First baby, could this be sciatica? Advice please x

[Serafin87]

Hi everyone

First baby due In June. So far I've been so lucky with symptoms, no sickness just tiredness and headaches. In fact I forget I'm pregnant sometimes (shameful) although midwife assured me no sickness is perfectly fine. I'm in the second trimester but my bum cheeks and usually left leg are restless and have a dull ache, sometimes shooting pain but not unbearable I have a high pain threshold. I feel almost like I'm laying on my bone... I'm an average size 12. Some nights in up almost every hour tossing to get comfy, not be able to sleep on my left side. I've built a nest in bed, work have been great and reduced duties. When I massage my bum cheek it improves lol, anyone experiencing this??
Thanks in advance xx

Hi, I had something like this in my last pregnancy and occasionally get twinges in this one. Getting out of bed was the worst, putting weight on it was really painful and it hurt to walk at times.

I went to the docs and just got told it was likely pelvic girdle pain or similar. It did feel like sciatica, like shooting pain pressing on a nerve, but all they did was refer me to physio which was just about pelvic floor exercises! Because the ligaments are more flexible in pregnancy I think this sort of thing is quite common.

I found swimming helped at the time, and then when it was really bad the baby then turned (from breech position) and the pain eased. However I think also my really hard mattress and bed was to blame because I've since bought a lovely expensive mattress which I think has made all the difference!

Sounds like sciatica alright, go see an osteopath.

I'm due in June too and had this earlier on- was pelvic girdle pain, I think. Used heat pads and stopped wearing heels and it got loads better.

Was coming on to say PGP. It's not always the front of your pelvis, often the joints between your spine and pelvis helpfully loosen up as well, which can cause sciatica.

Try to get a referral to physio, ask for the specialist pregnancy physio.

Stop lifting, hoovering, pushing anything. At all.

Pillow between legs at night. Google for more PGP tips and follow them. Caution now is well worth it after the baby arrives. I've been through it four times!

Thanks so much for your advice everyone