Pelvic discomfort - What's normal?

[lucylu79]

So i'm 19 weeks pregnant with my second and i'm experiencing something very unknown to me.

It started about 4 weeks ago whilst I was still jogging so I just put it down to a bit of overuse. I've stopped running at 16 weeks but do a lot of walking instead. What i'm experiencing is discomfort in my bits basically. I can't call it pain as it's not really.

I can feel it just from as little standing up from a seated position or if i'm putting tights on and standing on one leg but always whilst walking.

Is this normal stretching/pulling that I just didn't experience first time around or expected after having one child?

Any help or advice greatly received ladies.

x

This almost certainly sounds like SPD.

Mine started about the same stage and unfortunately has only got worse.

Today I saw a Chiropractor who really helped.

I would really recommend seeing one sooner rather than later to help you manage this, or it may get to the awful stage of being incredibly painful.

I've heard of SPD but have to admit I know nothing about it!

I will go and look it up, see if the symptoms are similar.

My next appoint is not for 9 weeks, should I try and see her before then?

Many thanks!

Sounds like early SPD. I got similar symptoms around the same time but luckily it eased a little. It's apparently down to the relaxin in your body and the pelvic bones begin to rub together as the muscles soften. I got some good advice from the hospital physio. Definitely advise speaking to them as the earlier you start to do things not to aggravate it, the better.

lucylu79

No, either see your GP or if you can, pay privately for a chiropractor - mine is about £30 a session and a million times better than waiting for weeks to see an NHS physio!

Definitely SPD. Get yourself ideally to a woman's health physio (if you're in London there's a group called Six Physio who are excellent in this department, and they have clinics over London and also one in Sussex), otherwise an osteo or possibly chiro that specialises in pregnancy or women's health.

They key thing with SPD is to get it treated as early as possible. I highly recommend not waiting for a referral to an NHS physio if you can afford it. Firstly because it will most likely take forever and secondly they often just aren't that great (in my experience) and will just give you a stretchy hip belt thingy that may, in fact, make it worse (because if there are alignment issues you need to get those sorted out first).

I also found acupuncture helped a lot with managing the pain in my last pregnancy. Again, I found someone who specialised in women and pregnancy.

I think I have SPD. I have joint and pelvic pain. Its so painful in the morning I cry out in pain and have to hold onto furniture to walk. My midwife said it was normal and it will go when the baby's born, but I think there is more that could be done to help. I think the female body is amazing how it can carry, grow and nourish a baby and yet I think mother nature could have done a better job at making it much less painful for us. Saying that, I never believed it was possible for me to ever get pregnant, having tubal infertility, and I feel so privileged to be in this position.

Sarah it's not 'normal' to be crying out in pain and not able to walk. Get yourself to a physio, etc (see my advice above)

There are various theories as to why spd has become more prevalent in recent years (re. your comment about our bodies being designed to grow babies). But mostly to do with the fact that women in ye olde days used to be up on their feet most their lives, doing physical labour and thus were much stronger than we are, with much better muscle strength around their core and pelvis. The fact that we spend most of our lives on our butts nowadays has a lot to answer for. And this comes from someone who was very fit, active and athletic prior to DC1 and still got SPD... We also tend to have children later in life. If I'd had a baby when I was 20 (instead of 35) I suspect I wouldn't have had the same issues.