pelvic pain in late pregnancy

[EagleRay]

I'm 37w pregnant (DC2) and have quite a lot of pelvic pain at night, especially when turning over in bed! ELCS booked for 2w today.

Once I get moving during the day it's not so bad, but do feel very achey and stiff if I sit for too long. I've stopped walking any distance as don't want to aggravate things and there's so much to do at home I figured I'd better save my energy for that (big renovation still going on at the house and so lots of cleaning and moving of stuff although trying to avoid any lifting now)

I was referred for physio at the local hospital and thankfully went straight to the top of the list but they then offered me an appt for early June

Anyone got any suggestions for anything I can do to help myself? Feeling a bit shredded after being awake with last night's pain!

[squeezed]

The turning over in bed pain is typical of spd/pgp. I've had it for nearly 3 months and I am on crutches. Try to tun over in bed by keeping your knees together and sleep with a pillow between your legs. The key is not opening your legs too much. Also climb stairs one step at a time, swivel both legs when getting in/out of a car, avoid heavy lifting, use a rucksack instead of a shoulder bag. You can take paracetamol every day and the cumulative effect can help. Keep active but don't overdo it.
There are support belts that you can wear, ideal mine across the pubic bone to keep the pelvis from moving as much.
It can get really painful and mostly stops after you give birth, but some people still have problems afterwards. Best to keep the physio appointment just in case. As you have the pain late in pregnancy it might be the position if the baby making it worse.

[EagleRay]

Thank you and sorry you've had pain for so long :-(

I was taking paracetamol for a little while at night only - really need to start doing this again as it does seem to make a difference

Now I'm up and about today I feel so much better - it's just the godawful nights which are so unbearable. I also find once I've turned over I'm often gasping for breath - think it's my organs being displaced by the baby!

I'm very lucky in that I've got use of a local spa - had stopped going due to embarrassment over my massive size but am going to get over it and ignore all the comments and wallow in a warm pool for a while

[Autumn2014]

I think I have this. If I try and turn over in bed my pelvis clicks and is painful. I'm sleeping with a pillow in between my legs but get stiff so need to.turn over every so often. I'm very stiff in the evening. Still active, although slow, in the day. Walking around the shops, collecting son from school etc so it mustn't be too bad.

[Chlobee87]

Ugh I've got this at the moment - you have my sympathy. I'm on crutches now which really help as they let me take the weight off my pelvis and hips. I don't use them all the time, but on my worst days or if I need to walk for any real distance (further than the kettle or the loo!) then they are a life saver. You can buy them online, you don't need to get them from the doctors. Also pillow between your knees and one under your bump I've found this helps, although I'm still awake due to pain when rolling over several times in the night so I think it's just par for the course.

I have got an appointment with a chiropractor next week who specialises in exactly this so I'm hoping it will sort me out. I'm not quite as far along as you OP so I've got time for a few sessions hopefully but it might be worth looking into anyway - she did say that even one session can be beneficial.

[EagleRay]

Yes that awful clicking and crunching! I find best technique for turning over is knees up and together, shift bum to side then gently roll knees down again to the other side.

I've just accepted now that 2 hours in the middle of each night are devoted to managing the pain, turning over, weeing, eating, drinking gaviscon and then reading til I drop off again. I guess it's the baby's way of training you up for future night wakings. It's not like I haven't done this before but seemed to have forgotten a lot of it!

I will look into a private session with a practitioner as there's still another 14 nights or so to go!

[chaosagain]

Also struggling with this. I saw a osteopath, which helped.
Physio gave me some pelvic tilt exercises on a yoga ball, that helped. A 20 min salt bath a day gives me relief in the evening. And turning under, not over, in bed is better! Good luck!

[EagleRay]

Turning under - I think I kind of did that last night! Well, I rolled out of bed, stood up, then got back in facing the other way.

I spent a little while in a nice warm pool earlier, and did a bit of walking up and down rather than swim as don't think my joints would thank me for that (I do breaststroke usually). I'm too scared to get in the bath at home now as its very high sided and so easy to get stuck!

Am absolutely bushed now and been in bed for a couple of hours - heaven!

[EagleRay]

And hope everyone else managing to get through the day ok X

[chaosagain]

Yes, avoid breaststroke if swimming - both the physio and osteopath told me that independently. Try and keep your legs together when doing things like getting in & out of the car (a plastic bag on the seat helps). The osteopath said to think 'short skirt no knickers'!
She also advised that you'll reduce the chance of it continuing post partum if you do not give birth (vaginally) while lying on your back..