Postnatal bleeding
Sep. 16th, 2006 09:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
I'm sure there's an appropriate community for this, but I'm not in it. Someone in my due date community asked about postnatal bleeding and the first postpartum period.
When I had my first baby, I bled afterwards. This was ok; the books said I would. No-one seemed worried.
When I had my second baby, by cesarean section, I also bled afterwards. Everyone was asking, pretty much constantly: "Is your bleeding heavy?" "Are you bleeding ok or is it too heavy?"
Well, I asked, what's heavy?
"How many pads do you get through?"
Incontinence pads or sanitary towels? Because with my first baby, I measured it in inco pads, several a day. This baby, I don't need an inco pad.
"Are the pads soaked?"
I'm not sure. They're more comfortable when I change for a fresh one, but last time, I left them in place until they were unable to absorb more fluid. Which is your definition of "soaked"?
...
And that's why I started asking people to look at the damn pad themselves. "Is your bleeding heavy?" I don't know. Here, look at this, is that heavy?
Turns out that this time I'm normal. Hah.
When I had my first baby, I bled afterwards. This was ok; the books said I would. No-one seemed worried.
When I had my second baby, by cesarean section, I also bled afterwards. Everyone was asking, pretty much constantly: "Is your bleeding heavy?" "Are you bleeding ok or is it too heavy?"
Well, I asked, what's heavy?
"How many pads do you get through?"
Incontinence pads or sanitary towels? Because with my first baby, I measured it in inco pads, several a day. This baby, I don't need an inco pad.
"Are the pads soaked?"
I'm not sure. They're more comfortable when I change for a fresh one, but last time, I left them in place until they were unable to absorb more fluid. Which is your definition of "soaked"?
...
And that's why I started asking people to look at the damn pad themselves. "Is your bleeding heavy?" I don't know. Here, look at this, is that heavy?
Turns out that this time I'm normal. Hah.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-16 09:51 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-17 01:04 pm (UTC)(I also had problems when they asked me to measure my pain levels on a scale of 1-10 without telling me what the grades were...)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-19 09:40 am (UTC)The other general guideline they give people is that the bleeding should not diminish and then get much heavier again. It should be less and less over time, and a noticeable increase in bleeding is a reason to call the doctor.
If you take those two things together, it works logically. For me, at least. :)
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-17 09:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-17 01:02 pm (UTC)Last time I had all sorts of fun and frolics, and the things that went wrong were about a 1 in 30,000 chance once we added it all up.
I have a feeling I'm going to bleed for about the same amount of time though; 7 weeks last time. We shall see.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-17 03:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-09-19 09:09 am (UTC)