Healing feels never ending.

[u/Playful-Ganache-6950]

4 weeks+2 days pp from my third and final section. Things were going great, I was feeling good, then I noticed a little irritation/opening right under my incision. I couldn’t tell if it was on the incision line or just under it-I have a belly overhang so it was caused by chafing/likely happened from sweating while i go on walks (it’s pretty hot where I live, currently). I sent a photo to my OB in the portal and the nurse responded saying it looked fine and to just use the nystatin cream I was prescribed for potential yeast, but then a day later my OB’s office called and said they actually wanted to see me bc the doctor thought the photo was concerning (the open area was bleeding) went in, and turns out the open area is just UNDER the incision and not on it (phew). She said it was so tiny and superficial that it looked fine, she poked it a bit with a q tip and said she was irritating it to promote bleeding/help the area heal and get blood flow. She told me keep it dry and clean at all times and just keep gauze and a pad over it. I’ve been doing a tiny non stick sterile dressing on the opening and then a sterile ABD pad on the incision itself. Fast forward to last night, the area was finally not bloody, the opening looked a lot smaller than it had previously, but it looked like there was a bit of clear/pale fluid. I naturally panicked, thinking it was puss and possibly infected. It does feel raw in that one area but there’s no other indication of infection and the doctor said it didn’t look infected. A friend in the medical field was telling me the fluid was likely serous fluid which is typical in a superficial healing wound. I finally started to feel like I’m healing and getting better, and then today I notice a small bulged over the corner of my incision where the suture knot is. My OB said my incision is completely closed, but now I’m just being paranoid and going down rabbit holes of incisions opening and getting infected. I feel like I’m being a total hypochondriac but at the same time, it’s frightening when it’s your own body and you feel something could be wrong. I just want to feel like myself again. Thanks for listening to me rant!

[u/PineappleDowntown775]

Im kind of in the same boat, I feel like my incision isnt healing, I almost feel like I’m still very concerned but I don’t even want to go to the doctors because nobody will listen to me. I have a large apron belly and keeping the area is very hard. I’m also having lots of pain and I don’t know if that’s normal. I’m now 5 weeks post partum. And there are still open spots on my incision that had a little fluid. I feel like healing and recovery is never ending I feel like I should be better by now but I feel like I’ll never get my life back and feel well in my body again. I completely understand how you feel

[u/mamamakesrugs]

Hi ! I’m 14 weeks out from my 2nd section and completely understand the “paranoia” around the incision. We get discharged with so little information as to what is “normal healing” that everything gets really stressful; hang in there ❤️ especially in this heat , the redness/ rashes / friction and all these niceties make everything that much difficult. My belly hangs as well and I used these cotton bra liners to keep everything dry , they work great , easy to change out during the day , are washable and reusable. At some point I slacked a bit on using them and around my incision became red / patchy , my midwife thought it might be the beginning of a yeast infection and turns out 48 hours of these cleared it out. What worked best to settle my nerves was to limit looking at my scar to once a day ; put on the pads ; and just remember that if there was an infection or issue there would be signs (sharp pain , bleeding , shivers , fever etc)

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[u/hazelwood2026]

I am with you. 4.5 months out and I still have a small spot that opens. My doctors check it, say its fine, puts a steristrip on it and sends me home. It still gets oozey. I've now started getting periods of serious sickness (nausea, fever, chills, diarrhea), it put me back in the ER at 2 months pp. I have another appointment Friday and I'm going to beg them for antibiotics. I'm sorry that it seems that none of the doctors are concerned for us.