Achey pain down below...

[angelic_one]

I assume it's baby's head engaging or something... but it hurts sooo much! It hurts to walk, sit, stand, get dressed...it even hurts to turn over in bed!

Also it started about 2 weeks ago... isn't 33 weeks a bit early for the head to engage? It's also reeeeally far down, like, at the very bottom of my pubic area...nowhere near my belly.. :S Does this sound strange?

I'm assuming I've got another 5 weeks of this...am not looking forward to it at all! I feel like I can't do anything at all, it's really getting me down. Why did noone tell me it would hurt this much! :O

Ah well I suppose it'll all be over soon(ish) :-/
x

 

[2016]

If it's right low down in the middle ie. Your pubic bone, it could be SPD. I was told to ice the area and avoid spreading my legs as much as possible...
It could be made worse by baby engaging but I get it all the time and my LOs transverse

 

[angelic_one]

Just had a look at the chart and baby's only slightly engaged, 4/5s. Which means it's probably too much pain to just be that..maybe? :-S Dunno whether to go to the midwife about it or not...it seems like nothing to worry about really, and I'm not worried, just curious really...

What's SPD sorry?

 

[angelic_one]

Just done some research on it, that sounds exactly like what I have and I've been doing all the wrong things & making it worse, such as trying to keep my legs apart when they should be together!! Thanks very much I guess I should make a midwife appointment, but at least I have some self-help tips to be getting on with and stop making things worse! I'm glad I posted!

 

[2016]

Def chat with your mw about it and you can also self-refer to womens health physio at your local hospital. I was unable to walk from severe SPD last week but they managed to get me moving again.

Glad you found some tips online to keep you going.

 

[gem_wilko]

Yeh i had this this morning, and midwife pretty much diagnosed me over the phone with SPD, and symptoms she said were exactly how I felt..its so painful!

 

[angelic_one]

Am worried about how long it might take me to get in to see the midwife, I think it's gonna be about a week and a half..I'm also a bit scared as I've just moved to a new midwife I've only met her once and she seemed nice, but I've not had any problems yet! And I did mention the pain to her briefly and she said it was normal... I didn't press it because as I mentioned before, I thought it was the baby's head engaging.

Was quite happy when I first read the symptoms and realised this is what I have but am worried now...what if the midwife just writes it off! :S I've also read that it doesn't go away after baby comes out and can lead to depression...oh dear It's so uncomfortable the thought of spending 5 weeks like this was horrible and now it's likely to be more!

 

[2016]

There is no need to be worried angelic. While SPD is painful, it is not dangerous to you or your baby. You might just get the pubic bone pain and nothing else. I have severe SPD because I am extremely double-jointed and that is pretty rare.....even then the worst that has happened is I was in excruitiating pain and couldn't walk (not doing a good job of not scaring you here!) and a couple of trips to the physio and I am uncomfortable but fine. What pregnant woman at this stage isn't uncomfortable?

Of course being in pain after the birth can lead to depression but so can the weather, sleep deprivation or a million other things I can list. The key is to just stay positive and be wary if you think you are getting into a rut.

Your new MW doesn't have to listen to you for you to call up the hospital physio and get an appointment. The MW isn't going to do anything special for you at all except give you some advice which you can find online anyway. My top tips are:

- Sleep on your left side with a pillow between your knees
- Never squat, lunge, swim breaststroke, run or twist and bend at the same time
- Sit down to put on trousers/pants or shoes
- When getting in/out of bed or the car, swivel your whole body round rather than separating one leg out to the side.
- Do pelvic floor exercises (kegels) 4-5 times a day. The more you do them, the better you will feel...simple as that.
- Lie on your back with knees bent (legs together) and do gentle pelvic tilts.
- Get a birthing ball and sit on that instead of slouching in a chair.
- Buy a pelvic support brace (but only if you DON'T have an anterior placenta)
- Ice the painful area 3-4 times a day.

My pain started severly at 16 weeks and I have been living with it since. It is totally mangeable. Don't assume that the pain you have one day will be there forever...just enjoy the good days and rest on the bad.

 

[angelic_one]

Thank you so much for the tips! Yeah I was being emotional last night but I'm feeling a bit more positive today, bought a pillow last night that's supposed to be good for spd and have been lying with an ice pack between my legs all day, it's not helped much so far but maybe after a few days hopefully it will be slightly better! Also now I know what it is, I know not to feel guilty about saying 'no' to doing things that I didn't want to do before because it was painful but I felt like I was being a wimp. Now I'll just be firmer and hopefully this will help. I'll also start the exercising!

Do you recommend taking pain killers? I've seen in a few places people suggesting to take paracetamol or co-codomol, but I've avoiding taking any medication at all throughout my pregnancy and wonder whether it will actually make a difference anyway..?

 

[2016]

I haven't taken any apart from the odd paracetamol when it got really bad. I think the point is it's good to feel the pain so you know when to rest and don't do more damage. Didn't think it was ever ok to take cocodamol while pregnant but I'm allergic to codiene anyway...

 

[angelic_one]

Thanks very much, followed a few of the tips such as icing & the exercises and noticed a massive improvement most the day although it's getting worse again now...must be pelvic lift time! Not sure if I'm doing Kegels right, even after watching a video on youtube, but i'm trying,haha!
Am seeing the midwife tomorrow and if she isn't v. supportive I guess I'll try at the hospital. I don't think I'll need physiotherapy as there's been improvements already and I only have 5 weeks left, by the time I get booked in it probably won't be worth it, but I want it on my file so that staff dealing with me when I go into labour know, if you get what I mean? I don't want to do any longer-term damage and I've read that you should avoid certain positions when in labour... and that you shouldn't have an epidural, there goes my birth plan!

Thanks again so much for your help and advice it's really appreciated and it's really kept me positive!

 

[emmi26]

im overdue and i suddenly got this on my due date!!! wish lo would hurry up im with you hun its so bloody painful i can barely walk sometimes x x hugs hun x x