After 2 vaginal births I am no stranger to the plight of the vagina, perineum and anus after many hours of pushing something the size of a bowling ball through a hole the size of a mini donut. My first son was finally delivered after 30 hours of labor when the head doctor was called in. All I heard was, “blah, blah, blah, episiotomy.” I sat on one butt cheek for weeks, bled for two months and couldn’t comfortably walk to Starbucks for longer than that. If anyone deserves Starbucks it’s a mother who just had a baby. I did sitz baths with betadine as directed. I guess the wound was being cleaned, but seriously, there was no pain relief and I always felt the urge to wash myself again to clean the chemical off my skin. And there were plenty of days when I didn’t cleanse as often as recommended because I was taking care of a newborn. [Read more…]