Pain everywhere!

[mugglesmom]

For the last couple of weeks I've had pain in my lower back that shoots down my leg.  My midwife suggested I see a chiropractor for sciatic help.  I went yesterday and it seemed to help at the time but this morning it's terrible again.  Has anyone else used a chiropractor?  Did it help?  I'm going again on Friday but how long do I have to wait for it to go away???

I also have carpel tunnel in my right hand really bad right now (I'm sure this typing is helping right?) and no matter what side I lay on my hand falls asleep in the middle of the night and it's so uncomfortable!  Plus I can't find a comfortable position to sleep in so my frickin' neck hurts now too! 

I was doing so well there for a few weeks now I feel like my body is falling apart.  It makes me worry that I won't be strong enough to birth at home or carry my baby when it's here.  When did I turn into such a whiny wimp?

[guatemama1]

The carpal tunnel is the most unexpected pregnancy-thing... It comes & goes and I do nothing about it except try to keep my hand and wrist straight, elevate and sometimes brace with a piece of wood & ace bandage (and not cry, although I have). I'm in graduate school so I have to really get my stuff done ahead of time in case a carpal tunnel episode comes. It hit me once while leaving a project to the last minute and I couldn't type or anything so I didn't turn in my assignment.

I had a few weeks where I felt like I was falling apart, too, but it seems to have passed *knock, knock* and other women who have been pregnant have told me everything comes and goes and sometimes stays and it all depends on our unique bodies. Never really helpful but at the same time comforting to know the seemingly random pains are part of the deal.

I hope you feel better. I'm sure you are strong enough for the whole process :) We are a lot stronger than we think :)

[HawaiianBlesing]

You can buy an inexpensive wrist splint at the local Walmart, pharmacy etc.  I wear two at night (one on each hand).  I'm a dog groomer and really need my hands to make money so I try to minimize this as much as possible.  There are some great stretches you can do, also massage and icing will help reduce the swelling. Here is a link to a stretching page I use.  I got it from a fellow groomer.   http://www.ergocise.com/wrists.html

There are stretches that will help with the sciatic pain as well.  You really need to stretch out your butt muscles along the side.  A lot of the time the pain is coming from the piriformis muscle not the sciatic nerve. If you can, sit on the floor with one leg out straight.  Cross your other leg T-pee style over the top and pull across to stretch out the muscles on the side of your butt/thigh.  The gluteus medius is what you are really after so you may need to google a stretch to get a better idea of what I'm talking about.   If it is sciatica, the chiro can really make a difference. 

Good luck, I hope it goes away soon!

[Gismobabe]

I could have posted your post 7 years ago when I was pregnant with my daughter. I had all the same symptoms (she was my first and only girl). I had water in my body and this caused such bad carpal tunnel that I would not feel 3 fingers in the morning an drop things all the time. My back was killing me and my osteopath and shiatsu practitioner were helping me as good as possible. I tried nettle tea to get the water out and I felt it helped a bit, but not much. I also gained weight like crazy with her and it turned out to be mostly water. I can remember how unnerving it was but I still had Isabel successfully, so don't worry (for me the trick to a good birth was not to be super strong but to be able to let my expectations go and let birth take over...). 

[SuburbanHippie]

I'm falling apart too.  I'm already showing signs of SPD (pubic dysplasia).  I can't sit on the couch anymore.  Only the hard chairs in the dining room or the recliner.  It feels like my pelvis is going to snap in two.  The pain isn't horrific (yet), but I know that part is coming.  I've had this with my girls before.  It scares me to think that in just a few short weeks I'm going to have to sleep in the recliner again.  :(  This reminds me that I haven't put on my maternity belt yet today.  Time to get that sucker on!

I've had some issues with my arms/hands falling asleep too.  Mostly when I'm sleeping.  I can barely roll over because of the SPD so it makes it incredibly difficult to deal with.  Sciatic pain doesn't usually happen for me until after the baby is born.  I had a really hard time laying the baby down in the crib because that angle would make the pain shoot down.  Oh the joys of motherhood. 

[AnnieA]

I started seeing a chiro last week because I'm having trouble sitting for long periods of time and my job mostly consists of sitting in front of a computer for 8 hrs a day! He has adjusted me twice and it has helped a lot. When I went the second time, I told him that the first adjustment had helped for a few days but the pain was back and he told me that it usually takes about 6 adjustments before your body starts to stay in the new position. Not sure how that applies to sciatic pain though.

[mugglesmom]

I'm sorry that others of you have gone through this or are going through this.  On the other hand it's nice to have the company

I did a lot of squatting yesterday trying to get a stretch in the right spot, it sort of worked but not enough.  I also brought my yoga ball to work so I don't have to sit in my crappy office chair.  hopefully that will help...

Becky-thanks for the carpal tunnel stretch link I'm going to do those today.  I think I can picture what you're talking about when you describe that butt stretch but I'm going to try and google it cuz I don't trust my preggo brain to process it correctly!

SuburbanHippie- Oh no you have to sleep in the recliner?  I hope I can fix this cuz I don't have a recliner!  You sound worse off than me, now I really feel whiny!

Gismobabe-Maybe I'll try the nettle tea too.  I've been retaining water like crazy the past few weeks!  I drink a ton of water too, I don't know what else to do, if I drink anymore I will literally have to stay in the bathroom all day.  As it is I'm in there twice an hour and up 2-3 times a night!  Maybe I should just get myself a pair of Depends and quit trying to exist in normal/non-pregnancy society

Guatemala1-  Thanks for the well wishes!  Did you feel like the brace helped the wrist pain?  I wear a really light brace on my right hand at work but I don't think it helps that much.  Maybe I need something more heavy duty...

I go the chiropractor again tomorrow so hopefully I'll get some relief! 

[SuburbanHippie]

Can I add another complaint?    Tonight's latest issue is acid reflux.  I had this with my last pregnancy in the 3rd trimester.  It feels like I have to burp and it's just acid rising up my throat.  Ugh.  Thank goodness this is my last pregnancy.  It's like all my worst symptoms are having a grand finale. 

[mugglesmom]

Originally Posted by SuburbanHippie 

Can I add another complaint?    Tonight's latest issue is acid reflux.  I had this with my last pregnancy in the 3rd trimester.  It feels like I have to burp and it's just acid rising up my throat.  Ugh.  Thank goodness this is my last pregnancy.  It's like all my worst symptoms are having a grand finale. 

Ugh I can't imagine going through this over and over!  And this only my first...  I really imagined pregnancy to be a beautiful, magical time.  I'd say I had that for about a month.  I hope my notions of a painfree childbirth aren't wrong
 

[scheelimama]

Libby, I've had the sciatica and numb hand/arm thing going on for awhile.  I went to the chiropractor last week and was going to go again next week (I have to pay for it, insurance does not cover it), but the government has decided not to pay us for now, so I don't think I'll be going until we begin getting paid again.    Like you, not sure if it helped.  That was my first appt.  The numb arm thing was SO bad the last 6-8 weeks or so last time, I was in tears so often.  I couldn't sleep for more than an hour without waking up with it so numb and painful I'd have to get up and walk around to try and get some blood flowing.  I also couldn't do much cooking or writing, trying to cut things up, knitting, sewing, or writing, anything that had my arm up doing something, would cause it to go numb.  I'm not that bad yet this time, and was hoping to avoid it getting that bad by going to the chiropractor.  You're the only other person I've ever heard of who has dealt with this.  It sucks.  The other thing that sucked is that it took weeks after the baby was born for it to completely go away.  Most pregnancy related complaints disappear overnight once you have the baby, but the numb arm thing hung on for awhile, going away ever so gradually over the course of 3-4 weeks.  I hope it doesn't get that bad for you or for me this time.

[guatemama1]

I think the brace is more of a mental thing for me, but helpful. According to the internet-people, it is a recommended way to deal with carpal tunnel since you are supposed to keep the wrist straight, but in the moment I don't know what makes me feel better. I told a recently-pregnant friend about it and told her it hurt so bad I cried (coming from someone with arms full of tattoos!  :) and she was like, Oh weird. So the "numbness" people feel I did not feel, but rather soul-crushing pain for 3-4 days. Now when I feel it coming on I try to elevate my arm as much as possible - or put it across my chest so my wrist is above my heart, use my wood brace and hope for the best. I *think* I may have passed this phase of my pregnancy though... it's been nearly a month without an episode, although I had mild CT last weekend. Hope I didn't just jinx myself!

[kairee]

Thanks for sharing the exercise. The numbness in the hands and feet are just so bad, the only way to keep it is to be active.

[Narleegates]

I have noticed the main times that I struggle with pain are on my rest days from the gym, the other day in my workout I had some running and I just KNEW my pubic bone would be killing me the next day, but it was absoultely not.  On my rest days I have pain in the pubic area where it feels like the bone is splitting in half, my lower back and hips, and random round ligament pain, but on the days I go to the gym and get everything warmed up and stretched out, I feel absolutely fine and hardly pregnant (I try to do the gym on weekdays and rest on weekends)