but it was also very small compared to the cut... With Joe they gave me an episiotomy... it was deep and from end to end! IMO my cut was very unnecessary and I still 100% believe they only did it so the intern could "practice" on me. It took months to heal from and was soo painful and miserable. So when I got pregnant again I told my OB that I didn't mind having one if it was really really necessary but I didn't want it to be done just because I *might* tear. Anyway, during Jay's delivery I tore and it was just the smallest tear, a couple of stitches. Recovery was sooo much faster and it really didn't even hurt! What irritates me is that my first baby was considerably smaller than my 2nd so now I even more believe I did not need the episiotomy, grrr! My midwife doesn't cut and "works" to stretch so you don't tear, or don't tear too bad and I'm fine with that.
I tore (up into my urethra!) but it healed fast. I can't compare to a cut though, I've had a cut before. My OB practice is all younger OB's and they don't really do episiotomies anymore, they would rather you tear, they say it heals better and with less scar tissue.
With Makenna I had a 1st degree tear and no muscle tissue was involved. I had a couple of stitches and healed pretty easily. I also had a small labia tear and that stung more than the other tear. The Dr told me I actually tore exactly where they usually do an episiotomy so I lucked out.
It stung to pee for a few weeks but using the PERI bottle and squirting water while I pee'd helped a lot. I hope I don't really have any big tears this time either and I don't want an episiotomy either.
My previous doc and my current mid-wife both used the tearing a piece of cloth analogy... If you try to tear a normal piece of cloth it is pretty hard to tear, if you put a small cut in tears very easily...
Neither of my care providers did episiotomies routinely... With my daughter I to re a tiny bit requiring 3 stitches, and with my son, I had some superficial tears that didn't require anything at all..
I know that my midwife says that they will massage the area with olive oil if need be, to help prevent tearing...
I'm leaning to no cutting but this is my first.... I've heard the fabric thing.... and I guess I tend to like the less is more method in the medical field..... I should probably add this to the research this pile of stuff.
My Ob practice also tries to avoid cutting. With my first her head was really big and not coming down quite right so he ended up using the forceps and tearing me in the process. It wasn't too bad in the immediate aftermath, but I did have discomfort there for months and sex was really uncomfortable for quite a while.
With my 2nd, there was a lot of concern about his size, and in particular the size of his shoulders because I had GD. They really worry about the shoulders getting stuck and lack of oxygen and so forth. So even though he was delivering pretty easily she told me she was going to go ahead and cut me, which was fine with me because I was concerned as well. It was a MUCH easier birth (was this due to her cutting me or due to it being #2?) The immediate recovery was worse I thought - I had more pain and stinging and so forth. But long term it didn't take nearly as long for all pain to go away.
So, I have mixed feelings. Its hard for me to compare my 2 because no one ever told me how many stitches I had or how bad the damage was (and I never asked!) so I don't know which was worse. My attitude is do what you think is necessary to deliver the baby safely. I know their attitude is still no cutting unless necessary, so if they do cut me it will be because they thought it was the safest way.
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ive heard both ways also. i tore with justin, and only needed about 3 or 4 stitches. i was a little sore for a few days, but i cant remember it even being that bothersome
I tore with Cassidy, 3rd degree and stitches almost from one end to the other. My peri bottle and cool wipes were my best friend for like 5 weeks!!! My Doc had JUST told me she has going to cut before a tear happened. She said when i finished the pushes (you do like 3 and then take a break, 3 and break) she'd do it. But I was in so much pain I didn't really get what she was saying and just wanted her OUT, so I pushed a 4th time even though I wasn't supposed to and wham! The doc and nurses all were like whoa! I won't make that mistake again!!!!!! SO I don't know what is worse, I'd think the cut it better because it's controlled and it's usually to prevent major tearing. So this time I'll listen and only push when told!!!!
I have only known one way, I was cut with ds. It was a pretty bad cut (he had a BIG head) but healed well and I didnt really have any problems until I got pg again and then lately with all the pressure down there I can "feel" where I was cut. I will probably take the cut again, my sil did not get cut and she was in MAJOR pain from tearing very badly but I dont know if she would have had a large cut anyway, kwim?
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