Had a follow up appointment at the hospital today to check my progress. Unfortunately I left feeling very discouraged over the fact that my stitches were not healing as quickly as they should due to a gap left in the seam of stitches I had to have after my labour. I'm very much aware that this thing is probably a very trivial matter in the grand scheme of things, but isn't it sometimes the seemingly little things that get under our skin the most?
They midwives were very sympathetic over the pain and discomfort I was going through. They consulted the doctor who said at this stage they could not restitch it or do anything else except for me to take antibiotics, keep the wound clean and dry and let it heal slowly by itself.
When they said it could take at least another two weeks for the gap in my stitches to heal, I just lost it. The thought of having to go through another two weeks of discomfort, limited mobility and plain inconvenience was just horrible. It was just an added burden of the whole steep learning curve of parenting we were already undergoing.
Already it's bad enough having to sift through all the well intended advice and platitudes of what we should and should not do with feeding and looking after the baby, establishing a routine for baby, looking after myself, eating this or not eating that... It can get pretty overwheming at times. And please don't think it's you... a lot of the info overload is coming from articles and books. And it's not that simple to tell us not to read this or listen to that person... Because we are new at this and do welcome good advice... but we then need to exercise judgment and discernment to figure out what is right for our situation.
So on top of all that, I really did not relish the thought of having to bear with this remnant of my battle scars for yet another couple of weeks. Rest assured I'm doing all I can to follow doctor's orders to look after my stitches, it's just that it will take longer than usual to heal.
P.S. Thanks in advance for any words of encouragement that this will soon pass. I know it will, I'm just going through it now
They midwives were very sympathetic over the pain and discomfort I was going through. They consulted the doctor who said at this stage they could not restitch it or do anything else except for me to take antibiotics, keep the wound clean and dry and let it heal slowly by itself.
When they said it could take at least another two weeks for the gap in my stitches to heal, I just lost it. The thought of having to go through another two weeks of discomfort, limited mobility and plain inconvenience was just horrible. It was just an added burden of the whole steep learning curve of parenting we were already undergoing.
Already it's bad enough having to sift through all the well intended advice and platitudes of what we should and should not do with feeding and looking after the baby, establishing a routine for baby, looking after myself, eating this or not eating that... It can get pretty overwheming at times. And please don't think it's you... a lot of the info overload is coming from articles and books. And it's not that simple to tell us not to read this or listen to that person... Because we are new at this and do welcome good advice... but we then need to exercise judgment and discernment to figure out what is right for our situation.
So on top of all that, I really did not relish the thought of having to bear with this remnant of my battle scars for yet another couple of weeks. Rest assured I'm doing all I can to follow doctor's orders to look after my stitches, it's just that it will take longer than usual to heal.
P.S. Thanks in advance for any words of encouragement that this will soon pass. I know it will, I'm just going through it now
Serene, hang in there.
ReplyDeleteDiscouragement is very normal, hormonal swings do not help either!
Surround yourself with support and friendship, ask for help when you need it.
The days are long but the years are short.
Sorry yet another wellmeaning comment, but you WILL get through ;)