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Still sore seems normal but actual pain I'd question. By 6 weeks the stitches should be healing. Can you check with a mirror if the area around stitches looks infected ?

I did bleed for over 6 weeks though, and it kind of got better than started again so to me that seems normal.

You need to figure out where you are bleeding. Blood from the stitches would normally be bright red, lochia at this stage would be more like pink or brownish. Lochia would be completely normal and nothing to worry about. It stinks, but it can last quite a long time (I think mine finally went away after 6 or 7 weeks). If it's bright red blood though, I'd probably call a doc.

I had a labial tear with my first. I can't remember exactly how I felt at 5 weeks PP, but I do know that I initially overdid it and had to go in at 8-9 days PP bc of severe pain. My OB put me on antibiotics bc my stitches looked "angry" (haha) and refilled my Vicodin. I'd def call your OB, but it should be fairly obvious if you're bleeding from stitches vs lochia. Hang in there, it WILL get better!

I remember having a lot of anxiety about my tears, I constantly worried if they were healing properly and I had bleeding for a long time. Turns out it was all normal. You should have a 6-week appointment soon, right?

I also had two tears: perineum and labia ... even when getting the stitches (with a ton of local anesthesia), the labia ones hurt SO MUCH WORSE.

Are you sure you're bleeding from your stitches? Skin should be mostly healed within 2 weeks, so if you're still bleeding from that tear, you absolutely need to see your doc. If your bleeding from your uterus, that's normal. Where the placenta detaches, there's a wound. Too much activity can increase the bleeding. I bled lightly for 6-7 weeks, I think.

We had sex 5 weeks after birth, and my stitches were totally healed at that point. It felt weird, of course, but the pain was gone. I'm so sorry you're going through this - I am sure it will get better with time, but I also think you should reach out to a doctor.

@PawPrints: That's where mine was too - ugh, the WORST! My midwife told me it would take much longer than the other tear, and honestly, since I was still bleeding and sore at 3 weeks, it could have very well still been bleeding. I do know that it was healed by 5 weeks, and at 6 weeks, I saw my midwife for a tight pelvic floor ligament (yay, childbirth) and the outside was healed. Granted, I was able to totally stay off my feet for 2 weeks, so it's possible mine healed faster.

Definitely sounds like you are over doing it. With my first, my stitches were gone (dissolved) by 3 weeks but I still had some soreness until about 7-8 weeks. I had a forceps delivery and a stage 2 tear/episiotomy. I also had to be careful which underwear I wore, certain ones would aggravate the area. If it was getting bad I would put a pad on, it gave the area some cushion.

@Weswife: well in a previous post you said it was more sore when you run errands, I took that to mean you were going multiple places and probably doing a lot of walking.

Recovery is different for everyone, heck my first and second were completely different! With my first I felt like I couldn't do anything for the first couple months without feeling sore or exhausted. With my second, recovery was much faster and I was out and about the following week without any soreness at all!

@Weswife: I've never had surgery or anything down there so nothing to compare it to, but the area does get pretty traumatized during birth! You pushed a baby out, it's gonna take time for things to get back to normal. I noticed if I sat certain ways I would get sore, a pillow helped. They gave me a donut one in the hospital and that helped too.

@Weswife: Whoo, pushing for 4.5 hours will cause a lot of internal trauma that needs to heal also. I'm sure some of what you're feeling is the internal bruising and tearing healing. I think a lot of women expect to be up and running around a feeling fine right away, but that's just not always the case. I would really concentrate on staying off your feet as much as possible for a week and see if anything improves.

@Weswife: i also had a labial tear i felt funny for a long time after, but the itching at 2 weeks-ish was probably the worst. The heavy feeling took a while, and I could feel the weird spot where the labial stitches were for a long time (a few months). I bled for 6 weeks, if bleeding increased it was usually because i was doing too much.
and I bruised or broke my tailbone--that took months to feel better, too.

Sounds normal given what you went through. Considering you pushed for so long, if you're still having a lot of soreness in another few weeks, is highly suggest seeing a pelvic floor PT to evaluate. I think this should really be standard after all pregnancies!