are the afterpains worse?

Hi all;
I was talking to a friend the other day who has just had her second bub.
She was telling me that the afterpains of the uterus contracting and all that are really painful this time round. Apparently the lady she was sharing with told her this is normal and the midwives and nurses all agreed to!
My friend actually advised me to get a script for pain relief from my ob on my next visit, and if they dont get me one i should ask the hospital for a script before i leave after having bub!

So it is normal for these pains to be more painful than the first time? And what pain relief can I use for it?

Thank you in advance!

Justine

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but (in my experience) your friend is right. The pains do seem to get worse after each bub, I suppose it's because the uterus has more work to do each time to get back to it's original size.
After my 4th baby I felt like I was in labour again every time I fed him!!! OUCHIES!!!!

It's all worth it though ;)

yep was worse! i used heatpacks in the hospital

Sorry but yes they were worse for me too!

Agreed, worse the second time. I went with panadol, heat packs and rest. Mw advised me to keep my bladder as empty as possible, because the pain will be worse if you have a really full bladder and then empty it.

Oh yay!!
Thank you all so much!
But why on earth dont they tell us this beforehand??? lol
Its not like we can do anything about it!

How long did the pain last for everyone?

Tah

Justine

The after pains got worse for me after my 2nd and 3rd too. They only lasted about a week after my 2nd but they were way more intense lasted just on 2 weeks after my 3rd. I also used heat packs in the hospital.

I had totally forgotten about afterpains but I'd have to agree, very bad with DS2. Worth looking into doing the breastcrawl, apparently it helps the uterus contract faster.

i found they were worse with my FIRST labour. i had hardly any bleeding second time round, it wasnt heavy and it went away really quick. you know how they feel your uterus well they all said it was really small straight away which accounted for the small amount of bleeding. so i dont know if that had anything to do with the fact that i found the after pains fine. actually i dont even remember having after pains with second baby but i distinctly remember them with baby number one, especially when breastfeeding.. the pain and the gush of blood. so you just never know. :-)

Yeah, my after-pains with #2 really took me by surprise too. I don't think you'll need to organise any scripts or anything like that before hand though? Won't your care providers be responsible for giving you whatever you need at the time?

I had ponstan, padedine forte and heat packs for a couple of days. I was fine by day 3.

Mine lasted for a week with dd. They were worse on the third and fourth day than the first few days.

My after pains with #2 were bad but with #3 they were horrendous. Especially when breastfeeding because the uterus contracts more then. They lasted around a week or so from memory.

I was told to expect it to be worse, but in my case they were no where near as bad as the ones I had first time around.

Oh my gosh - i dont think i had after pains - is that normal? my gosh i hope i wont cop it too bad 2nd time around!

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Oh my gosh - i dont think i had after pains - is that normal? my gosh i hope i wont cop it too bad 2nd time around!

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thats my problem! I had no pains the first time round, so i am so not prepared for this one!!! haha

They were worse each time for me too. DS was the worst.
I noticed them with DD1, but felt ok & didn't really notice the difference with DD2 til they offered me panadiene forte. The heat packs were great.
They are still bearable though :) & only really notice when feeding for the first few days.

I didn't get after pains either. I was warned about them, but didn't get them after either of my births.

Phew - im glad im not the only one! must remember to ask u how they were after u have bub! surely they can't be worse than actually giving birth? so im sure u will be fine!

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I didn't get after pains either. I was warned about them, but didn't get them after either of my births.

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heres hoping i have a similar experience to you then!!! ;)

But you girls are making me think that they arent anything to be too worried about! Which is good!

Well, I really must be the odd one out! I had no after pains with either of mine, nothing painful, with DS2 I could feel the uterus contracting when feeding but I didn't find it painful at all. Hope you are lucky and don't them 2nd time round too!

I didn't have any, that I could feel, after my first. Then when I had my second, oh boy!... They were so painful. I didn't even realise that you got afterpains like that either. I was taken by suprise. Lol.

Mine were worse with my 2nd child I have to admit. They lasted a day or two and were quite painful.

Mine were alot worse with #1. I remember esp one night couldn't get out of bed, drugs and heat pack didn't help at all. And BFing made it worse.
After #2 I got bits but no where near as bad. More felt like a period type pain that I could deal with.
I guess each woman and each time will differ.

I didn't have any after DD1, but after DD2 they were really bad, lasted about 3 days.

I don't remember having any afterpains from my first birth, but then I was doped up on pethidine and then Panadeine Forte, and I didn't BF. Second time around, BFing was established from the first minutes post-birth and the pains were horrific for about six weeks - to the point where I seriously considered packing in the breastfeeding because it was just too painful. I just assumed that BFing was the reason for the pain, so I'm a bit happier to hear that second and subsequent babies are worse for no other reason than that the uterus has a bit more work to do to contract! If it helps any, though, the midwife who checked me out post-birth was very surprised to find my uterus was contracting at a much faster rate than normal, so perhaps it was more painful for me because my body was working overtime getting back to normal, kwim?

Good luck, keep the painkillers handy! Hopefully it won't be very bad for you and will pass very soon so you can concentrate on the lovelier parts of being a new mum again :)

I didn't have any with DD1, some mild ones with DS1, OMG bad pains with DS2! and barely anything with DD2 - and I was prepared for some really horrible pains with her!
So I got lucky I guess...they only got worse up to the 3rd child :lol:

No pains after either of my births. In fact I remember coming here after having #1 and asking why the nurses would have kept asking me if I needed pain relief AFTER the birth? LOL. That's when I learned about afterbirth pains.

But yeah.. I didn't have anything after #2 either.

Mine weren't too bad at all, 1st or 2nd time. The 2nd time around I took 2 panadol on the first day, that was it. They were totally gone by about day 3 or 4.

I never had any afterpains at all, not with either birth. I was on pain relief and anti-inflammatories for stitches though so maybe that's why they never bothered me.

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surely they can't be worse than actually giving birth?

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not worse, but different. i went drug free but then once i wasn't working towards anything and was deliriously tired i needed trhe pain relief. mine only hurt for the first twenty four hours and the key is to urinate regularly.

mum had tramidol (sp) after the twins. fourth pregnancy, she said they were horrendous.

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No pains after either of my births. In fact I remember coming here after having #1 and asking why the nurses would have kept asking me if I needed pain relief AFTER the birth? LOL. That's when I learned about afterbirth pains.

But yeah.. I didn't have anything after #2 either.

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Ahhhh that explains everything! they kept asking me also - and a twice i think i took something but that was more cause my nether regions were a bit sore - so i took them up on the offer - (than had a whole box of painkillers i had to pay for when i got discharged! and they weren't cheap!)
I always wondered why EVERY day and EVERY time the poped into my room they kept asking if i needed any pain killers! all makes sense now!
Thanks Liz

My afterpains were a bit worse the second time but didn't last very long. I was quite happy to take the panadol on offer the first day but after that I only needed it for the pain associated with my stitches.

I wouldn't be worrying about a script beforehand... the hospital will have drugs there.

I can honestly say, the afterpains with #3 and #4 were worse than labour...or about the same par. They were terrible. Esp #3. I used to cringe when i b/f cos that can often bring them on too (uterus contracts quicker when b/f...thus afterpains are more apparent when baby latches on).
I buzzed the nurses for panadol constantly. First 1 or 2 days are the worst. But defn get worse with each pregnancy...

Me too, I took actually took panadeine in hosp after no 3. I felt the worst pain with #2 and #3 in the first few hours after the birth and then it eased off a bit.

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Oh my gosh - i dont think i had after pains - is that normal? my gosh i hope i wont cop it too bad 2nd time around!

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I didn't have ANY pain either and the midwives looked baffled everytime I said i didn't need pain relief and I was baffled as to why everyone else (first baby as well) were asking for it. I tried to avoid reading all that in my pregnancy book though. They were also shocked in how fast my uterus contracted compared to the lack of pain.

Maybe the midwives thought i was some wierdo that was a sadist?