When peeing postpartum hurts so much it becomes an event just to go to the bathroom, you need to read this and find ways to make that burning feeling stop.
If you thought pregnancy was difficult, wait until you need to experience peeing postpartum!
Giving birth is one of those amazing miracles we all can’t wait to experience one day. The thought of holding your child in your arms seems so blissful. All the stuff that comes with pregnancy is just so worth it.
After all, we’ve read books and hopefully know what to expect during pregnancy. So if we can just get past that part, everything else will be smooth sailing.
WRONG! First of all, pregnancy is never what you expect it to be. You may have an easy-going pregnancy but you may also experience weird pregnancy symptoms you never knew about. Fun times!
I was fortunate to have a pretty easy going pregnancy and a pretty simple birthing process. My gorgeous daughter was born quite easily, thanks to the aid of my favorite friend… the epidural. I was even one of those weird moms that helped pull her out because I was in no pain and enjoying the process.
Little did I know, my little peanuts big head (95th percentile thank you very much) ripped me wide open… to the fourth degree!
Now if any of you moms out there know what that means, I will accept your sympathies. But if you haven’t given birth yet, or you’ve never heard that term, I’m gonna let you read all about that here. Because I can’t relive that enough to explain it to you.
If you’re pregnant, don’t get scared! Because of my lovely epidural, I never felt a thing. When the doctor told me what happened, I just smiled and held my baby as he stitched that area back up again. Once the stitches are in place, it’s fine. Really, I promise. That part won’t be an issue.
Peeing postpartum in the hospital
When you’re in the hospital and you’ve just given birth, your body is still running on adrenaline. So you don’t feel much of anything. I actually remember feeling so good, I thought postpartum was going to be a breeze. I just had to focus on working out and getting rid of the tummy. Nothing else was wrong!
It’s not until you get home that the adrenaline wears off. And then all of a sudden the pain starts. Think of it this way… you had 9 months for your body to change and internal organs to move around. But within the first day postpartum your entire body moves its organs back into place. Not an easy thing to go through.
You can read more about my postpartum experience in this related article: What Nobody Tells You About Those First Two Weeks Postpartum. Trust me, you’re gonna want to check it out before you give birth. It’ll help you be prepared for what might come. I wish I was!
And make sure you’re ready to aid in your recovery with Your Postpartum Care Checklist.
The pain of peeing postpartum
So after you get home, and the adrenaline wears off, the pain starts to set in. You have fatigue and body aches. But worst of all is the burning sensation when you pee.
I’ve heard some doctors describe it as a slight sting. Those people can go jump off a cliff. For me, it burned so bad, I would scream and cry the entire time I was peeing. No joke. Think of it as pouring salt into an open wound. That’s exactly what it felt like. Each and every time.
You retain a lot of fluid when you get pregnant (hello swollen ankles!) and after you give birth, your body tried to flush all that fluid out. So you naturally have to pee even more postpartum then you did while pregnant. If that’s even possible!
The problem is, since it hurt so bad to pee, I would hold my bladder for as long as I possibly could. Until I felt like I was about to burst. Just to avoid going to the bathroom.
What you can do about it!
I was desperate for some kind of aid to this peeing postpartum problem. I was tired of taking deep breaths before I let the stream go. And I was exhausted at screaming in pain like someone was cutting me open each and every time.
I jumped on google to find any solution that I could. Most suggestions sucked. Almost like nobody was really understanding what I was going through. But I found a couple of things that helped… and one thing that worked like a dream!
Peeing in the shower Postpartum
I know I know, it sounds funny. But it does help a little bit. Fill the bath with a few inches of warm water. Sit down and just let yourself go. It does help with the stinging… a little bit.
* Try it with a Sitz Bath for more pain relief.
There are two problems with this. If you have stitches as I did, you are not supposed to soak them in water or they could dissolve faster then they are supposed to and come out. Yikes!
Second of all, this isn’t a very practical solution. You have to fill the bathtub every time you need to pee. Who has time for that?
Peeing postpartum is already a process. Adding more time to simple tasks will destroy you. And besides, what if you need to leave the house? Are you going to your friend’s house to visit and ask to pee in their tub when you need to use the bathroom?
OK, next suggestion, please…
Using a perianal bottle
This is my second favorite suggestion. Getting a perianal bottle (a fancy term for a spray bottle) helps by spraying warm water on the area that tore while you are peeing.
The warm water dilutes your urine and makes the “sting” a little more bearable.
What I like about this is that it is easy to do. Leave the bottle in the bathroom and put an extra one in your diaper bag for trips outside the house. They are inexpensive to buy and easy to have on hand any time you need to use them.
However, they don’t make the pain completely go away. You can still feel it a little. OK, a lot. So instead of screaming in pain, you may only cry in pain.
That still wasn’t good enough for me. So then I came across the one and final solution that worked like a charm. It was so easy and genius, I was mad at myself for not thinking about it.
Use Neosporin!
Yes. That is all. My simple and easy, practical solution. I searched everywhere for solutions to this problem and never came across this very simple answer.
Wait… let me explain more! What you do is you slather the Neosporin over the area of the stitches. It’s such a thick and waterproof substance. So when you pee, your urine goes right over the stitches and never touches the area at all.
The first time I put Neosporin over my stitches and peed… I cried. Not from pain, but from the sweet relief of being able to pee postpartum and not having any pain from it.
Seriously. No pain at all. I could pee in peace! As much as I wanted!
So there you have it. That’s all it took. A little tube of Neosporin that saved me, and will definitely help you out too. If you were lucky enough to tear during birth at all.
GOOD LUCK!
If you’d like to read more about my postpartum experience, you can also check out this article: I Didn’t Love My Baby at First and That’s Ok.
Final thought
Let me know if you try this Neosporin trick and if it works for you! Or if you have any other suggestions on what helped you with peeing postpartum, leave it in the comments below!
And when in despair, remember you are not alone. I LOVED this book by Jenny McCarthy. It’s funny and gives some good honest truth about postpartum and baby life.
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