Two months have passed since Vic Sotto’s daughter Paulina Sotto-Llanes welcomed her first child, daughter Sachi. She gave birth via normal delivery but disclosed that it was not as easy as people might think.
“I had 4th-degree tears!” Paulina shared on her Instagram Stories as the new mama answered questions about her birthing story.
Natural vaginal tears occur between 44 and 79 percent of the time. A natural vaginal tear may or may not require stitches, depending on its severity. (Click here to read more stories about vaginal tears from moms and here on how to help it heal faster)
First-degree tears don’t need stitches. Paulina’s 4th degree definitely required stitches to help heal the wound. Third- to fourth-degree vaginal tearing may go deep through the vaginal tissue, perineum skin and muscles, and even the anal sphincter and tissue underneath it.
PHOTO BY Instagram/Paulina Sotto“They were stitching me up for over an hour, and my doctor said the stitching was more complicated than that of CS,” the first-time mama shared.
ADVERTISEMENT - CONTINUE READING BELOWPaulina Sotto took 16 hours to deliver her baby
The first-time mama endured 14 hours of labor and two hours of pushing her baby out. Apart from the extended labor hours, her doctor had to push down her stomach to help get the baby out.
“I also thought I was going to pass out because they were pushing down hard on my (Sachi) come out,” Paulina wrote. “It felt like my body was being broken in half, and it was the worst pain I’ve ever felt by far,” she added.
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PHOTO BY Instagram/Paulina SottoA fundal push, also called fundal pressure, is when a doctor uses his hands to press the uterus’s upper part toward the birth canal. It’s sometimes used as an aid for a difficult vaginal birth and emergency situations. (Read more about fundal push here.)
When Sachi was finally out, Paulina couldn’t believe it. She was just so happy she's healthy and so adorable. It was also a huge relief from the fundal pressure pain that was almost unbearable.
CONTINUE READING BELOWwatch now“Nothing could have prepared me for the physical pain I went through. I knew childbirth was hard, but now I know exactly how hard it can really be,” she wrote on Instagram.
It took her six weeks to fully heal from childbirth. “Thankfully, I feel totally normal now, and everything was worth it for our adorable Sachi,” Paulina said.
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