Pain in the Pelvis

Just when I was feeling great about this pregnancy…I’m almost 32 weeks along and have no signs of the preeclampsia that plagued the tail end of my pregnancy with Nate. I have no swelling, my blood pressure is great and I have no protein in my urine…smooth sailing for the next 8 weeks right? Of course not! Nothing in my life goes smoothly so I knew a bump was coming at some point…but I didn’t see this coming…

I have been having pain in my pelvic region for about 2 months now but it wasn’t too bad and it came and went, so I just thought it was the way he is positioned that was creating the problem. I bought a maternity belt, which I always wondered why anyone would need, but it was a miracle cure especially on days that I was on my feet a lot. Recently the pain has been a lot worse at night and especially when I try to roll over in bed or get out of the bed to go to the bathroom (which is almost an hourly ritual lately). Getting off the couch has also become a chore along with walking up stairs and getting in and out of the car. Alright, I guess if I look back it has been bad for a bit but I handle pain well so I’ve just chugged along.

This past weekend was a little busy. We started with Nate’s soccer practice and then headed to my parent’s house for some lunch and a visit with my brother and nephew. I was feeling sluggish and slow but I didn’t sleep well so I thought I was just tired. We got home and I headed down to the basement to go through some stuff, break down boxes to go out this week and find the car seat. After 2 hours I was having trouble walking and it was tough getting back up the stairs. I took a hot shower and lay down in bed. Len got takeout and after dinner I went back to relaxing.

Sunday Nate and I relaxed until Len woke up and then we got ready to clean out the garage. This has been looming over my head for a year now (Hurricane Sandy made us throw everything into the garage and it seemed like nothing came back out this summer) and I was feeling pressure to just get it done. By 3:15pm we were done and I took a hot shower and hit the couch with Nate. By 5:30pm I couldn’t get back off the couch. My pelvis, hips and back were killing me but I blamed being on my feet and bending and sweeping, etc.

Last night I couldn’t fall asleep because I couldn’t get comfortable. I was at work all day so there was no reason for my body to hurt so much. I decided to look up pelvic pain in pregnancy and immediately hit on Syphysis Pubic Dysfunction (SPD). It is a condition where the pelvis opens naturally during the end of pregnancy to allow the baby to pass through but it opens too much and there is too much movement causing extreme pain and can even dislocate in some cases. I had to put the iPad away and forget about it. I figured if I still had the severe pain in the morning I would call the doctor. I was up at 5am and watched some TV and got ready to go to work. I felt horrible and called the doctor as soon as they opened. My OB pushed on my pubic bone and immediately diagnosed SPD. She also dropped the bomb that there is no cure and childbirth could actually make it worse and it could linger for months after I give birth. She apologized (I love this woman!) and said the maternity belt and massage therapy will help but a c-section may be my only option if it gets worse.

It is going to be really difficult but I am turning over a new leaf for the next 2 months and I am going to take it easy. Love is just going to have to help more and certain things are just not going to get done. It’s going to be very hard but I need to fight through mentally or physically I will be a mess. This too shall pass…