36 weeks and in hell!

[Nosleepforthismum]

Sorry for the dramatic title but I am SO SO done with being pregnant. Baby is sitting on my sciatic nerve and I’m in fucking agony that is only increasing by the day. We are on day 5 of this. I honestly feel like I am crippled with the pain. I can barely bear weight on my right leg and I have so much to do in terms of housework and my self employed work and my 18 month old has picked up yet another bug from preschool and has tonight projectile vomited tomato soup everywhere. All up the walls, on the carpet, on the dog, in my hair. Midwife seems very unconcerned about the sciatic pain and has basically said that it’s very common and they can refer me to physio or prescribe strong painkillers although she said with the physio, baby would probably be hereby the time the referral came through and I’m not keen on painkillers stronger than paracetamol in case it affects baby but I also feel very tearful at the thought of this getting any worse or even another few weeks in absolute agony. Please tell me at least it goes away once baby is here? I need something to hold on to right now.

Book to see a chiropractor who specialised in pregnant. Worth the money!

I would recommend a decent osteopath for the sciatica.

There are stretches you can do for sciatica in pregnancy.

I was referred but by the time they saw me I googled it and found a few stretches that took a lot of the pain away. Try some, gently and see how you feel.

when I saw the specialist she approved my stretches and gave me a few more. She said if they work good keep doing them.

The pain will probably go away after birth, but it may not. With my first pregnancy I was in more pain after birth than before, to the point that my back seized up. Again stretches, given by phisio, helped. As long as I do them I’m pain free. There are different stretches for pregnancy though.

it’s worth getting the referral now bc even if you give birth you might need it for after

don’t sit with the pain, it might get worse

hope you find some stretches that work

If you can, spend some time on your hands and knees, or better still, forearms and knees with your bum in the air

Please don’t see a chiropractor or an osteopath, they are unregulated and some right quacks have caused serious damage. Google if you are unsure.

A physio, employed by the NHS and regulated, will help wonders. My midwife also warned about a possible wait, but my appointment came through within a few days. I suspect because I was so close to delivery.

Ask for the referral for physio. It could depend on the trust, and mine wasn’t for the same reason but for my abdomen at 30weeks, but they saw me within the week of being referred.

I would have been referred to a physio towards the end of my pregnancy due to similar issues, but there was no physio because of covid. Toward the end, I could barely walk.

I would bypass the midwife and go to your doctor.