Painful urination postpartum can be as dreaded as the first poop after birth! I don’t know about you, but I never would have thought that peeing would be one of the worst things about postpartum recovery.
While I was pregnant (heck, even when I WASN’T pregnant), I had heard alllllll the things about that first poop after you have a baby. People told me how absolutely awful and painful it can be, and I heard this over, and over, and over again.
Okay, I thought, I’m going to conquer that poo!
And I did. Not to brag, but my first postpartum poop could not have been easier! I was extremely nervous about it, so I prepared for the event, and I was surprised at how great the experience was for me personally.
(Granted, this isn’t the case for everyone, but you can use these tips to help you have a smooth one!)
However, there was something else I wasn’t prepared for.
Peeing.
Painful Urination Postpartum
I didn’t think that peeing postpartum would be difficult. It did not even cross my mind… until I peed.
And as soon as it started to leave my body, I was cutting off the stream real quick because of the pain.
Now, I am a first-time mom who had a natural, at-home birth with little interventions. Throughout my labor and delivery, I was lucky to only have first degree tears from my birth, which did not require any stitches. And yet I still felt a VERY painful burning sensation when the pee touched my little vaginal tears. It was like pouring alcohol on an open wound.
(To all the women who needed stitches, bless your heart! For me, first degree tears were difficult enough- I can’t imagine experiencing major tearing in that area. But maybe I’m just a wimp, I don’t know.)
Every day, I hated peeing! I honestly had to force myself to drink fluids, but it was difficult to drink anything because I knew I would eventually have to empty my bladder. And I didn’t want to because it really hurt that bad!
After having a baby, I guess you have the choice between two options. You can either choose to drink plenty of water and deal with all the fun stinging while peeing postpartum OR you can choose not to drink enough and have horrible constipation. I chose the former (and I will continue to choose the former because now I know the trick 😉 Don’t worry, I will tell you the tips for peeing postpartum. Well, for me it was only one tip, but there are other tips I tried that did not work for me that might work well for you).
I never thought I would have to relearn how to pee postpartum, but I found myself trying many different methods in order to find the most comfortable way to do it.
The Ways I Tried Peeing After Giving Birth
First I tried never peeing again haha! Obviously this was a bust.
So I tried peeing very, very slowly, stopping for a moment to take a break, and then I would resume. Not only would it sting like a hornets nest, but I would spend twice as long in the bathroom.
Then I tried peeing as fast as I could, just to get it over with. This was hard to do because my body naturally wanted to stop the pee stream due to the pain, but at the same time I wanted to power through until it was over. And then I could finally breathe. But this was absolute torture and I might as well have just sat on the hot stove.
When that didn’t work, I tried peeing while simultaneously spraying warm water over the area with my peri bottle. This helped to dilute the pee, which made it a little more bearable. So far, this was winning. (I also tried cool/cold water, but I preferred it to be warmer.)
It made sense to try peeing in the tub next. I know, kind of disgusting, but I was feeling desperate. I thought that if spraying the pee with water from the peri bottle could relieve some pain, then surely immersing my entire lower half in water would be a perfect follow-up. It wasn’t.
I tried peeing in the shower while standing, hoping that standing might make some kind of magical difference. It didn’t.
I tried Dermoplast to help numb the area, but that didn’t really help with the peeing part of things, since the pee would just wash off the spray. There was some relief when I sprayed it around my area after I was finished peeing, but not enough for me to keep using the product consistently.
I tried sitting on the toilet backwards. This was something I just randomly decided to try, but then quickly realized that it was not helpful whatsoever.
I tried squatting. Bad idea due to my postpartum wobbles, not to mention messy and just an epic fail overall.
I tried, I tried, I tried.
So, accepting my painful urination postpartum fate, I resorted to diluting the pee by continuously spraying the area with water from the peri bottle while trying not to cry out. I thought it was literally impossible to pee comfortably postpartum.
Until I found this.
Top Tip For Peeing After Birth: This Changed Everything!
Okay, YOU HAVE TO TRY THIS!
The most valuable peeing tip that I finally found online is a little weird, but it worked soooo well for me! It doesn’t cost any money, so you have nothing to lose! Get ready to say goodbye to painful urination postpartum! (Unless there’s something more serious going on, then go see your doctor.)
(BIG shout out to Carly, founder and creator of MommyOnPurpose.com. It was in her fabulous article, How To Pee Postpartum (Without Crying), where I found this bizarre, yet amazing, postpartum-recovery peeing hack, and I couldn’t be more grateful. She saved me lots of tears. I went from peeing while crying to then peeing while laughing. Be sure to check out her website! THANK YOU, CARLY!)
So, Carly explains that when you need to pee, sit on the toilet, but a little further back than normal.
Bend over (yes, bend over), and put your hands flat on the ground and walk them out in front of you (You can also rest your hands on a stool if it’s difficult to reach the floor).
Allow your feet to move towards the back of the toilet. It’s basically like a downward dog yoga position with your knees bent while sitting on the toilet. (At least that’s how I interpreted it haha Carly might have something different in mind :P)
Now look at the camera and say “Cheeeeese.”
You should look similar to this. (At least that’s how I interpreted it haha Carly might have something different in mind :P)
Now pee. And that’s it.
It’s going to feel awkward and silly. Believe me, I was thinking and feeling the same thing.
But when I peed, there was minimal to zero stinging! So honestly, I felt more silly NOT doing it, because why wouldn’t you do something that’s so simple and yet so effective when you are in pain?
This awesome little trick works because the position that you are in allows the pee stream to be more direct. The pee won’t touch the sides of your lady bits as much as it would if you were sitting on the toilet normally. The less pee that hits your lady bits, the less it burns!
This goofy position was a game changer for me, and I peed like this for weeks while I healed. It was amazing, even though my husband laughed at me whenever he walked in hah! Don’t let weird, confused, amused looks from your partner stop you from doing this tactic 😂
Carly, you are a godsend.
Remember, postpartum recovery is rough and there is a lot to learn. And you, mama, deserve all the tips and tricks out there to make it as comfortable as possible. Snuggling my baby always makes the journey to recovery a lot… better. Not perfect, and not easy, but better.
So go snuggle that cute mini human of yours and be patient with your amazing, beaten-down, painful, beautiful postpartum body who just created a miracle.
Also remember, I am not a doctor (although being a mom is close enough, right?), so if the pain does not get better or if it gets worse, please make an appointment with a doctor to get things checked. There might be something else going on that needs a little extra love and care.
Any tips I missed? Probably, so share them below 🙂
This post was all about painful urination postpartum.
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