Numbness in leg and loss of bowel control after giving birth

[ObviouslyAnnie]

I had a complicated childbirth and was left with some unusual symptoms that require some advice!

My son was born August 1, 2009. This had been my first pregnancy. I had a very severe case of polyhydramnios (excess amniotic fluid, a condition common in my family) and after 10 days of Prodromal labor (heavy contractions but unable to dilate past 2 cm) I was induced with a Pitocin drip and had my water broken at the hospital. When I was first admitted tot he hospital, an epidural cathetar was placed in my back, in case an Emergency C-Section was needed (there was a concern that my baby could be as big as 11 lbs and the doctors were afraid of shoulder distocia) but at the time I told them I wanted to try to avoid using epidural medication so the cater was left empty.

It took 30 hours on Pitocin before I was dilated 10 cm and ready to push. When the Pitocin drip was turned up to 30, medication was added to the epidural because of the severe back labor that developed. After only 30 minutes of pushing, the baby was crowning ...then he got stuck. I was moved to the Operating Room where the epidural was turned off (in hopes that I could feel the contractions better) and I continued pushing but the baby was still only crowning after 4.5 hours. At this point a vaccum was utilized to get him out. He was born weighing 8lbs 0oz and was 21 inches long. I had torn and required eight stitches.

The next morning I realized that I had painful numbness in my left thigh and it soon became apparent that I had no bowel control what-so-ever. The nursing staff in labor and delivery were stumped, having never seen either symptom following childbirth. I was kept in the hospital for 6 days, in which time I was inspected by various doctors and neurologists and had a CT Scan done. Nothing conclusive was discovered. I was only told that they "assumed" my symptoms were a result of nerve damage and that everything "should" return to normal with time. Hopefully.

Now it's been three weeks since my delivery and the feeling in my thigh and the bowel control have still not returned. I can't find any informtion online regarding either symptom related to childbirth. Could there be something else wrong with me? The doctors said I should see some kind of improvement after a day or so but that just hasn't happened! Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated because I'm supposed to return to work soon and that will be very difficult with no bowel control!