pelvic girdle pain - please tell me it goes away

[rosamarina]

I'm having an utterly miserable time with pelvic girdle pain (aka SPD) this pregnancy, and it's been gradually getting worse and worse and I've got ten more weeks to go, so please, anyone who's had this, can you reassure me that it does go away again after you have the baby? How long did it take to get better, for you? Did you have to do anything particular to make it go away? I love going on long walks and it kills me that I can't walk to the end of my road without being in agony now, and I really need some light at the end of the tunnel.

[Stellarella123]

Have u been to physio? I got a belt that gave support. Helped alot but never went away till baby was born unfortunately, I had it in my head that maternity leave would be spent shopping, going for lunch etc, but could hardly walk without being in pain . I hope the next 10 weeks fly in. Your baby will make it all worth it!

[Stellarella123]

And yes i forgot all about it once baby was born... Gone :)

[rosamarina]

Thanks! Yeah, I've seen the physio and she gave me a support belt and some exercises to do. The support belt helps when I go out, and I'm hoping the exercises are doing something, but it's seeming a long time till January.

And I know what you mean - I was thinking it would be more sensible to wait till later in pregnancy to sort out all the baby things (this is DS2 so it's more rummaging through the loft and going through boxes of old baby clothes than going shopping), but now I'm really wishing I'd done that sooner.

[emeraldgirl1]

rosmarina not trying to hijack your thread but just to offer sympathy as am suffering too :(

Poor you it sounds miserable for you.

I don't know if I can tell you if it goes away as mine has only just started! But I just wanted to comiserate. Clearly you are doing everything you can as you have seen a physio; I just did that this morning. She suggested a mattress topper (I have started a separate thread asking for reccs) so maybe you could think about one of those, if it is bad when you are sleeping? She also said yoga was excellent, if you can face that? I am creaking my way through a preg yoga dvd and it helped a bit yesterday.

Good luck and sorry you're suffering x

[MayTheOddsBeEverInYourFavour]

It usually goes away but the important thing is to get good help and advice and rest rest rest! Don't push your body past it's limits

Hope the pain eases up soon for you xx

[rosamarina]

Feel free to have a general moan, emeraldgirl and anyone else, it's horrible, isn't it. My DH is getting fed up of listening to me moan about it.

It's okay at night so long as I have a mountain of pillows in the bed, thankfully, but it's not fun when I'm trying to get around doing stuff. Unfortunately I can't rest as much as I'd like because I have a DS with autism who needs a lot of attention when he's not at school (and it's half term next week EEK).

Pregnancy yoga DVD sounds doable, is there any you recommend particularly?

[MayTheOddsBeEverInYourFavour]

That sounds tough rosa. I do understand how hard it is to rest, with my last pregnancy I had severe pgp and five children to run around after as well as working, but I really wish I had rested more now as I have become permanently disabled due to it and have to use a wheelchair

Now that is very rare, and I'm sure you'll be fine as soon as you have your baby, but honestly the more you can rest the better however you can wangle it

In the mean time having a good physio helps and don't be afraid to ask for whatever pain relief you need, there are lots of safe options available

[Moredofbumsnet]

It does go away. With dc3 I was unable to walk out to the car but as soon as labour started it felt better and when she was 10 days old I could walk a mile or two. She is two now and SPD is a distant memory.I did get straightened up by the physio when she was about 3 months old as although I could walk fine I wasn't quite right.

[systemsaddict]

I've had it twice, once just at the end of pg, and then second time round for most of it, and both times it went away instantly after delivery, which was lovely. Second time round the thought of being free of it was what got me through labour!

Be v. careful with pregnancy yoga, as some of the poses which are great for non-PGP people can trigger it. Do nothing that moves your knees apart. Tbh resting as much as possible was definitely the best thing for me.

I also went to see a v. good chiropractor a few times, while pg, who helped a lot (in addition to physio and belt).

[jinglesticks]

I was just about to start a similar thread! I've got 6 weeks left and really cannot walk now. I have been told by friends that theirs was instantly better after birth, but I haven't met anyone in rl who has it as bad as me!
Can't imagine coping with toddler and newborn if it doesn't go away!

[emeraldgirl1]

rosmarina - I have done the Tara Lee Pregnancy DVD and found it helped yesterday. Though of course I 2nd what systemsaddict says about being careful. I just took it v gently and didn't do anything that felt 'bad'. The physio I saw today was pretty keen on yoga, though - maybe because I'm so horrifically inflexible in pretty much every other joint so she thought it might loosen me up...?

[HastaLanugo]

It does, in the majority of cases, go away after the birth. I am a rare example of it even going into remission mid pregnancy. It stated at 9 weeks this time and month or so ago I could barely walk. Cue shift in both hormones and bump, and things got better for a while. I have signs of it getting bad again now, 24 weeks, but I'm just grateful for the break I've had. With my first child it went pretty quickly, though I did have physio for persistent lower back pain that might or might not be connected. I have underlying mobility problems, but I got through it all and I will again! Try not to let it get you down.

Does anyone know if the SPD sofa is still running? There seem to be loads of different pregnancy threads about it when there could be one ante natal support group.

[emeraldgirl1]

Hasta didn't know there was an SPD sofa but it seems a good idea to have just one support group...

[HastaLanugo]

Aha! I had expected it to be in ante-natal clubs, but this seems to be the most recent incarnation. Can I please encourage everyone to had over so we have all the advice and support in one place?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/a1346772-welcome-to-the-new-SPD-sofa-have-a-biscuit-and-a-brew