37 weeks and very low due to SPD. What are my options?

[vanillacremebrulee]

Hi everyone.
This is my third pregnancy and I've had SPD since 26 weeks or so. I didn't get it for the other two so I seriously underestimated how bad it can get and hardly mentioned it to my midwife until very recently.
37 weeks now and it's gone downhill in the last week or so to the point that I'm basically house bound. I can hardly lift my left leg. I can't lie down for more than a few minutes without being in excruciating pain as I try to get up (night trips to the toilet are an absolute nightmare). I feel like a thorn is stuck in my pubis all the time.
Midwife did suggest physio but I guess it's too little too late for it? I'm reluctant to ask for codeine or to try crutches. Perhaps I still haven't accepted it yet? I keep hoping it'll get better or that the baby will be born soon. To make things much worse, I've been having long spells of BHs and they're getting progressively more painful, so much so that and they wake me up at night. Between the BHs and SPD, I'm pretty much in pain most of the time and I really don't see how I can carry on like this. My mental health is deteriorating and I've had a serious panic attack the other night where I rejected the idea of having a baby inside me which is a horrible thing and it has nothing to do with how wanted or loved this baby is going to be when he's born. I also panic that this pregnancy will carry on forever and that they baby will never make it out of my vagina. At times I feel stuck in someone else's body and that's also when I get a panic reaction. I am becoming increasingly depressed and don't really know how to carry on any longer.
Do you think I should ask to speak to a consultant about being induced or having a C-section at 40 weeks or even a bit earlier? In what circumstances would they intervene before 42 weeks and is SPD + depression recognised as a valid reason for intervention? Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks.

Anyone please?

Hi, so sorry to hear you have such severe SPD, I had it with my second ds. Not as badly as you, but it got to the point where I was in pain most of the time and walking to the shops was not an option.
Do you have a belt from the physio or midwife? They can help a little with the pain. A bit like a mini shirt from the top of the bump to mid thigh (this is from memory iyswim) sort of holds everything together.
Also please please if you can go to a good osteopath. My midwife told me there is little you can do other than see the physio who gave me a belt. But I went to a local osteoparth for a couple of sessions and the SPD improved 80% I still had some pain but so much less than before. Others have reccommended Chiropracters too I think but I have no experience of this.
Also you need to speak to your midwife to get some more support. Tell them you need an additional appointment if necessary.
Do you have friends who could come and help you out with stuff at home and also provide a welcome chat?
Its best for your baby that it stays inside you as long as it needs to and with all that you have going on you are doing a great job. Dont be afraid to ask for help.

Hi,
I just wanted to say I know just how you feel. I felt the same for the last weeks of my ds2 pregnancy. SPD is horrible. It made me feel completely defeated by everything, I remember crying one day when my dh said he was going out but my parents would be with me in a couple of hours. I just cried and thought I can't get through a couple of hours. I also had lots and lots of BH geting increasingly painful. If its any help (which it probably isn't) when I did eventaully go into labour i was more dilated than I expected and I am convinced it was because my body was building up to labour with the BH for the weeks before hand. I know that when you are feeling like this the thought of doing anything (getting up, going upstairs, getting up to reach for the phone) is difficult. BUT if you can manage to get up, and reach for the phone then please call your midwife and explain/ask for crutches/ask for referral/call osteopath as it might help.

I saw a chiropractor after my physio told me all she could do was give me crutches. It was like magic, I was walking normally in a fortnight, and actually enjoyed the last few weeks of my pregnancy.

I would definitely try and see a physio or an osteopath (or both!) ASAP.

They may not have a magic wand solution but even a small improvement might help you feel better. I have relatively minor SPD but pg has exacerbated my existing back problems, I've been in a right state as a result and it is really tough when you can't get comfy any which way!

Regular doses of paracetamol and hot baths are slightly helpful (although obviously a few grains of laudanum and a bottle of gin would probably be even better!)

Please talk to your GP and/or MW as soon as possible. Codiene is great stuff and even if you only feel comfortable taking a dose or two at night to help you sleep, that might make you feel well enough to cope better. Crutches or wheelchair and a support belt can all also be really useful, and even now an obstetric physio or an osteopath could be really helpful especially if your pain is asymmetric as that tends to be caused by stuff they can help with.

Ice on your pubis and a hot water bottle/TENS on your lower pack can also help a lot. As can antidpressants - sertraline seems to be the recommended one for 3rd trimester now.

It's not going to last forever but do try everything you can to feel a bit better as it will feel like it! Hopefully if you attack it on a number of fronts and rest as much as possible you'll feel better. Ask for cooking help etc from everyone you know - from my experience late preg+SPD is harder than the newborn stage so demand just as much help as will be offered later!

The physio should be able to give you a support belt, thses can be really helpful and dont rely on you doing exercises etc to make them work, so you dont have to worry about time for exercises to act.

Thank you for your replies. I do have a support band that the midwife gave me when I told her about the pain and it has helped a lot up until last week which is probably part of the reason why I thought I could manage it. Now it seems irrelevant whether I wear it or not.
I'll try to see my GP tomorrow and get a referral to physio or osteopath and will tell him about my state of mind too. I'm still reluctant to take any medication in case it's bad for the baby so codeine would be my last resort.
This afternoon Ive had 4 hours of contractions and they are just subsiding now. I feel shattered and utterly depressed and dread another sleepless night. I don't know what's worse, the latent labour or the SPD. I read the latent labour can carry on for weeks. I just don't know how to get through this.

I had SPD just like you describe with pg number one. You have my absolute and total sympathy. I was prescribed codeine and did not take it for fear of harming baby. In retrospect, this was not the right decision and I was not thinking straight. Many MNetters on here have done lots of research into painkillers and pg, and, given the state which you are in, might suggest you reconsider that decision, if only to get a tiny bit of rest on one or two nights. Rest rest rest is so important so bugger all other household tasks.

I really hope your baby comes soon- mine was 3 weeks early and with a hypothesis that the birth was easier because the SPD had already relaxed my pelvis so much. Hands and knees over the back of the bed is a good delivery position btw.

So I saw a consultant today and I'm feeling even worse. He won't even consider doing intervening before 39 weeks and then he basically said he would only induce. I said that I can't possibly be induced after the traumatic experience I had last time with being induced and said I would rather have a section than go through what i did last time. He said no unless there's a medical reason and I said that psychological reasons should count too. I felt like such a wimp and have done little but panic even more tonight. I'm not saying that a section is the answer to all my problems but surely my fragile mental state and previous traumatic VB should not be dismissed? I really feel that I'm being coerced here into another traumatic VB. Please tell me if I can stand my ground.

Oh forgot to say that he did not even consider giving me codeine, sedative or other pain relief for SPD in the mean time.

here

and find a physio who will do manipulation.

I have it pretty bad now at 25 weeks. Consultant has decided that a c/s at 38 weeks will be going ahead. Some do take it seriously.

Oh, one thing that has unexpectedly helped a bit is lots and lots of pelvic floor exercises.