Severe lower back pain 39 weeks

[bluemoon2468]

I'm 39 weeks tomorrow and since about 6pm last night I've had really bad lower back pain which is continuous, as well as occasional stomach cramps like period pains which aren't too bad. The back pain is horrendous and much worse than the stomach pain - it's in my lower back, hips and upper thighs and feels like extreme pressure and aching. Last night I wasn't really able to sit down, I was just pacing around in so much pain. I thought it was the start of labour, but I had a hot bath (so amazing) and took 2 paracetamol and after that was able to go to bed and have an alright night's sleep. I've woken up this morning and the pain is back but no worse than last night, pretty much exactly the same, so I'm doubting it's labour as surely it would have got worse over the last 8-10 hours? Don't want to ring triage as I don't really know what to say or what they could do... baby's movements are fine, I'm just so uncomfortable and don't really know whether I'm in early labour or not.

Has anyone else experienced this in late pregnancy and was it the start of labour or just back pain associated with being heavily pregnant?

Hi it was the build up/start of labour for me. I had it the 2 days before I went into labour.

@Bootsray thanks for your reply 😊 Did you go into hospital to check whether you were in labour, or just wait at home for things to progress?

I had 15 hours of horrific pain like you describe. Got worse for 2 hours. 2 hours after that my baby arrived. First 15 hours were horrible. Nothing got worse. Kept getting sent home from hospital.

I'd get checked by the midwife

It sounds like baby is on there way. We had the same six weeks ago & I was 38+5 like you dd arrived at 38+6

I waited at home, that said it was my 1st and didn't realise it was the start of things at the time. I was early (32 weeks), my contractions started early hours and I went in as soon as they started. Definitely go and get checked if it's worrying you - good luck!

Sounds like early labour

Thanks for all of your replies! No change here, still loads of back pain and a bit of stomach pain... very uncomfortable but no distinctive contractions as such. Tbh I have no idea what's going on. Half of me thinks this is a slow start to labour and the other half of me thinks it's just really bad SPD pain or something. I called triage and they weren't particularly interested as movements are fine, no bleeding and no regular contractions. They just said it could be the start of labour or it could not, which is basically what I had already worked out myself 🙈 Dreading how long this might go on for if it's not labour 😬

I was crippled the week before my DD arrived. It may be the start of things. Triage cant really do anything. You just have to let things run their course. Take baths, maybe try move your hips around while standing, do you have a birth ball you can bop on? I also didnt go into the hospital to confirm labour. It's a bit pointless really. It will become clear if its labour or not, and all they will do is send you home. It's a bit of a wasted trip when you could be relaxing at home or trying to snooze.

Get plenty of food and water and rest now while you can, and good luck!

@SqidgeBum yeah those were my thoughts tbh... didn't think the hospital would be very interested in seeing me, and don't particularly fancy the trip down there for no reason! Been sitting on my ball, walking around, taken a couple of hot baths. All I really want to do is sleep but sitting and especially lying down are so painful I can't see how that's going to happen 😔 Just hoping things kick off soon!

Maybe take some paracetamol. That may give you enough time for a nap at least. Trust me, if things are kicking off, you will need that nap.

Sounds like early labour.

Warm bath, paracetamol and a hot water bottle on your back. Try and rest