Is this pain normal - 24 weeks pg?

[artyjoe]

I'm 24 weeks pg today.

I have had severe lower abdominal pain for the past four days...but only when going from a sitting position to standing or standing to sitting...once I'm up and walking or sat down, no pain.

Someone said it might be a compacted bowel so I have changed diet and the pain does lessen once I have been to the loo but have also managed to give myself piles as am trying to do this all the time due to the pain.

My main concern is this is proper pain, not discomfort, very acute for the few seconds it takes to get up or down. All last week my stomach was aching but nothing more. I am carrying very low but the baby is still kicking away so assume nothing is wrong there.

I had one almighty pain in my cervix on Saturday but that hasn't returned.

Any ideas or advice?

Thanks - Joe

p.s. have trawled all my pregnancy books and can't find anything like what I have.

Artyjoe - is it lower abdominal pain or is it right over your pubic bone? Tyr lying down and pressing on your pubic bone - if it is sore it is likely to be SPD - symphisis pubis dysfunction. Your midwife can refer you to the physiotherapist if that is what it is. Try not to strain on the toilet for a bowel movement. Drink plenty of fluids and ensure you have enough roughage. Motion should glide out with ease then .
The other thing that can cause pain is the start of a urine infection - very common in pregnancy. Give your midwife a call or visit your GP to get to the bottom of the problem. HTH.

Hi Mears, The pain is right at the bottom of my bump, but feels quite a way inside if that makes sense. If my pubis bone is where i think it is (!) then that's not where the pain is, it's about two inches further up. When I lie on my back it is 'uncomfortable' to put my legs straight as it feels like something inside is stretching (at the bottom of the bump) and doesn't have enough tissue to do so...not sure if this has anything to do with the pain issue though.

Unfortunately we can't ring our midwives, we have a team rather than one, and the GP won't see you when pregnant unless an 'emergency'...very strange system, and the midwives aren't there until Tuesday.

Can I take paracetamol to ease the pain or is this a no no?

Thanks - Joe

yes you can take paracetamol. Make sure you drink lots of water too. It may just be that you are experiencing the 'stretching' of pregnancy. If you develop stinging when passing urine then definately make an appt. with GP. You should however be able to see one of the midwives - do you have a contact number?

Hi Mears, we get no contact numbers here, i've never actually seen the same midwife more than once, always a new one to explain it all to!

I did have a laparoscopy years ago when trying to investigate my infertility and the pain is pretty much in exactly the same spot as one of my scars, nothing would have caught on the scar tissue internally would it... or am i being melodramatic now!

No stinging when peeing, just agony for the few seconds it takes to get into the sitting position and then up again.

How on earth women do this more than once I really don't know!!

Hi Artyjoe - I was told by a midwife that because of my ectopic, the perenium (I think) could heal stuck to my tube, well the ends of the tube that was removed. And that you could get pains while pregnant as it was becoming unstuck. If I remember right, she said it was like a stitch pain??

So maybe you are right about the scar tissue.
I'm sure mears will put me right if I'm wrong.

Thanks SM, have an appointment today to see the midwife just to be on the safe side as I am 6 days in now...still have the pain today but now it's coming in waves when i'm actually sat down so something is definitely not right...however baby is still kicking so hopefully all is well with baby and it's just me that's having trouble.

I'm going to be labelled as neurotic but I'll have to deal with that one.

Hi,
Did anyone work out what this pain was? I have had a similar pain which then turned into a whole burning sensation all around the bump. I decided it is either due to stretching of ligaments and muscles (at 21 weeks the bump seems to be growing very fast at the moment) or it is due to my chair and sitting position at work (it almost goes away in the evenings and goes away completely at the weekend). Any comments or advice?

Leogaela, I've recently had a similar pain (I'm nearly 29 weeks) and it ended up being a urinary tract infection, gor especially panicked when I bled a little but it was all to do with the infection and baby was fine . I'd echo what the girls said before, if it's something you're concerned about then ring your midwife. They hooked me up to various monitors that convinced me baby was fine, this took a huge weight off my mind.
If it goes off at evenings or weekends though then it is highly possible that standing up and moving around at work is just taking its toll on your muscles! I had a lot of this around the same time as you. HTL

Hi M, Thanks for your reply. I will definitely get checked out for infection but I don't think that is the problem since everything feels fine when I am away from work and not sitting down so much. This week Monday was fine, but I managed to walk around a lot, yesterday was meetings all day - lots of sitting - and today things have started to feel less comfortable again. I am going for a long walk at lunchtime, hopefully it will help!

I had a sharp pain from about 13 weeks on in lower left side of bump...really hurt and worrying. The midwife checked and i had a scan and they said it was just the growing and stretching process. DD was almost 10lb born so I stretched a lot!! I think certain aches and pains are fairly common but still makes you worry.

Hello! Sorry to hear about the aches and pains. I had a very similar thing, and my midwife put it down to the muscles stretching too. She reckons that because I had such tight abdominal muscles as I was a fitness nut, I would feel them stretching more than somebody's who were looser. Somehow, I doubt I will have theat problem during my next pregnancy!

If you read up about aches and pains there isn't much helpful info out there. They only talk about the serious things it could be.

I also was very sporty (I had a season of triathlons planned for last summer - plans that changed very suddenly!) I keep wondering if it is possible for my stomach muscles to stretch anymore, but I guess they will have to!

However, anyone got any tips on sitting comfortably at work? Or experiencing discomfort while sitting?

artyjoe - could it be a kidneystone or gallstone? I had similiar pains and went to the hospital (I was about 18 weeks) they couldn't do x-rays though, but did some blood tests and poking and proding - took some paracetamol. They are fairly common during pregnancy as the gallbladder isn't as efficient.
Hope your pain has lessoned.

ive had a lot of pain throughout both my pregnancies. i was in agony with the last one and could hardly walk from 6 months onwards (and my baby was small at birth) pain all around my ribs at the back, down below every time i stood up and it felt like baby was bouncing down below with sharp pains every step i took. doctors never found anything wrong though, the only thing they ever said to me was that my little frame couldnt take the weight! pg does not suit me one bit!