PGP and sleep - how do you do it?!

[MimiMe24]

Hey everyone - need your help pretty please!

22 weeks today with the wriggly little nugget (1st pregnancy), but sleep at the moment is an absolute disaster with the PGP that i'm experiencing. Tried a few things, such as:

• Pregnancy pillows (tried the bbhugme - an absolute costly mistake. I was in even worse pain trying that for a few weeks which is a shame as I know it's highly recommended. I've now got the Natty pillow, coupled with a normal pillow between the knees. Definitely better but not perfect)
• Upping the exercise (Making a point to walk every day and gentle stretching before bed, as well as when I wake up in the middle of the night. I was fairly active up to 7 weeks but the morning sickness knocked me out of action for many weeks - couldn't move without retching, hence keeping it gentle now and not going hell for leather)
• Kicking DH out of the bed for a few nights (poor sod!)
• Sleeping on the sofa one night (about the same as when in bed)

During the day I can cope with it as I can change up what i'm doing, but at night time it's killing me. (And if I don't get enough sleep, it exacerbates the morning sickness and nausea. Fun times 😂) All I want to do is roll onto my back, but of course, can't do that either! For what it's worth, i'm normally a side sleeper anyway, so I didn't foresee sleep positioning to be a problem

Will of course mention to my midwife, and i'm also seeing a consultant next week who I may mention it to depending on what I think of him (only seeing him because of my age - not a high risk pregnancy and not overweight - don't really want to go, but that's another story!!)

However, wondered if anyone has tried anything different that worked for them?

Thanking you all in advance 🙂

Id suggest reducing the amount youre walking - i really find it exacerbates mine.

Look into an spd recommended support belt if you havent already.

Epsom salts in a bath can help relieve a bit of the pain.

Finally, find yourself an osteopath that specialises in pregnancy related issues. Absolutely amazing the difference they made for me!!

Good luck, its bloody awful isnt it. Last time round i was not only housebound but could barely shuffle to the toilet. Utterly miserable and took months to go away after birth. This time round i seem to be coping a bit better (although it kicked in week 6 this time it doesnt seem as severe, but as im.only 20 weeks now im expecting it to get worse!)

Agree with previous poster, walking really makes it worse!! And I find as well pregnancy pillows also don’t help either so I’ve ditched mine as I did in my first pregnancy!

Do you do any other type of exercise? I’ve been doing weight training for a while and have been working on strengthening my back and legs which is definitely helping. Watching and correcting your posture really makes a difference too. Definitely seek help from a chiropractor or osteopath.

A women’s health physio was great for my PGP. She did some adjustments to my hips and gave me some exercises to specifically target the areas which she found were too tight (and causing me to experience the pain). This actually included a ban on pelvic floor exercises in my case!

I paid £100 for an hour at week 15 and I haven’t needed to go back. The PGP has actually got milder now at 30 weeks, so I think the exercises did help. Along with a general slackening of the pelvic floor over pregnancy because she could see my pain was caused by a too tense pelvic floor.

Thanks all! Some great tips. And surprised about the walking... gutted as like to get outside and feel like I need to get out and just move, although do hobble slowly and hope for the best 😂 Will definitely cut down on that though

@FrenchMustard No strength training per se as I wasn't doing much of it before (everything was cardio based - particularly dance) so was slightly worried it could impact the joints. Although have been considering baby yoga so might be the way to go. When you ditched the pillows, how did you feel if you don't mind me asking? I think I'm a bit stuck to them now... even if they're not massively helping

@RosiePH Great tip for the physio - and no pelvic floor?! Hadn't even thought that could contribute (She says stupidly?! Now i've written it, I feel a bit silly...)

@curiouscat1987 I need NO excuse for a bath; I like that tip 😂 But it is miserable and I hope you're stays less severe than last time. No one needs PGP!

I saw two different physios in my second pregnancy and both of them reiterated the importance of pelvic floor exercises! One of the physios came off the recommended list of practitioners by the Pelvic Partnership charity. It's worth looking on there for one near you if you can afford to go privately. I only had one session with each (one second trimester and one third trimester when it had worsened quite a bit) and didn't really need more. They both gave me exercises to do which helped.

I actually found staying as fit and active as possible helped but obviously avoiding specific exercises that really aggravated the pain. I did weekly pregnancy fitness classes and/or pregnancy yoga throughout. My instructors obviously knew about the PGP and were well versed in it and would give me alternatives where a movement like a lunge for example was not possible without aggravating pain.

In my first and third pregnancy I got coccyx pain particularly when sitting for work and I found a good quality coccyx cushion from Amazon helped somewhat. Also sitting on an exercise ball to work some of the time, in all my pregnancies.

Also a pregnancy support belt. This was fitted by one of the physios to make sure it fit well and I knew how to put it on properly etc.

Pregnancy massages also helped but I can't afford them this time round - and so does a nice warm bath, which I can! So far it's not been as bad this pregnancy (third) as my previous one though which I have been surprised by as assumed it would be the same or worse. I'm only 26 weeks though so plenty of time for it to get worse...

Thanks @LegoHouse274 I think I definitely need to get in with a physio by the sounds of it - i'll bite the bullet with the cost as I think sleep is so important, and it's impacting my day to day.

I'm lucky as I got two separate vouchers for my birthday for pregnancy massages - didn't want to use them "too soon" but may crack on out in the next few weeks in that case. And loving the second for a nice warm bath... I honestly need no encouragement 😂

@MimiMe24 I found that if I slept with the pillow between my knees as they recommend that I was hurting more when I woke up and I was so achey and sore in my pelvis. What I’m doing now is using a normal pillow that I can squash down to put under my bump for support and I feel miles better.

I don’t know if anyone has mentioned but also avoid doing stuff where you stand on one leg, e.g. when you get dressed sit on the bed

I know you’ve said your bbhugme didn’t help, but I have one and there are some positions I use it in that are amazing, and some that make the pain worse.

The traditional front on, both knees either side of it hurts like hell.

The two that work well for me are:

1. Front on, top leg bent over the top (not too tight an angle, more relaxed) and bottom leg straight. Another normal pillow then folded behind me and stuffed under my rib cage to support my back a bit more.
2. bbhugme behind me, and going through my legs (so the tassle bit sticks out the front of my legs). Hug the other extra pillow in front of me between my boobs to separate them and take some of their weight (they’re so heavy now). This is the most comfortable position for me.

Might be worth a try if you still have the bb lying around somewhere?

Can I ask what PGP is?

@FrenchMustard I am exactly the same with the pillow between my knees-the most I can handle is the duvet! But I’ve found using the very end of my pillow shoved up between my thighs helps a bit. And I’ve no balance so no standing on one leg 😂

@Lillers funnily enough, the second way to use the pillow was why I bought it-but I woke up in the most excruciating pain I didn’t do it again. It’s a shame, as I like it supporting the bump. If it was a third of the size, I’d use it ALL the time

@purplecolouroffunk pelvic girdle pain