Week 31 - Pelvic Girdle Pain

For the past few weeks I've had a tough time moving around. Turning over at night while I'm sleeping is a huge ordeal! It hurts, and my pelvic area seems extremely sore. Whenever I do too much moving around my body definitely lets me know - the soreness, the clicking sound that comes from my joints in the pelvic area, barely being able to move my legs in an upward motion...it's enough to make me want to cry at times. While on one of my favorite baby boards today, a young lady mentioned that she thought she had Pelvic Girdle Pain. According to wikipedia.com Pelvic Girdle Pain "causes pain, instability and limitation of mobility and functioning in any of the three pelvic joints".  The symptoms are:

• Present swelling and/or inflammation over joint.
• Difficulty lifting leg.
• Pain pulling legs apart.
• Unable to stand on one leg.
• Unable to transfer weight through pelvis and legs.
• Pain in hips and/or restriction of hip movement.
• Transferred nerve pain down leg.
• Can be associated with bladder and/or bowel dysfunction.
• A feeling of symphysis pubis giving way.
• Stand with a stooped over back.
• Malalignment of pelvic and/or back joints.
• Struggle to sit or stand.
• Pain may also radiate down the inner thighs.
• You may waddle or shuffle.
• Aware of an audible ‘clicking’ sound coming from the pelvis.

The symptoms highlighted are the symptoms I am currently experiencing. The only time the pain lets up a little is when I get a lower back and hip massage. However, within 15 minutes I'm right back to being sore and thinking about taking my tylenol extra strength, or at times, tylenol pm to help me sleep. I'm also going to start incorporating some of the methods below to help me cope:

• When getting into bed sit on the edge keeping knees close together, lie down on your side, lifting both legs at the same time. Reverse this to get up.
• Try not to attempt to pull yourself up from lying on your back.
• Keep knees together when rolling over in bed.
• Sleep with a pillow between the legs; add more in other areas for support.
• When getting into a car: Sit down first and then swing legs keeping them together.
• Avoid sofas and chairs that are too low or too soft.
• Try to reduce the stress on the joint.
• Avoid any movement with your knees apart.
• Take smaller steps when walking.
• Avoid stairs if possible.
• Take breaks.
• Move within the limits of pain.
• Avoid twisting, bending or squatting.

Something else they mention that might help is floating in a heated pool. That sounds so heavenly right now! I don't have a heated pool to float in, but I do have a tub to soak in, so that sounds like a plan for tonight!

I'm 31 weeks pregnant today, yay! My goal is to at least make it to 34 weeks. My doctor thinks that me going full term may be impossible thanks to my fibroids nearly doubling in size. My poor babygirl doesn't have much room in there :-/ *Hold on for just 3 more weeks Bean*. I see that the baby in the picture above is head down. Not Bean. She flips back and forth between being breach, head down and transverse all throughout the day. That makes me happy because it lets me know that she still has some room in there. I learned that at this stage she is more than likely beginning to dream. I wonder what she's dreaming about in there? I can't WAIT to meet her!

~LAJ

The 3rd Trimester Blues

What a rollercoaster the last 5 days have been! Let’s start with Friday.

Friday I was just happy it was Friday lol. The end of another work week, thank God! However, my round ligament pain was driving me crazy! So much so that by Friday afternoon I was begging my boss for two of her Tylenol extra strength because the pain was becoming too much. I took two and…nothing. It did absolutely nothing. Le sigh. Just another pregnancy symptom I have to deal with. Oh well.

Saturday was an exciting day. It was the day we got to see Bean on 3d! We were so excited, and I was super nervous. What if something was wrong??? OMG I was so scared. As I laid back on the table and she put the warm (yes, warm!) gel on my belly, I started to relax. Bean was just hanging out as usual lol. She had her feet on my bladder which explained why I had to pee literally every 5 minutes (such a sweet child she is). We signed up for a 20 minute session. Unfortunately, after 30 minutes, Bean STILL didn’t want to turn and say hi to the camera. She is incredibly stubborn. The tech did everything she could to make her move. She kept shaking my belly, turning me over, everything! Bean would simply put her hand over her head, or curl up in a ball lol. Awww, I love her! Finally we talked about me going to get something to eat to get her moving and coming back. It was then that Bean decided to kind of turn towards us. These are the best pics we could get:

We get to go back at 32 weeks for another go at it. I hope things aren’t too smushed to see anything at that time. As we traveled back home I was troubled by the pain in my lower abdomen again. I mean, it was like the round ligament pain times 10. I wasn’t getting why it was so horrible this time. At any rate we went home, eventually got dressed for Halloween, and headed out to Adams Morgan. By the time I got there I was really in pain, but refused to ruin the night because of my round ligament pain. We walked around a lot, enjoyed looking at everyone’s costume for a couple of hours, headed to one of our favorite coffee shops/bar/lounges, then headed home. I took a Tylenol pm as soon as I got home. It worked for a while, so I was able to get some sleep. Score!

Sunday morning I was suddenly an old woman with osteoporosis. I was in terrible pain all day long! I took Tylenol pm again when we got home from church and visiting hubbies family but…nothing! It did absolutely nothing. By Sunday night I was having contractions. Constantly having contractions like every 6 minutes. Thing is, this was horrible! I had contractions last month, but those were bearable. They came, they went, I had time to breathe you know? But this pain??? was constant, and it was killing me.

Monday I called the doctor. He saw me at 2pm. My pastor drove me up and waited for me. Apparently the fibroid I have in the lower right side of my abdomen has doubled in size. Niiice. The doc didn’t know if I had kidney stones, fibroid issues, contractions or what, so he sent me to L&D. After waiting there for some time and having test run they were able to conclude this: I was indeed having minor contractions. The problem was that my fibroid was disintegrating and causing me a lot of pain. The fibroid was what made my contractions feel as if I was about to give birth immediately. There is nothing the docs can do about this. Nothing. My doctor said the pain usually passes in a week or so. I’m praying that’s right. They gave me two Percocet to take while I was there, and a prescription to get filled. They told me to take Percocet around the clock for 24 hours and then and the next day alternate between Percocet and extra strength Tylenol. So, Tuesday I stayed home and drugged myself up. Today I’m back at work, but barely. The pain isn’t as bad now that the contractions are gone, but it still hurts very much. The Percocet still doesn’t get rid of all of the pain, but it does make it tolerable. I started out the day walking upright but now I’m hunched over again, aching to get home, le sigh.

The good news is that I’m okay and so is bean. You would think the Percocet would make her sluggish, but nope, she’s still kicking the crap outta me lol. I’m still praying that this too shall pass

:-/

~LAJ