@emilye, I only needed a few stitches for a first degree tear, but--man--they still hurt so bad! I sat on a neck pillow for a couple weeks to keep the pressure off. My son cluster fed for his first few weeks too. It was hard not to feel depressed because my body felt so bad... however, all of a sudden around 3.5 weeks or so I turned a corner and felt sooooo much better. Sending you lots of good thoughts for quick healing!

@ciraclesmiracle, that's good to hear! I tore a little and the doctor told me I'd only need one stitch, but it wouldn't hold and I ended up with so many she lost count. Between that and the catheter, I'm still pretty sore and a little swollen😭 My boobs aren't feeling great either, my son seems to be going through a growth spurt and he's eating like crazy!

@emilye, yeah, it's really gross. I was prepared for childbirth, but wasn't prepared for how horrible and disgusting everything is for several weeks afterwards. I will say that week 2 pp was the absolute worst. My vagina was killing me, the bleeding was horrible and my boobs were so painful. It got wayyyyy better after week 3.

@ciraclesmiracle, @jlf240, @lexpalma, thank you for answering! I feel like the problem is more just me thinking it's worse than it is, I always feel like I can smell my period too. I knew I would obviously bleed postpartum, but I never imagined it smelling so bad.

Sounds like lochia. I wasn't told anything about lochia during my pregnancy or after I had my baby so when I experienced it I freaked out, i had it at about 2 weeks PP as well.

Yep. Lochia smells like dead things. It's totally normal.

Mine definitely didn't smell great. Lochia (pp bleeding) has an odor, that's normal, but if it's very strong it could be a sign of infection.