Signs and symptoms - Page 39 « Back to Group Discussions

[LilyTiger]

ithappened, this may or may not help, but when I get lower back pain I lower myself into a deep squat and hang there for a little while (30 seconds or so).  I do a few reps of this and it really helps loosen all the joints, ligaments, etc.  Obviously, some prenatal yoga might help too, but I've found the squats give immediate relief.

I've also been hanging out in frog pose after workouts (sort of like child's pose but with your legs out at 90 degree angles like a frog).  It's a great hip opener.

http://www.venusrisingmagazine.com/index.php/VR/yoga_for_living/frogs_stay_cool/

You might also want to try stretching the ol' hamstrings, since those are one of the common culprits of lower back pain.  It's probably a combination of things, since your back is under added strain your other muscles are having to compensate and therefore tighten and you've got all the whacky ligament stretching and tightening.  I was having really obnoxious back pain for a few weeks there but the combo of my new pregnancy pillow and religiously stretching my hips (frog pose and squats) has eliminated it.  And I have a really whacky back thanks to bulging discs.

[NewMumJoy]

Hmmm, I seem to have a great fixation on sex throughout the day but by the time DH gets home I've lost all steam.  He's been such a good sport, thankfully!  At our recent appointment, the doc recommended to abstain from sex until our next u/s in...10 WEEKS (due to the partial placenta previa)!  Of course, that only makes me want it more - even though realistically I still want to crash by 5pm every night.....

I've also been finding my back tightening up and getting sore as the day wears on and by evening I need to stretch out with some prenatal yoga positions, such as forward bends, child's pose and downward dogs.  The terrible sleep at night has not been helping....

[Knitting Mama]

Originally Posted by intime0 

I would agree with the negative...there is no nice way to say this...and i would never say it to DH, but I'm pretty repulsed by the whole thing.  Hate is not too strong of a word at this point.  But yeah, I still try to meet his needs...and he knows I'm not really loving it like I should and respects that!

Why can't I be one of those women who LOVE it and can't get enough with preggo?

I am the same way.

[iixivboots]

I'm kind of scared, I slept late and I've been really stressed, and even just after I woke up I felt like my heart was beating really fast/hard. :( I googled this before and it said a fast pulse can be normal in pregnancy, but I dunno. :(

[LilyTiger]

Boots, I really wouldn't worry about it.  You're under a ton of stress right now and a variable heart rate is probably part of that.  Is there anything you can do to try to minimize your stress levels?  Meditation, yoga, long walks, massage, etc?  This is a really stressful time in general, but you've got a lot on your plate over and above pregnancy craziness.  Hopefully your appointment with your provider eases at least that part of your anxiety.

[rebecca10]

Boots, soundsto me like a panic attack.  They are nothing to worry about physically, but are definitely scary. I agree with Lilly the main to do for them is try to use relaxation techniques to calm down in the immediate term, and then try to lower the stress overall to prevent them. (If they get bad enough there are also anti-anxiety meds, although I don't know about their safety in pregancy. Therapy can also sometimes help) I actually had my first panic attack in a long time yesterday morning. It was terrible.  I have a feeling the pregnancy hormones can help induce them, particularly when combined with lots of stress.

[intime0]

Hot baths are great for backaches....and something I accidentally figured out this weekend....I was basically resting the top half of my body on a cart while letting my belly just relax all the way down and letting my back relax.  Oh man, it was great.  The pain completely subsided while I did it and even for some time afterwards.  (I was standing in the ticket line at the airport and I've NEVER had to stand in line before.  LOL.  They ALWAYS see me with all my kids and come and take us to the front of the line.  The line was over an hour, almost two.  OH My back.)  anyway, even after I straightened up, I was still feeling okay.  But the longer I stood there the more it hurt.  But at least I have a tip.

[NewMumJoy]

Swollen feet!!  Anyone else?  By night, my toes look like hot dogs.... I can't tell if being up walking around, or sitting down makes it worse.  I'm just thankful that it's almost flip flop season!!!

[ithappened]

I woke up this morning feeling totally crappy, borderline sick, just in time for DH to leave for the week. I have no idea how I am going to swing this week now with the dog and DS in the state I am in.. :( Its times like these I wish we had helpful family near and/or a yard.

[LilyTiger]

ithappened, are you ever going to catch a break?  So sorry!  A yard is great...  I remember apartment living with my dog before we bought the house and it was rough.

I need help on some symptoms over here:

First: after I eat, I develop this pain under my right rib that gets worse and worse (it's sort of like pressure that builds over time) until I have to get up or walk around.  I read somewhere that this is caused by the uterus squishing the ribs, but that it doesn't usually hit until week 30 or so.  Anyone else having that this early?  Stupid rib pain.... I'm only going to get (a lot) bigger, so this doesn't bode well for third trimester comfort.

Second: weird shooting pains like a needle sticking in my boob.  Only one area, but it was super uncomfortable during my workout.  I kept peeking down my shirt and trying to rub my breast in a non-obvious way while at the gym surrounded by big muscle-y dudes.  I'm assuming it's a growth spurt or a duct growing or something?  I didn't realize so much of pregnancy feels like needles sticking in you.  I've had the needle-y pelvic pain, the needle-y vaginal pain, and now the needle-y boob pain.  Seriously?  I wish growing pains were like gentle massages.  That would be acceptable.

[intime0]

Yeah, totally, massages all the time. 

I do not like being a fear monger, but...LOL. I'm assuming your bp is okay?  No protein spilling?  One sign of preeclampsia is pain under the ribs.  I'm sure it's  nothing that big...these things usually arent.

Yes, the needle in the breasts.  When you begin nursing, assuming you are, when your milk lets down, it can feel like needles.  TINY needles all over your breast.  It doesnt hurt, per se.  LOL.  Slightly, and I do mean slightly, uncomfortable.  But you get used to it.

Has anyone been having leg cramps?  I usually get them in the nights when I stretch, so I'm uber careful not to stretch.  But I'm getting them when I'm walking down stairs.  They arent bad yet, but they are just trying to get bad.  Make sense?  Never had them when walking.  Wonder if I'm missing some vitamin?

Sneezing all the time!!!!

[LilyTiger]

intime0, bp has been good (110/60 or so, depending on the day).  But I'll ask the doc for more info.  I would think the pain would be on both sides if it were preenc related, but I don't really know.  Off to WebMD!

EDIT: apparently preeclampsia is pain on the right side.  Whoops.  Either way I think it's fine, but I'll have the doc take a closer look at the pee next appointment.  I'm terrified of preecl. in general.

Edited by LilyTiger - 3/20/12 at 6:58am

[NewMumJoy]

ItHappened - I hope by now you're feeling better!

I've had the shooting boob pain too LilyTiger... I'm already up a bra size so I figured it's those ducts going crazy....

I've also been having the occasional shooting pain this week in my lower uterus (not sure if it's my cervix, it's just off center and above my bladder).... So sharp that I squirm in my seat when it happens.  They don't last long, maybe 4-5 zings then it stops.  Anyone else?  I hope that these aren't some sort of contractions, I would expect that kind of pain to feel more like a cramp over a larger/general area....

[FeralFox]

For weeks I really didn't have a lot of symptoms, but now...

My belly has really popped lately.  It's so big that even walking up and down the hall at work leaves me completely out of breath.  I'm sitting in a chair right now relaxing, and still can't catch my breath.  My belly feels tight and stretched, especially right under the ribs.  I keep getting this weird thing where a spot under the ribs on the right side sort of "pops" sometimes and feels painful a lot of the time.  I can't stand in one place for more than a few minutes or I get lightheaded.  I also can't eat more than a couple of bites without getting indigestion and heartburn.  I though the second trimestr was supposed to be "golden" when everything settled in and you feel great for a while, but apparently not for me.  It sucks - my last pregnancy was wonderful, I got big but felt really good for most of it.  I don't understand why it's so much worse this time.

[ithappened]

I though the second trimestr was supposed to be "golden" when everything settled in and you feel great for a while, but apparently not for me.  It sucks - my last pregnancy was wonderful, I got big but felt really good for most of it.  I don't understand why it's so much worse this time.

Ahh me too. Ive been a bit down about how the second trimester hasn't been so 'honeymoon'. I'm still exhausted and low energy most of the time but I do find I get 'hits' for a day or so where I feel amazing then sort of crash again ..

Right now, at least the last 3 days I've had bad headaches, a Tylenol sometimes helps but a lot of times isn't doing anything. I also just want to eat cereal and granola ALL the time which is rather odd... veggies don't appeal to me at all again but I can live off of fruits..

anyhow.

[lakeruby]

LilyTiger-- I've had those breast pains! ouch.

I am also having some leg cramping-- I notice a twinge every so often when I stretch while in bed, and the other night my foot cramped up.  This has never happened to me before and it was very bizarre.  I also have restless leg syndrome, which might be related.  Last night I got up and drank some Natural Calm (magnesium supplement) and was not bothered the rest of the night.

[ithappened]

I was about to also suggest magnesium supplements in some form to those of you with cramping, they really helped me my last pregnancy when I started to get them toward the end of things.

[pennywhistle]

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeralFox 

For weeks I really didn't have a lot of symptoms, but now...

My belly has really popped lately.  It's so big that even walking up and down the hall at work leaves me completely out of breath.  I'm sitting in a chair right now relaxing, and still can't catch my breath.  My belly feels tight and stretched, especially right under the ribs.  I keep getting this weird thing where a spot under the ribs on the right side sort of "pops" sometimes and feels painful a lot of the time.  I can't stand in one place for more than a few minutes or I get lightheaded.  I also can't eat more than a couple of bites without getting indigestion and heartburn.  I though the second trimestr was supposed to be "golden" when everything settled in and you feel great for a while, but apparently not for me.  It sucks - my last pregnancy was wonderful, I got big but felt really good for most of it.  I don't understand why it's so much worse this time.

I'm sorry you're feeling bad, but...it's SO good to see someone else has this stuff going on!  I ran half-marathons last year, and now I get winded just walking 2 blocks.  If I walk up a flight of stairs, I have to stop at the top to regain my breath.  It's ridiculous.  My midwife suggested iron supplements, so I'm going to try that.  And I'm also getting the awful indigestion & heartburn - for that, my midwife suggested cutting my meals in half, and eating them an hour apart - basically, eating smaller portions more frequently.  I'm hoping things will change soon - I too was all excited about the Amazing Golden Trimester, and feel really let down that I'm just as fatigued and crappy-feeling as I was in the first!
 

[LilyTiger]

Pennywhistle and FeralFox, I am totally having the same thing.  When I eat I can't sit for more than a few minutes before this pain under my rib goes nuts.  And we ran a 1 mile after a weight workout last week at the gym and I felt pretty good about it until I got back to the gym and realized that I ran a 14 minute mile.  Seriously?  It's like my cardio ability dropped through the floor in the past two weeks or so.  More than one flight of stairs kills me.  My workouts are still feeling really good, oddly, so I don't know what the deal is with running and stairs. 

Overall I'm feeling good and energetic, but these things are making me nervous about what happens when I'm bigger.  There's not really much more room for this babe.... seriously.

[pennywhistle]

I feel the same way - last night I was comparing myself to a sausage, because my skin just feels so tight and everything just feels stuffed inside, and there's just no room for anything!  And then I look at pictures of hugely pregnant women and realize I'm NOWHERE near that.  Yikes.