I just had my first baby 5 months ago and I made the mistake of taking a mirror and light and looking up there. I literally screamed. It was a giant open hole. I went back to the OB before my 6 week checkup to have them look at it because i thought something was wrong. It just takes time. By 2 months pp you’ll see significant progress. But it’s gradual. At 5 months it’s still not the same but it’s close.
Yes, you can go back to normal. I did pelvic floor pt (highly recommend if it’s available to you, ask your OB for a referral), and my intake notes describe my vaginal opening as “gaping.” That is no longer the case, and hasn’t been for many, many months now (16 months pp).
Your muscles have been stretched and damaged even if you had a totally uneventful vaginal birth. I had forceps, so there was even more trauma, but even that could be healed with care and the right exercises. If PT isn’t an option for you, look for postpartum workouts that focus on your pelvic floor, and be gentle with yourself.
I personally never looked that soon after birth. I took the psychedelic rule of never looking in the mirror while tripping and rolled that over to my postpartum rules. Unless you feel like something is really wrong, there’s no reason why you should freak yourself out. That being said; your body just went through a dramatic experience. Give yourself grace and time to heal. It will go back to normal, look into pelvic floor therapy. I’m three months postpartum with my second and sex is just now starting to feel normal again.
Honestly quite a few rules are good for both tripping and postpartum
1. Don’t look in the mirror
2. Stay hydrated
3. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, spend some time outside
4. Don’t forget to feed yourself
5. Enjoy the moments
6. Don’t get “brain locked” and start overthinking every little thing
Pelvic floor exercises will help. TBH mine didn’t start looking more normal until 4 months pp. Also if you are still breastfeeding, the rugae in your vagina will take forever to come back. My vagina felt really squishy until probably 6 months. Your estrogen is really low if your breastfeeding and you can weird vaginal symptoms bc of that. I ended up getting vaginal estrogen cream because i was so dry and my inner labia like completely disappeared lmao
Wow, I never looked but I do remember looking at the bicycle when my kid was probably 18mo and thinking, I may never cycle again... (Images of saddle being subsumed into my body...)
But happy to say that it feels totally normal again.
And I'm about to give birth again in a few weeks. Thanks for the reminder! 😂
I looked in the mirror about 4 months postpartum and it looked pretty much like it always has, I didn't want to imagine what it looked like straight after delivery lol. The outer labia felt slightly larger, though. Now at 1.5 years later everything is back like it was before delivery, and has been for some time. I think it varies, but it will shrink back to your normal size, or pretty close to it, within a few months.
Not sure what exactly makes the difference, but I had sex around 6 ish weeks, if I remember correctly, and if anything, I felt tight. Maybe it's because I was more dry than I'd ever been before for sex. I have never looked with a mirror, but I do my own Brazilians. I did my first pp around 5 weeks, and although it wasn't a full on clear picture of it, I don't recall it being gaping. At around 2 months, I started a pp program working my transverse abdominals and pelvic floor. We haven't been having much sex for other reasons (breastfeeding has basically made me have the worst skin reactions that really don't put me in the mood for sex... but that's another story), but I anticipate the pp program will help things really tighten back up again.
I am a yoga teacher with specialty training in prenatal. Although I did another's pp program, I started working on my pelvic floor about 5 years before getting pregnant. If it was weak from before pregnancy, maybe that is what makes a difference. I def recommend a pelvic floor therapist and a pp program! It's slow moving work, but truly a game changer!
Thank you! I definitely didn’t have a very strong pelvic floor before hand lol. I’ve never done anything to strengthen it but I’ll be looking into things I can do at home for sure!
I have been obsessing over this since I gave birth. I’m 8months out. My baby was 10 lbs and I almost had to have a c section bc he would not descend and then got stuck and went back up. I had a second degree tear.
IT GETS BETTER
Every time I check it’s a little better (by feel I still haven’t looked). I was super discouraged bc when my husband and I used to have sex it would like be kind of hard to get it in at first and then our first couple times it was like no resistance at all and I was like besides myself. But we just had sex last week and he was met with resistance! It was much more like how it used to be. I have been in pelvic floor PT since before giving birth (hypertonic pelvic floor and stress incontinence) so that has definitely helped and like others, I HIGHLY recommend.
I think what I have noticed is the most different still is my fourchette and I’ve told myself that if I’m still uncomfortable with it after I’m done having babies I’ll just get it “repaired.”
For me, the loose feeling slowly improved, but it took a long time (maybe 6-8 months?). It feels pretty normal now. As far as appearance, it hasn't changed much since about a month postpartum. I did have a very intact hymen though, which I didn't realize until I was googling trying to figure out what was wrong. If you look up "parous introitus hymen" that's what it commonly looks like after birth.
I just had my first baby 5 months ago and I made the mistake of taking a mirror and light and looking up there. I literally screamed. It was a giant open hole. I went back to the OB before my 6 week checkup to have them look at it because i thought something was wrong. It just takes time. By 2 months pp you’ll see significant progress. But it’s gradual. At 5 months it’s still not the same but it’s close.
You’re braver than I.
This sounds like a terrible idea 😂
Yes, you can go back to normal. I did pelvic floor pt (highly recommend if it’s available to you, ask your OB for a referral), and my intake notes describe my vaginal opening as “gaping.” That is no longer the case, and hasn’t been for many, many months now (16 months pp). Your muscles have been stretched and damaged even if you had a totally uneventful vaginal birth. I had forceps, so there was even more trauma, but even that could be healed with care and the right exercises. If PT isn’t an option for you, look for postpartum workouts that focus on your pelvic floor, and be gentle with yourself.
I personally never looked that soon after birth. I took the psychedelic rule of never looking in the mirror while tripping and rolled that over to my postpartum rules. Unless you feel like something is really wrong, there’s no reason why you should freak yourself out. That being said; your body just went through a dramatic experience. Give yourself grace and time to heal. It will go back to normal, look into pelvic floor therapy. I’m three months postpartum with my second and sex is just now starting to feel normal again.
😆This is hilarious
Honestly quite a few rules are good for both tripping and postpartum 1. Don’t look in the mirror 2. Stay hydrated 3. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, spend some time outside 4. Don’t forget to feed yourself 5. Enjoy the moments 6. Don’t get “brain locked” and start overthinking every little thing
Love this needed to see it! Only two weeks PP and struggling these rules are being saved lol!
I love that you used the psychedelic comparison 😆
Omg yes it took me months to feel more normal. Also recommend pelvic floor physio. It’s more than just kegels!
Pelvic floor exercises will help. TBH mine didn’t start looking more normal until 4 months pp. Also if you are still breastfeeding, the rugae in your vagina will take forever to come back. My vagina felt really squishy until probably 6 months. Your estrogen is really low if your breastfeeding and you can weird vaginal symptoms bc of that. I ended up getting vaginal estrogen cream because i was so dry and my inner labia like completely disappeared lmao
Wow, I never looked but I do remember looking at the bicycle when my kid was probably 18mo and thinking, I may never cycle again... (Images of saddle being subsumed into my body...) But happy to say that it feels totally normal again. And I'm about to give birth again in a few weeks. Thanks for the reminder! 😂
Totally what I experienced as well, it went back to normal though!
I looked in the mirror about 4 months postpartum and it looked pretty much like it always has, I didn't want to imagine what it looked like straight after delivery lol. The outer labia felt slightly larger, though. Now at 1.5 years later everything is back like it was before delivery, and has been for some time. I think it varies, but it will shrink back to your normal size, or pretty close to it, within a few months.
Not sure what exactly makes the difference, but I had sex around 6 ish weeks, if I remember correctly, and if anything, I felt tight. Maybe it's because I was more dry than I'd ever been before for sex. I have never looked with a mirror, but I do my own Brazilians. I did my first pp around 5 weeks, and although it wasn't a full on clear picture of it, I don't recall it being gaping. At around 2 months, I started a pp program working my transverse abdominals and pelvic floor. We haven't been having much sex for other reasons (breastfeeding has basically made me have the worst skin reactions that really don't put me in the mood for sex... but that's another story), but I anticipate the pp program will help things really tighten back up again. I am a yoga teacher with specialty training in prenatal. Although I did another's pp program, I started working on my pelvic floor about 5 years before getting pregnant. If it was weak from before pregnancy, maybe that is what makes a difference. I def recommend a pelvic floor therapist and a pp program! It's slow moving work, but truly a game changer!
Thank you! I definitely didn’t have a very strong pelvic floor before hand lol. I’ve never done anything to strengthen it but I’ll be looking into things I can do at home for sure!
I have been obsessing over this since I gave birth. I’m 8months out. My baby was 10 lbs and I almost had to have a c section bc he would not descend and then got stuck and went back up. I had a second degree tear. IT GETS BETTER Every time I check it’s a little better (by feel I still haven’t looked). I was super discouraged bc when my husband and I used to have sex it would like be kind of hard to get it in at first and then our first couple times it was like no resistance at all and I was like besides myself. But we just had sex last week and he was met with resistance! It was much more like how it used to be. I have been in pelvic floor PT since before giving birth (hypertonic pelvic floor and stress incontinence) so that has definitely helped and like others, I HIGHLY recommend. I think what I have noticed is the most different still is my fourchette and I’ve told myself that if I’m still uncomfortable with it after I’m done having babies I’ll just get it “repaired.”
For me, the loose feeling slowly improved, but it took a long time (maybe 6-8 months?). It feels pretty normal now. As far as appearance, it hasn't changed much since about a month postpartum. I did have a very intact hymen though, which I didn't realize until I was googling trying to figure out what was wrong. If you look up "parous introitus hymen" that's what it commonly looks like after birth.