Posterior babe vs. Painless Sleep

[Amber Lion]

Sleeping is absolutely miserable for me right now due to aching hips. Totally surrounded and supported by pillows or no pillows at all it doesn't matter, my hips are soooo painful lying on either side in bed at night that it wakes me up and I can only sleep very fitfully. Last night I even took some tylenol, and it did help, but I don't want to have to take tylenol every night to sleep. HOWEVER, if I sleep on my back, my hips don't hurt. In fact, they stop hurting immediately after turning to my back. So... I've been waking up to lying on my back more and more often. It's not even a conscious decision, my body is just turning that way so I can sleep and not be in pain.

My baby has just recently started leaning more and more towards ROP though. I'm feeling more movements out in front and my lower back is starting to ache during BH. I'm trying to spend a significant amount of the day laying forward over my birth ball and I'm being conscious of my posture when sitting. I don't think it's enough though... hours of back sleeping is giving me a posterior babe!!!

Any suggestions? We can't afford a chiro or a massage, but I need to find someway to sleep without spending hours on my back b/c I do NOT want back labor!!! Being exhausted and cranky from spending all night half awake and in pain isn't the nicest option either though.

[ibusymomto5]

I don't have any advice but just wanted to offer sympathy. I went through the exact same thing at the end of this pregnancy. That hip pain is no fun. My babe ended up being posterior during most of labor but turned to LOA before being born. It was an intense labor but not overly long. Here's hoping your lo will stay anterior!

[Baby_Cakes]

I think do all the laying over the ball you can, do all the pelvic tilts you can, don't recline during the day. I had the achy hips too - and I know I slept on my back as well towards the end. And Nora was hella posterior and it was a very intense labor. But I also reclined a lot towards the end and didn't really do much on the ball till it was kinda too late, lol. GL and hopefully your LO stays anterior or flips that way once you go into labor!

[ellesmom]

Maybe you could prop yourself on enough pillows so that you could lay on your stomach??? I am not sure how that would work, but I was reading on a website that someone else posted a while back about optimal fetal positioning, and it mentioned that...

[rozziemama]

Amber Lion - I don't have any advice I just want to commiserate. Its not my hips that are a problem, but, sadly in these last weeks or so it's been middle of the night heartburn that is making it hard for me to lie down on my side - and semi-reclining on my back feels the best.
Soooo.... I am doing the pelvic tilts and sitting upright/leaning forward on the birth ball as much as I can to counteract it...
I also keep telling myself that babies move and turn so much during labor - and being on all fours will help get that babe into the right position.
Right now, sleep is more important than ever!
At least, that's my opinion.
I'm not getting much of it, but the sleep I do get, I just want it to be comfortable.

[mkmb129]

No advice here either, I'm in the same situation. I wake up on my back, too.. I always roll back over onto my side if/when I wake up, though. The pain in my hips is mostly when I try to get up after being on my sides & for a while afterwards, not terrible while I sleep, so I just deal with it. I just started pelvic tilts & leaning over my exercise ball yesterday just in case. This baby is all over the place, so I want to encourage her to stay where she needs to be rather then constantly turning and flipping into a not so great position.

[audsma]

I'm going through the same thing with the hip pain (with right rib pain added) so in order to get any sleep I've started sleeping on my back for a while each night with my knees propped up on two pillows. It seems to get me more sleep. I did get an adjustment this morning, and it was very minor (what actually popped) because as soon as I got up on the table and turned on to my side, my hips popped themselves back into place. Slow yoga twists may work, even though it may feel counter intuitive at this point. That's basically what my adjustment was, after 15 minutes on heat for my lower back. You're not alone!

[Amber Lion]

Thanks ladies, good to know I'm not alone... but sorry you're all with me! I never thought of trying to prop up enough pillows to lay on my stomach... sound heavenly at this point. I think just all the weight and hormones have spread my hips apart, which I guess is a good thing in some respects!

I need to remember to get up and active after I lay on the birth ball too, so hopefully baby will get down in the pelvis in a good position and be less likely to move instead of taking a walk after I've been sitting in a not so good position.

[Cindy-Lou]

My hips really hurt too. I keep waking up every hour and have to flip on my other side. Last week, my DH was snoring really loudly so I came and slept on the couch and I had the best sleep I've had in a long time. My hips don't hurt there so that's where I sleep now.

[freedak]

A doula at a local birthing meeting mentioned the pillow trick as well--you may not be able to sleep that way at first, but you will eventually. She said to use a body pillow (if you have one), wrap it around the underside of your belly (sideways, so that it is taller), and use a regular pillow on top of your belly. Good luck! I hope you get more restful sleep soon!