Post partum questions

I had my daughter on Nov 30th, they had to use forceps, and I ended up with a 3rd degree tear. With my first I had a few stitches, my second I had none, and my 3rd I had another few stitches. This time around - it was rough. I still havent written my birth story, but it was the scariest thing Ive ever been through.

Anyway - Im using witch hazel, advil, the peri bottle, and was using frozen pads, which helped. Im now 12 days PP, and things are starting to feel a lot better. my tailbone is INCREDIBLY sore though, I think it might have been from the epidural, i dont know.

My question is, for those who had a 3rd degree tear, how long did it take to heal? I dont feel a lot of pain anymore, but I can still feel that its swollen. Ive been on stool softeners since day 1 and it seems to help. How long do I need to be on those?

Also, how long did you bleed for? I know its different for everyone, but on monday I did a whole bunch of cleaning, and ended up bleeding like crazy. I know the more active you are, the heavier the flow - so yesterday I took it easy and did next to nothing. Today - I changed my pad at 9am, and just now (1pm) i checked it and there was no blood whatsoever. Weird. Whats the shortest amount of time you've heard someone bleed, post partum?

With my first I bled about 7 weeks. With my baby it was about 4 but the last two were light pink more than heavy bleeding. However I would have days during both PP times where I would not bleed at all then go back to bleeding like that night or the next day.

Can't give advice on the tearing since I didn't experience that with either birth.

I don't remember exactly how long I bled, but I can tell you about the tear. I was in pain for the first 8 weeks, constant pain. It took about 6 months for no pain at all and it's been 5 years now and sex still hurts if it's too rough. I don't think I was stitched back up right.

I had 4th degree tears with my son and it only took me 2 weeks to heal and stop bleeding... but my doctor told me that's the fastest she's ever seen and that I was incredibly lucky.

I only had a 1st degree tear, but I was pretty swollen for a few weeks. I bled off an on for 8 weeks with my last which was also my 4th. When I ran around too much it would get heavier. And I did stool softners for a couple of months.

I bleed for about 10 days and I absolutely hate it because I am not a pad girl. lol No advice on the tear but that sounds awful.