Joint Hypermobility - if you have this, don't do ante-natal exercises.!

[TheDuchessOfNorksBride]

Just returned from physio for the sciatica that I've had for the last 4 months. Therapist immediately said 'ooh you've got joint hypermobility' and discovered that I've been walking limping about with my seat bones out of line. She twisted me round in several different directions at once until we heard a nice loud clunk. It feels so much better.

She also said "absolutely no birthing ball exercises, no squatting, nothing at all to open up the pelvis - it's open enough already". Any sharp pain in the vaginal area is actually the gristly bit that joins the front of the pelvis giving way. And no yoga. All these will only make it worse.

And out of interest, those who do have joint hypermobility - did you have fast births?

Jamila - I never find tops with sleeves long enough. I went shopping for some maternity jeans/trousers the other day because I am no longer able to button mine up and found it impossible to find any that were long enough, and I am only 5'8

you get used to looking like the cat's died pretty early on don't you upwind

I guess I can't expect magical relief from an epidural so. This is really useful info.

Actually - all this has made me think I should ask for a formal diagnosis. Otherwise they might not take me seriously when the time comes!

good luck upwind with that! I've been having problems since 9 or 10 (30 years glup!)and have been fobbed off with 'growing pains' 'not a problem ' and even 'I've never heard of that' from my GP -last year I insisted on going to my mum's rheumatologist anyway and he agreed that he was 99.9 percent sure I had hypermobility syndrome EDS 3. My gp when i reported back, and told her he wanted me referring on to Leeds, siad the they wouldn't see me until I'd lost the weight (was 8 weeks pg!) and prescribed me the gym! Dohhh -i do that already when I feel my core strength slipping and it was a heap of crap anyway -they want to see people -they're doing studies FFS!
I keep it quiet most of the time though because it can alarm some people, and I don't consider myself disabled in any way, in my pre mummy life I was an LD nurse with challenging adults and it didn't make me any less able to deal with incidents, plus I'm going to retrain as a midwife and need to be able to reassure Occy Health that I'm not going to be a liability.

Jamila - that is a valid point. If we do get diagnoses it might affect future job opportunities. It shouldn't but it might.

I had a glance at the HMS forum. It seems that there are so many there in constant pain. I really hope that none of us find ourselves affected that way.

it's pants isn't it? most of us struggle for years with knowing something's not right and trying to put a name to it, I've reported dislocations to my doctor in the past and been told it's impossible, because I'm not in pain and didn't have an accident - a bit rich when you've seen the head of your tibia at the side of your kneecap, and when someone actually names it and tels you you're not off your head,people assume that you are going to end up bedridden (from what I've read on the HM forum, that's more likely if they start doing operations on you ).
So, i have the problem of being a healthy, fit 39 year old, with a problem that no-one but fellow sufferers actually gets

I'm apparently hypermobile (I discovered this after having DD and my pelvis did not go back into place naturally).

Now have 2 children, both very long labours.

I feel cheated!

I am an Ehlers Danlos Syndrome type 3 (hypermobility type) patient, who also has numerous other issues underlying but this one resonates more with your hypermobility to a degree at least. I was dx hEDS in 2015 aged 25 having dislocated in my shoulder from the age of 11 none stop each day after being run over. I was 17 when I gave birth to my first born. my pregnancy was fraught with complications and the labour was tremendously long for me. During pregnancy I had severe nausea which led to being hospitalised on a drip for 2 weeks a time numerous times over. At 24 weeks pregnant my hind waters ruptured out the blue while in hospital on a drip on bed rest. At 27 weeks I ran away to family in wales to escape the monster who raped me at 16 resulting in the predicament i was in ( my son has been and always will be wanted by the way -Ive never once blamed him or looked at him different because of the circumstances). That resukted in me being stuck in south wales 7 hours away from my usual hospital and going into premature labour at 28 weeks. My notes queried whether my cervix was funneling and the monitors were peaking as full blown regular 8 min apart contractions. I was placed onto the drip that they give to try to stop labour and remained in hospital for a week. I was given pethidine once which nearly killed me due to allergic reaction, and given steroid injections to mature babies lungs and informed that if labour did not stop that I would be transported via emergency helicopter to my usual hospital to give birth and transferred to alder hey for specialist care as baby would have a 25% survival rate. A week later labour had finally stopped for a full 24 hours and I was discharged. I went straight home that day. I had to have scans once a week to ensure cervical competence and monitor for signs of full labour again I remained in slow labour at 1 cm for 8 weeks in total. At 32 weeks my membranes ruptured entirely and I was left with 1/3 of the normal levels of water in the sac around baby. On the scan he was described as a fish out of water trying to practise his breathing reflexes. (unborn babies in the last couple of months start to learn to breath apparently inside the water, they open their mouth inhale it and then excrete it in their urine is what I was told) my son was lay inside me taking breaths of nothing instead of the sac fluids and was described as being "a fish out of water". They said they wanted to see whether the membranes would heal themselves before risking emergency induction or section at that point. prescribed more antibiotics and back home to rest. lucky for me they did heal up but didnt fully rebuild to the level it should have been in terms of fluids. At 36 weeks I went into labour again with my son. At this time I was also diagnosed as having contracted cytomegalovirus (CMV in short - to a normal non pregnant perfect thats a days cold basically and you never get it again its a one off thing but to unborn babies this can kill them). The cmv was being fought off by my body but at the same time my son was being perceived as a threat to my body by my body and the cmv and it was essentially attacking him in a way that was potentially lethal to his health. I was told if I hadnt delivered by monday (this was on the friday morning after going in on thursday evening with the starting pains) that emergency intervention was required to get the baby out of me before the damage become irreparable to his body. - CMV affects the liver functions and was the biggest reason my son was born severely jaundiced and struggled to get rid of it for the first 6 months of his life he was yellow. I spent in total just over 72 hours in full labour and then 2 hours pushing my baby out. he was 6lb 6.5 oz and was born blue. He had a knot in his mbilical cord - apparently an extremely rare phenomenon and even more rarely still was he came back to us after 15 minutes of resuscitation he was a one in a million baby as the midwife worded it. I was unaware of most of what was occurring in the corner of my delivery room until the midwifes voice barked out across the room "thank F*k for that placed him on my chest and told me that was one f**ing lucky baby." Not the usual congratulations heres your baby boy youd expect to hear but those wprds exactly. That little miracle turned 10 in october and despite having inherited EDS from me, ADHD, possible autism and being asymptomatic of the CMV (meaning it didnt affect his hearing and eyesight - it can make you go blind and /or deaf by the age of 8 is the advise given to me), hes a happy healthy little boy. The day after giving birth to him I found a hand and foot had fallen out of me well at the time it just looked like one it was later confirmed that I had lost his twin which we had never known about strangely enough. I also have another son who will be 9 this month, his pregnancy and labour was nowhere near as traumatic as my first sons though. Labour was rapid in fact lasting 36 hours with 5 minutes pushing, he had a second set of membranes in there though which is not explained to this day and pooped on his way out which presented risks that thankfully never occurred.

My final words here are everybpdy is different dont just presume that because you are hypermobile you will have an easy labour if anything it could be more difficult. For me I have to contend with dislocating hips, knees, ankles, shoulder, wrists, fingers and thumbs as well as hyperextensible joints - all of which cause a great deal of pain as well as the obvious injury. The worst part s that I dont even need to actually hurt myself to have an injury (eg I can and regularly do dislocate just brushing my hair I dont need extensive trauma like normal people would). This means not only does my eds predispose me to higher instance of miscarriage and still birth, but also to premature rupture of membranes, premature labour, even prolapses during pregnancy and/or labour, and dislocations while trying to give birth. This was proven basically in my first pregnancy, and has had me labelled as a high risk pregnancy ever since I will always require extremely careful monitoring to ensure that I dont have a sudden mitral valve prolapse, or an injury as described above, and moreso to ensure that if too much stress is observed on my body, that it can be managed and deakt with in a timely manner rather than me being put at even higher risk by leaving it alone and doing nothing. FYI I gave birth twice on just gas and air.