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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to not want to go for a 2-3 hour walk when I'm 30 weeks pregnant and have pelvic and hip pain?

87 replies

Mouse510 · 29/12/2016 09:06

We are staying at the in laws and the suggestion for today's activity is a long(ish) walk. I skipped the shorter but uphill walk on the day we arrived as I was pretty sore. Yesterday's 40 min walk caused me quite a lot of discomfort. I'm really not in the frame of mind to put on a happy face for today's much longer walk. The route actually sounds nice but I won't enjoy it when every step is sore. There had also been no chat about this before we came to visit so my footwear option is wellies which are not the most supportive. Should I just suck it up or is MIL being a bit thoughtless? I'm quite happy to stay back and read my book while everyone else goes out and enjoys it.

OP posts:
Basicbrown · 30/12/2016 09:00

Grin mrsbobdylan you are right, that is a significant risk in the absence of SPD.

SomewhatIdiosyncratic · 30/12/2016 09:56

Good call OP. Take care of yourself.

My main hobby before the impracticalities of having children was hiking. I love walking and generally being active. When I was recovered from DS2, I took up running and have run several half marathons since. I hate being sedentary, and even times like now with a short term overdose of sitting on family sofas too much gets me twitchy and insomnia.

But walking was out during most of my two pregnancies. The first was the worst as I went veering from permo-nausea that left me barely able to eat and being too exhausted to expend energy on anything other than basic function which finally tailed of around 16-18 weeks and then got promptly replaced by the beginings of SPD. At 18 weeks, I was in London for an event and my legs sort of ground to a halt and I had to keep pausing at every opportunity. By 34 weeks, I tearfully had to accept on the bench by the supermarket checkouts, swigging lucozade and paracetamol before I could face lugging myself back to the car (in a parent space to guarantee that I could access the driver's seat) that even the ruddy supermarket was beyond me. The last few weeks I was stuck in the house unless I could be dropped off door to door as I couldn't get my bump behind the steering wheel, and reach the pedals any more. Because the SPD was unidentified despite going to the GP at 34 weeks, I tried to plough on as long as I could and unknowingly was damaging myself with inappropriate movement while in the swimming pool.

Second time was better. I'd got fit between pregnancies starting from walking 100m to the post box and back and going to bed to revover. The nausea phase was shorter and less intense (maybe helped by better management) and I managed to keep walking and light exercise until 20 ish weeks. When my pelvis ground up on a trip to town at about 25 weeks, I knew what it was and began managing it. I ended up borrowing crutches to keep moving gently within my threshold and kept in better condition. I went through referrals to physio but by the time I'd done all the hoop jumping required to get a pelvic support, I was 37 weeks and could only get through the hospital on the crutches that I'd already acquired! Managing the condition properly helped me retain several weeks of mobility and reduced the pain levels a bit.

When I had a MW appointment at 39+6 and was already beyond the point that I'd reached in my first pregnancy, I decided it was time to go for broke... I took half an hour to slowly lug myself on my crutches down the hill to the appointment about 400m away. I got the bus home. It turned out that the backache that was setting in when I got home was the start of labour and I was holding my baby 10 hours later.

Both my deliveries were difficult due to being back to back. DS1 was an EMCS after a long exhausting labour. DS2 was much quicker. I insisted on being helped with a better position on my hands and knees as actively moving was physically difficult even without the monitoring, but he ended up being forceps in theatre and was nearly a CS. The 3rd degree tear buggered up my pelvis even more and the SPD was slow to go. When DS was 13 weeks, I was still struggling to do that 400m home and ended up seeing an osteopath in desperation which began making a significant improvement at long last.

Why my essay? Because it's a miserable restrictive condition that can have long term consequences and is poorly understood. I recognised what it was because of other people sharing their experiences which enabled me to manage it better second time. It's an under recognised condition that tends to attract patronising, unhelpful comments by people who really don't seem to grasp that SPD stops business as usual and is made far worse by attempting to push through. Working with the limitations of SPD is not lazy, it's damage limitation.

dollydaydream114 · 30/12/2016 10:44

To those who are implying that women who don't exercise during pregnancy are in some way wimps, the point here isn't the pregnancy itself, but the fact that the OP is suffering from hip/pelvic pain - the fact that it's pregnancy that's caused that pain is incidental to the dilemma, really.

Pregnant or not, nobody should feel forced to go on a walk if it's going to worsen the pain they're experiencing and I'm sure most people would totally understand that. I'm not pregnant and never have been, but I've currently got a condition that means walking for longer than about 15 minutes is painful, so I'd have to refuse a long walk too (which is pity as under normal circumstances I love a country walk) and I'd have no qualms about politely explaining that to anyone who asked me to go on one. Obviously I wouldn't be expecting them to change their plans - I'd just stay behind and entertain myself.

Oysterbabe · 30/12/2016 10:52

This was me last year. Constantly dragged out on walks like a fucking dog. Last year hiked up a massive hill and went into preterm labour the next day.

BigDamnHero · 30/12/2016 10:54

Women who exercise into late pregnancy can suffer an extreme form of smugness that may never improve.

If I'd been drinking tea when I read this I'm sure I'd have experienced the MN proverbial keyboard soaking. Grin

OP, good call. Glad you're relaxing.

Threesoundslikealot · 30/12/2016 11:06

Fire and book sounds heavenly.

I just wanted to suggest that all those on here still suffering pain postnatally consider telling their GP/seeing a Physio. As others have said, PGP is often dismissed as just a pregnancy thing, and actually it can be masking an underlying condition that can be treated.

I had appalling PGP in my first pregnancy. I couldn't walk from my living room to kitchen on my worst days. After the birth, I had continuing hip pain and discomfort. I ended up being sent by the hospital Physio to the orthopaedic clinic and an MRI showed I had arthritis in both hips because of the positioning of my sockets. While it's not great in that I'll need hip replacements hopefully a long time from now, they were able to treat it now with steroid and water injections. I went on to have two more pain-free pregnancies and now only get mild hip pain after long walks. Had I not sought help, I would have had another two miserable pregnancies - or actually DD2 might not exist! Obviously my problem is specific to me, but there are lots of other issues that can be addressed.

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 30/12/2016 11:48

I don't think many people pregnant or not would relish going on 2-3 mile hike.

pigsDOfly · 30/12/2016 12:29

Not sure anyone has the right to feel smug and superior because they can walk for hours and hours in late pregnancy Toolong. It's not a competition and there are no prizes for it.

The OP has hip and pelvic pain, of course she shouldn't be going on long walks.

I walked a lot during two of my pregnancies but with another I was admitted to hospital at 30 weeks and confined to bed for 10 weeks. Should I have felt ashamed? Not all pregnancies are the same.

Threesoundslikealot · 30/12/2016 12:32

A 2-3 mile hike is an hour or so's walk! Sounds lovely to me. When not pregnant with PGP.

noeffingidea · 30/12/2016 12:48

Good for you, Op. Hope you enjoyed your rest.
I'm a big fan of walking, and was pretty active through my first 2 pregnancies. Can remember hurting my back during my 3rd pregnancy and having to go upstairs on my hands and knees.
Of course it's a good idea to remain as active as possible when pregnant (well, any time of life, really) but pushing your body to the point of pain is usually counter productive.

KERALA1 · 30/12/2016 14:34

Somewhat I ended up on crutches unable to walk for last 5 weeks of pregnancy. Always been fit and healthy. Being essentially disabled was eye opening. I had a short walk from bus stop to my office ended up sobbing on a bench in pain. Did discover how kind many strangers were (central London). Some builders gave me a lift in their van. Eventually work signed me off without me asking - the partners said seeing me so pregnant hobbling around made them feel bad.

My young handsome male doctor suggested it was caused by a sports injury Hmm.

SilentBatperson · 30/12/2016 15:20

Even in my non SPD pregnancy I wouldn't have been enamoured with a 3 mile country walk in the final trimester, simply because I'd have needed a piss approximately 846 times. Its one thing to find a convenient bush every few hours, quite another every few minutes.

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