Pregnancy Pains

Oh, how I bragged through the first and second trimesters when my pregnancy was going so swimmingly. Then along came the third trimester and the pain.

The pain was concentrated in my hips and pelvis. It became quite unbearable at night when I was trying to sleep. I was advised not to sleep on my back any more, because the weight of a baby on vital arteries is detrimental to a pregnant woman's health, but the agony of lying on my side was too much to handle. I was at my wits end so I went to see the physiotherapist who lives a floor down from my obstetrician.

It became suddenly apparent that Relaxin, a hormone produced during pregnancy to help relax both mind and body in preparation for birth, had caused my hips to slip out of alignment. The physio did a great job of realigning my hips. The pain didn't vanish, but it became tolerable.

Soon afterwards, however, I started experiencing shooting pains in my left buttocks. It would stop me in my tracks for a moment, but the pain would subside and I was able to go about my business in manageable discomfort. I mentioned the pain to my obstetrician and he diagnosed sciatica, a common-enough complaint in pregnancy caused by the baby's weight on the sciatic nerve which runs from the lower back down the bum and right down the back of the leg. He told me to see the physio, but I thought I could tough it out.

Then one Tuesday I was in agony. The literal pain in the bum spread down my thigh and into my calf muscle. I couldn't walk, stand, sit, lie ... hop, skip or jump. Fighting back tears I made another appointment to see the physio and they slipped me in on Thursday. Of course (as always happens when I go to see a doctor) that Thursday I felt tip-top with no pain at all, but I explained what I'd been experiencing.

The physio saw that my hips were out of alignment again so she pummeled me some more and sent me on my way. It didn't really help the sciatica so I figured I'd just have to wait until baby is born to be pain free again.

However, the sciatica remains and I'm sick of the discomfort. I know it's all related to the fact that my baby is sitting on my left-side with its back pressed against my back (which is known as posterior positioning and is "not optimal" according to my obstetrician). I heard that acupuncture could help reposition a baby, as well as fix sciatica, so I went along this morning with my husband to his medical acupuncturist to ask if there was anything that could be done.

To my disappointment, I wasn't given acupuncture, just some more pummeling. The Doctor also recognised my lack of proper alignment and he spent some time pushing my lower back and hips into shape. Then the remedial massage woman came in and gave me a deep-tissue massage in my butt cheek to try and sort out that sciatica.

I'm feeling fine as I write this, but I'll have to wait and see what the long-term benefits of this third round of pain management are for me. There are only 4 more weeks until baby is due, but I would very much enjoy 4 pain-free weeks so I can rest and relax before the baby turns my life upside down.