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[pumpkinpureeandghostlypearls]

I am suffering SPD (for the second time) and just need to vent without driving everyone else on my pregnancy thread mental. Not that they aren't supportive but I still have 20 weeks to go and I don't want to ruin their pregnancies by talking about mine!

Please come and join me so I don't feel so alone, and feel free to share tips if you have any....

good grief, that sounds awful. especially bad that you had to wait 4weeks. was your employer understanding?

i broke my back a few years ago and just assumed pain was from that initially.

fuckitybollocks

it could easily be if youve had a previous broken back, my previous back problems are unknown and undaignosed of yet, as they only flare up in pregnancy where we cant do x-rays!!

my emplyer didnt exactly like it, but had little choice. luckily i work in the NHS myself i get 6months sick pay at full rate, so luckily i wasnt having to worry about loosing money, but unfortuntaly my childcare costs went up as i couldnt have my one day off a week with the kids as i havent felt confident to be left alone with the kids for months.

im due on 16th june, and have been off work since the end of january, so boredom is my main problem, that and the constipation from the codeiene!!!

oh you poor thing! assuming you're drinking copious amounts of water? good news re employer though, 6mths is an amazing amount of sick pay.

hmm, pain is in a different place to where break was.. suspect it was just optimistic thinking on my behalf. must be worse not knowing what's causing pain in your back

yeah, were going to look into my other back pain once the babys born as its possible i have what my mum has, which (although i cant remember the term) is that her lower discs are too close together and later in life fuse together.

the NHS is brilliant for sick pay, admittedly you have to have worked for them for 2yrs (i think) to get that sick pay, and the maternity pay is brilliant too, so my sickpay just turned into maternity leave once i hit 29weeks.

im drinking huge amounts of water, squash and decaf tea all day long, which is maddening as it hurts like hell to get up and goto the loo!

argh, what a dilemma... drink less, less pain from constipation. drink more, more pain from spd

feeling like you've done the splits, then been kicked by a horse, repeatedly, is probably an accurate description for me. I started with it prob around 20 weeks - at first it just felt like pulling sensations and I thought it was just the extra weight, but it very very quickly got worse. I'm like KT, standing for more than a few minutes hurts like hell, and moving or changing position is particularly bad.

I was able tokeep working, but only because I do a desk job, my husband was able to drive me to and from work every single day, and the building has lifts. Otherwise I would have had to get signed off too.

how did your appt go today scotsgirl?

i dont think i would have been able to work, quickly i couldnt sit in that position for very long as the chairs at work, although normally comfy, terribly for my hips!

Thanks for asking KT - I won! They still tried to terrify me, lots of oh this could go wrong etc etc. But, basically, they'd decided before I went in that they were going to offer it. I think my hospital is trying really hard to reduce their section rate and a part of that appears to be refusing requests almost straight off.

I'm booked in for Friday - so I'll be 39 + 2 or 3 depending which dates we believe. So relieved that it's almost over - I don't think I could have faced potentially another 3 weeks, then induction, then trying to labour etc. You guys know how exhausting living with SPD is.

I would probably have given up work, but I was signed off until 16 weeks ish with hyperemesis so really couldn't!

mine started at 14 weeks this time. Now 32 weeks tomorrow and I can still get around the house and walk 50m. I don't test how far I can walk because I know I'll be in pain the next day but 50m is to and from where we park the car. But I'm keeping a lid on it and hope this baby arrives early like the other 2 did.
saw the physio yesterday and feel worse today but overdid it yesterday,more visitors.The physio told me to be really careful as it can get worse if you don't give into the tiredness of late pg as the muscles get tired not just you! She also told me unprompted that it will go away and I'll be pushing the pram in no time at all. Seeing her again in 4 weeks for a talk about birth.

Don't you want to talk about it scotsgirl ?

Brilliant scotsgirl. we crossposted. That's such good news and friday is the day after tomorrow! have you got some big knickers?

I have been wearing giganta pants for a while now! Pregnancy is just such an elegant, feminine time isn't it! Apologies for slow response earlier, had to take my mottly trio of cats to get their claws clipped (figured this was sensible before introducing a baby!)

I did just about fall off the chair when, after trying to scare me witless, they said "so, when do you want to do this - we have a space on friday"

im really pleased scotsgirl - thats a fantastic outcome, my consultant is happy for me to CS at 39 weeks also.
well done, congrats on sticking to your guns, and being able to get this far

like i said earlier, thinking about taking my dr up on her offer of induction at 37weeks, and asking if i can csection when it gets to the pushing at the first sign of anything going wrong i want a CS - either that or say through the entire thing that i dont think i can handle it and see if i can maybe bribe the dr on call?!! lol can but try!

Hi Ladies

I'm new here to this thread and just really need a bit of advice? I have developed SPD and am now 36 weeks and in absolute agony. Have to wait till next friday now to see a physio and don't know if I can make it that far. The feeling of being kicked inbetween my legs is an understatement and I am now finding myself just cryng at the drop of a hat as I am feeling so sore and tired. Tried to see my regular GP last week but he was unavailable so saw a different doc who was so useless, he had no clue about SPD at all and had to call up somebody to ask advice and what it is. Anyway, I have a growth scan booked for a weeks time on Wednesay where afterwards am supposed to be going to the VBAC clinic as my previous was an emergency c section after 12 hours of labour. Have been reading a lot of comments and am concerned that I have never been referred to or seen a consultant? Last time I was at the VBAC clinic it was just a midwife, am I supposed to have seen a consultant by now? I had my first baby in S. Africa so am a little unsure of how it works here. Also really scared of having a natural labour as I am already in so much pain down there the thought of labour is really stressing me out! sorry for the long post, am just feeling a bit lonely with all this and need some advice from people who know what I am going through. Thanks

i feel the same way about labour, not sure how on earth were meant to cope with all the pain and physically getting the baby out with hips like this?!! its difficult for sure.

go to your GP, call up in the morning, make an appointment for the day, if they ask if its an emergency (or do you need to be seen today) say yes - they have no right to ask why btw. ask your GP to prescribe you painkillers, cocodamol and codeine are fine in pregnancy when the benefit outweighs the risk, which is certainly does in SPD cases. if you can, call and talk to your midwife aswell. dont worry about seeing them in person, there should be someone around in the midwives office that can advise.

you dont have to wait to be reffered to a consultant, you can also ask to be referred, explain to the midwife that you want to talk about birth options with a consultant and they should be able to make a phone call and get you an appointment.

good luck, keep us updated, we will do our best to help you along the way

welcome bagelmonster. The only way to go now is rest rest rest. Keep moving from resting spot to resting spot. Do not walk anywhere if you can avoid it! I havn't seen a consultant but I don't (yet) want a c section. I'm sure that VBAC is not a brilliant idea if you've got spd.Maybe once they realise how immobile you are then they'll recommend another c section.

Hi ktw are you really sure that induction is a good idea? It's the 1st stage that can be more painful with spd as you can't move about enough. The second stage is where you have to watch out for how you're positioned, but can be quite quick if your pelvis is wobbly. Why not ask if you can bring your section date forward by a week? no harm in asking!

Have you looked at the pelvic partnership website MrsM ?Might help you decide if you've got spd and lots of other info too.

Good luck scotsgirl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Come back and tell us about your recovery, I'll be on the sofa for another 9 weeks!

Hi ladies...
I am 17 weeks and have been suffering terrible pelvic girdle pain for about 3 weeks now, figured it was one of those pregnancy things at first as I presumed I was too early for SPD (this is my first baby). Anyway, finally gave in and went to midwife yesterday to ask for a physio referral. She gave me all the usual advice which I had already been following, and was very sympathetic but basically said that there is little the physios can do and they wont do any manipulation or anything while you're pregnant...

I was jsut wondering if this has been your experience? Have read lots on tinternet (I know that prob not a good idea) about SPD and a lot sounds quite positive with physio intervention.

If I was 37 weeks and had this pain I wouldnt even bother mentioning it to anyone, but I am frightened how much worse it might get over the next 23 weeks!!! I think the stress of that, along with the pain are jsut making me too tearful and emotional! I'm worried I wont be able to cope. I too work for the NHS and have quite an active job but am in the middle of some training so cant really go off sick or I'll lose the opportunity to do this trining which will massively impact on my salary in the future.

Sorry for the long essay,... just wanted some help/advice/support from someone who knows where I am comming from. xx

hi mrssenior dont worry about work, if you are finding it too hard to work, get the dr to sign you off with 'pregnancy related complications' - thts what i got. its not ideal, but more rest than work is best for the SPD, its maddening not using your brain but better than the pain getting worse, and immobility getting worse.

some physios are happy to do manipulation on SPD women in pregnanct, some arent. a few of the ladies here have a physio who does manipuluation, but my local physio is not experiences in dealing with SPD and so refuses to try manipulation as she doesnt want it going wrong!

looloo i hardly moved at all in the first stages of labour when i had my 2kids before, i did almost all the first stage on the bed other than going to the toilet once or twice. i dont think the dr would CS me from nothing earlier, she said she would be happy to do it at 39 weeks, which is extremely reasonable i think. if i know that everything is there and ready for CS if the slightest thing goes wrong and the drs on call know thats the plan, im happy to do it.
i dont know whether it being a smaller baby (because it would be earlier) would make it easier to get the baby out? as its physically getting her out im worried about, there being enough space. what do you think?
if they can strap my legs together, and still get the baby out its worth considering, as the risk of my hips doing the wrong thing whislt strapped together it majorly minimised.

im rambling lol...sorry guys ive got a week left to work this out in my head, im busy writing down questions for the actual appt aswell!

LooL00, no I haven't yet...off to have a peak now

kt..sorry, no wise words but you carry on rambling if it helps get your thoughts sorted!

MrsS... i'm 24wks and know what you mean about trying to plan against things getting more painful. i haven't even got to see my mw about it yet but i'm really hoping our local physio will be happy to help. we'll be able to hold hands still on here in a few weeks whilst all the rest of this lot are cuddling their babies

i think i might just hang around after the baby is born, im going to need to recover from this and that will take a couple months at least, not to mention having to actually build up some muscles in my legs agian!!

MrsM that's true... by then we'll be the SPD veterens Good luck with your physio... let me know how you get on.

kt thanks, I know you are right about work, and I may well get to the point where I have no choice but to get signed off. At the moment, I am still kind of trying to convince myself this is all a phase and will magically disppear!! Stupid I know

It probably doesnt help my state of mind to read everything on tinternet cos then you just spend all your time worrying about how bad it might get and ruining the enjoyment of my pregnancy in the process.

xx

mrss youve got to enjoy what you can for as long as you can for sure, you might be one of the lucky ones and the SPD doesnt get much worse. whilst you can, go out and do as much as you can. have you got any DC at home already?

LooL00, thank you, that site's great!

MrsSenior, here's the link for you in case you haven't found it yet here

Hi MrsS, my midwife told me there is nothing much the physio can do. THAT IS NOT THE CASE!I insisted on seeing the physio as this is dc3 and I'd seen her after dc2.I am unable to walk very far and I have to walk very slowly but I'm not in pain at night and if I don't do much standing I can get through the day too. My physio (nhs) does do manipulation and the difference after she has done it is quite big. I've been seeing her (not as often as i would like) since about 21weeks. The physio can't cure it but it can stop it from getting worse so fast. Postnatally you can see the physio too.

hi mrsM we'll not be moving off the sofa quite that quick as sofaloungers have to stay and tell tales of dramatic fast recovery.

ps i sit on a gymball a lot.

hi Ladies

Thank you so much, just having somebody who knows what I am going through has cheered me up. Got some painkillers now but cant seem to get hold of midwives, answer phone? Unfortunately I still have to take my daughter to school and back and have to drive, even just lifting my leg to step on the pedals is agony!!!! Anyway, thankyou for listening to my moaning and for the advice, good luck to you tooxx

Mrsm there's also a very good leaflet that ktw posted a link to about a week or so ago.