Yep, I never even considered crutches - too impractical for me as DD would have not left me alone and would have been running in and out of them. Plus, you have no arms/hands available. Plus, I'm completely unco so doubt whether I would have been able to use them proficiently.
I am currently 38 weeks pregnant, and last week my pain got so bad I was just about ready to give up and book in for a C-section right then and there ( I am trying for a VBAC after previous placenta previa).
The good news is with a lot of physio (5 sessions in the last 2 weeks) and as much rest as possible with a toddler running around, I have started to see some results. The pain has lessened and I am able to walk around (with support belt). It still hurts, but compared to this time last week, when i couldn't walk from the sofa to the kitchen without crying, things are much improved.
I think the hardest thing about have SPD is being told to "stay of your feet". It's hard to explain to a 2 year old that you can't do anything with them anymore! I think i have found it worse this pregnancy as I am now living in Auckland and all my family is back in Aus. DH has been great though, and gets home from work and gets straight into playing with DS, cooking dinner, bringing me drinks and looking after me, so that definitely helps. I am also making a real effort not to let things get back to how bad they were by taking every opportunity to sit down and get off my feet.... it is really hard when there is always so much to be done, but I guess we have to look after ourselves first and the cleaning somewhere later down the list!
gms78 - rest and the belt are good but to really get the pain under control you need to ice, ice, ice. Icing since week 7 has enabled me to continue walking around the house. Without that, I would be permanently in a wheelchair.
When I was 22 weeks pregnant with the twins, I got a taxi to pick me up from my antenatal appointment. The driver asked why I had cructches and I explained about my pelvis, then he said "oh you women, just like to make a fuss because you love the attention". I honestly nearly belted him there and then, instead I gave him a proper dressing down about how it was not fun that I could not go upstairs when my childern cried at night or pick them up when they wanted to be held, and how I did not love being almost housebound. It's so hard to be disabled in pregnancy and have everyone assume you are making a fuss just to be the centre of attention.
I just wanted to add a thanks for this thread. It's great - it's particularly great to see that so many people have positive attitudes to their SPD, as it's often really hard to stay positive when in this degree of pain.
I haven't been able to walk properly since 12 weeks pregnant (now 31 weeks) and have been really struggling lately. My physio has recommended elbow crutches for the bad days and nights, and I try to ice at least three times a day - this helps so well! I can't do the pregnancy pilates at my hospital any more as there's too much standing up for me, so I try to do some of the exercises at home to at least be somewhat active! My physio also recommended swimming - walking or something very simple, absolutely no breast stroke, even trying to kick a bit with a floatie between my knees to make sure that things are stable in my pelvis and I get some exercise. I haven't been able to try that yet as I had a chest infection, but I'm hoping to get in the pool soon!
Traveller - I second the "attention seeking" comment that you made. A good friend of mine, a doctor, told me that pelvic pain is "normal" and physiotherapy/chiropracty/etc is all voodoo. He received a very good talking to from me, and a gentler (but very specific) one from my DH after that, but I was so hurt that a friend would say something like that. Sigh.
Thanks Didispunk. I am still a bit twingy occasionally but considering I was flitting between crutches and a wheelchair I am pretty happy with how much I can move now. I know that at my worst my husband was worried I would be disabled for life but it is amazing how quickly SPD often recovers.
so there's the practical mechanics... how to get around, how to manage... and I'm wondering about some of that. For e.g. while my mum is staying, she's bathing DS. My DH doesn't have a good back either (he couldn't lift DS at all for significant periods of time last year)... and honestly I'm wondering how we bath DS once she's gone??? What do we do if we're both bad at the same time? I don't think you can leave a toddler unbathed for 2-3 months last time I checked, and I am seriously worried that neither of us is going to be able to do it! I got down to pull the plug out of the bath and thought I wasn't going to be able to get back up again.
Secondly, the emotional side. How do you cope emotionally? I'm much improved and incredibly lucky to have my mum here but she has to go soon. So i'm starting to try pick up what i have to, and it's not going great. I can see that I have to do the bare essentials and really focus on that only. But I miss going for walks, I miss being able to go shopping, I miss getting out. I managed 10 mins in Kmart the other day and that was it. We're so lucky to have online shopping, but honestly some things are better done in the flesh! How did you all manage without going crazy!?!?!? And I'm not even on crutches or in a wheelchair, PLUS i have help. Am I just a big wuss? Or were you all crying into your pillows?
It is hard to miss out on everything. I used to get my OH to bathe the kids when he was in the bath anyway, but if not a shower with your child is a good idea, as Didispunk says. There isn't a whole lot to be done about all the usual activities, except to try and find things that you can do together and focus on those so you still have fun, even if you can't go out for a walk.
Belfie - I'm not going to lie to you, the emotional side is hard. I've been housebound since Week 16. From then I could literally walk 50 metres to the end of my street where I could sit and have a coffee then back to my house. I didn't drive either though that has changed now we have moved to the country (which is one of the primary reasons why we moved). So I could either go to the end of my street OR catch a tram from the end of my street and go to a shop that was within 50 metres of the stop at the other end. Whoopy flaming do as you can imagine
If DP was home to drive me I could only walk 50 metres from the car. DP is also a shiftworker and often works 9 days straight.
My oldest friends have been crap and have treated me like a whinger if I mention "housebound" or "pelvis".
So, to coping. Firstly, I decided not to be a martyr and to put DD into childcare two days a week. Because she was housebound too and it wasn't fair on her. Without that, I would have gone completely insane.
Luckily or unluckily, depending on which way you look at it, I was really busy. We were buying/selling/renovating/moving all during this time, dealing with legal issues and trying to cope with DSD who had gone off the rails. So although I couldn't get OUT of the house, my mind was busy.
If you drive, I'd suggest the following. Get out of your home environment as much as possible. Visit friends' houses, playgrounds, parks etc. etc. Keep the walking to an absolute minimum but get out of the house. Think of a project - decorating the nursery, writing letters for Amnesty International ... ANYTHING.
Also spend some time each day just thinking about your new baby. It really helped me to concentrate on being excited about new life rather than focusing on pain and coping. Last night for example, I couldn't get to sleep until past 2am because I am now BESIDE MYSELF with excitement that DD2 is nearly here.
Finally, keep posting especially with practical issues like bathing. Usually there's some solution - I agree, take a shower with him. Or put a chair next to the bath that he can climb on to and then you can hold his hand to get into the bath. Use the chair to swing your own legs in maybe to take the plug out or perhaps you could put some string on the plug so you can just yank it. Don't worry, DD very rarely baths and lately she hasn't been in the shower much either. As long as her bum is wiped and her girly bits are clean, I don't stress. If worst came to worst I'd wash her down with a warm cloth.
Fionas - Recieved the brace today! Thankyou so much!!
I wore it most of the morning, then took it off to go to town...should've left it on I think.
Anyway, will let you know how I go. Thanks a million
No worries Clover - only sorry it took me so long inbetween catastrophe after catastrophe here and not actually physically being able to get to Post Office. I can't tell you how proud I was to be able to get in my little car and drive to the Post Office now we've moved.
If you're taking it off because of daggy embarrassment factor - DON"T. Not worth it.
And remember, the belt will stop pain from starting but it won't stop pain once it has started. If you're in pain, ICE, ICE, ICE.
I am currently going to bed with an icepack between my legs and a hot wheat pack on my back. Took me a while to work out that my bad back was just a run-of-the-mill pregnancy bad back, not a pelvis-related bad back so best to use heat on it. Don't know if I'm Arthur or Martha I tells ya. And it's minus 4 degrees here so if anyone tells me that they can't ice because it's too cold, I will tell them they are a wuss
fionas - thank you for your post, I found it really helpful. I think you are amazing to have coped with being housebound for so long! And I also thoroughly agree with your whoopy flaming do on what you can manage, you are amazing to cope so well!!! I do drive, so as of next week, i'm going to make sure I've got something organised for non-daycare days. I've kept DS in FDC for 2 days a week as I do have bookkeeping to do for DH's business... plus I realised very quickly that I would need it anyway. I think I do worry about DS being housebound as well, and most of my friends with kids are all pregnant and their current children are smaller/lighter than mine - so I don't want a preggie friend to hurt herself trying to lift my boofer boy! But I'm definitely going to try line up as much as possible. Re your friends, I'm horrified that they're not supportive - I guess some folks just don't understand unless they've experienced something similar themselves.
Re projects, well I have tonnes I think... setting up nursery, bookkeeping, filing (ok that's not very exciting) but plenty to do. I realised reading your post that I hadn't been focussed on baby, so I've left some clothes out in view, bought some cot linen I wanted (and added her to my profile - BBG is Beautiful Baby Girl ) so that has helped.
My mum goes home on Monday. I've tried a bit more lifting in two "batches" over the last 2 weeks and definitely seen a flare-up. So we'll see how we go once she's gone. I'm gonna make the most of "easy street" till she goes. Then I think I'll just have to really focus on bare essentials, doing the daytime and getting DH's help in morning/evening/overnight. We think we've worked out how to bath him with DH doing the "lifts" and I found a good position on my knees that wasn't too bad... just gotta get up very carefully. And if DH ain't here, no bath - that's for sure!
Didi - how are you going? is your mum there now?
Traveller - i agree, truly how you've managed it absolutely amazing.
Pinkukele - how are you going? I hope the chest infection is better.
Does anyone else get cramping at the front? (i.e. lower sides of your belly). I'm finding when I wear the support belt I get more cramping. I can't cycle with the belt on as I cramp, but even without it I can sometimes only manage 7-8 mins before I cramp. My last swim I had to stop 4-5 times in 30 mins to try and ease it. I had thought it was round ligament pain but my physio now thinks its my psoas muscle causing trouble/overworking. I guess it makes sense that when the pelvis is unstable all sorts of other muscles start to get recruited in and potentially overworked. I'm just keen to try do some kind of exercises as a) it stops me going insane(r) and b) I'm GD now and trying to keep BSL's down. Has anyone else found any other sort of exercise they could do?
You ladies are absolutely amazing to still go on despite the pain and still keep a smiling face on.
My situation is not as bad as most of yours but I find night time lying in bed (or just lying in bed in general) bad. I have been sleeping with a pillow between my legs and a body pillow to support my stomach or back, but I find rolling over and getting up absolutely excurtiating. I have taken to rolling "under", getting up on my hands and knees like I am going to crawl to roll over but it doesn't help the pain at all. I even had to get up and sit on the side of the bed the other night just to change sides. It will also take me at least 5 minutes of being up and about to be able to walk properly. During the day I might get a slight twinge but nothing like that. Does anyone have any advice or is this something that is going to get worse until I have bubs?
Also, does anyone else feel thier pelvis clunk like a joint cracking? I get that at least once a night as well and was wondering if it was common.
Last edited by Little Chicken; July 15th, 2010 at 09:41 PM.
: Adding something
muminalice - it will probably get worse but maybe not. Most people find that it does but sometimes the position of the baby and its increased weight can actually work to stabilise the pelvis. Make sure the pillow is between your knees. If you're not already doing so, it's important to ice your pelvis. I ice throughout the day and go to bed with a pack between my legs. DD now sometimes insists on taking an ice pack to bed with her I've found ice is THE best thing to keep the pain under control.
As far as getting in and out of bed is concerned, I haven't mastered it either. The key is to keep your knees together but I'm particularly unco and can't quite work out how to do that. I agree, those few minutes where you don't know if you can actually stand up and walk are the worst part of the day.
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) so that has helped.
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