painful episiotomy even after 5 wks of delivery

I agree with Alison, If there is a yellowish discharge or a funky smell, these are signs of infection and when caught early can be treated with antibiotics. You don't want it to get worse-- call your doctor.

Keep us posted,
Rosa

When is your post-delivery appointment with your midwife? I assume it is at the 6 week mark?

Just so you know....I felt tremendously better at the 8 week mark, and sometime before the 10 week mark I felt "back to normal". You may just have a few more weeks of hurting, and your body knows how to heal itself...hang in there and ask for another 1-2 weeks of pain killers if you need them!

Hi anon,
I was also one of those women who did not recover as fast as the doctors and nurses said was within the "normal range".

However...it is crucial that you call your midwife or OB/GYN to rule out infection or other possible complication since you are having "extreme pain". Please do this today or first thing Monday morning.

Once you have ruled out other reasons for the extreme pain, you will be amazed at how much you mentally will relax that something is not terribly wrong (or, if you do have an infection for instance, you can get a prescription and feel a LOT better very quickly).

Your midwife or OB/GYN can help you pinpoint the exact area of pain, or explain if there is still swelling that is causing the pain. Some of the pain can be the pulling from the stitches...which means you are healing. Depending on the cause of pain...you can then try some other remedies (swelling...you can take more sitz baths, for instance).

As far as pain killers, you would need to be prescribe additional medication from your own doctor, or ask if you can add some OTC (over-the-counter) acetomininophen (ie, Tylenol) or ibuprofen to your current regimine. (You must ask first for proper dosages, and confirm with your pharmasicst about all the medications you are currently taking).

How are you doing with your new baby? Whether you are trying to breastfeed or bottle feed, even the act of sitting to feed the baby hurts, and have you tried different types of cushions and seating positions (to take pressure off of your episiotomy)? It sounds counter-intuitive, but after the 6 week mark, I felt a lot better because sitting on something a little firmer helped ease the pain (the softer cushions seemed to come into contact with "everything", whereas the firmer chair only touched one part of my still-swollen self, and I could handle that one area better than just the general-all-over-pain.

I promise you: you will heal, you will feel like yourself again. I do not know why it is not talked about often, but there is a HUGE range of what is considered "normal" as far as healing, depending on your body, your type of delivery, etc. I felt like I was a big wimp calling a few too many times to get more pain killers...but my understanding OB/GYN and NP knew I had a rough delivery and knew me well enough through my prenatal care that I wasn't just "drug seeking"...I was really in pain.

Please let me know if this information helped! My "baby" is now 16 months...and it does get better, promise! Hang in there, and we're here if you want to talk more about your healing process, your new baby, the ups and downs of having a newborn...many of us have "been there, done that" (or, are currently going through it) and it is important to talk to one another!