It started a few weeks ago and I notice it's worse after I have had a really busy day. I'm doing all the things the midwife suggested, plus lots of pelvic floor exercises, and I just wanted to know if anyone has some GOOD stories to share, like you had SPD but it was bearable and didn't get horrendously worse. Because I know of lots of BAD stories, where women ended up unable to walk or with a walking frame... and that just scares me.
On the positive side of spd, i learnt to slow down and take things easier. I learnt to nurture myself and not expect to be perfect. I learnt to accept if spd was part of making a healthy baby, to let go of needing to control and plan.
I bought things online, including groceries and learnt to accept help from strangers, like having them carry things inside for me.
Spd helped me be more organised and improved my ADD. Instead of moving from one task/ room to another, i learnt to finish tasks in on room before doing something else. This conserved energy, reduced pain and probably saved time.
I learnt my job was to grow a healthy baby and everything else, including my ego, took second place to that.
I also got a disabled parking sticker, which i actually needed.
The physical pain was real and i have left over spd at 16 wks pp but it is improving. There's loads of things you can do to manage the pain. I hope it doesn't get any worse for you. The number 1 thing is DONT push through it. If it hurts, stop! The emotional angst is also very real, but if you accept spd as part of your new normal, knowing that it will eventually pass, that can ease the frustration.
having SPD gave me a greater respect for the elderly and disabled. If I see someone painfully crossing the road and I have to stop for them, I always give them a smile and a wave so they know I'm not frustrated, because if they could walk faster they could. I learnt to say "yes" to offers of help, and that I am not superwoman and nobody expects me to do everything.
I learnt that my husband is patient and sympathetic, and that my kids can cope with having a mum who cannot play if I explain to them that I am sore.
My SPD got a huge amount better towards the end of the pregnancy, and was about 90% gone just a few hours after giving birth. I still get twinges down the track but I know not to push myself, and that there is still a lot of exercise I can do without hurting myself. I have been able to walk off my baby weight, and appreciate my health now in a way I did not before.
Perhaps 'good' wasn't the right word to use Really, what I wanted is more of the not-so-bad stories other than the 'oh-dear-god-this-was-awful-and-debilitating' stories, because I will need to work for the next 3 months and it's something that's worrying me right now, as to how I will cope. I suppose I'm just wanting it not to get worse - it's bearable right now, and I'm being careful, and I just don't want it to get worse.
I think that getting the medical help early is the way to go. At about 20 weeks I was in so much pain and thought similar to what you have. But now, with 21 days remaining until EDD I am doing fine. In the early days, I was told by the physio that she should be able to "keep me going" until I was due to finish work, which I did 3 weeks ago. Now my work is office-based, and I'm not sure about you.
What I found worked:
Supportive husband
Honesty with employer
Realisation that my role is to bake a healthy bub and not debilitate myself
Understanding of my body's limits
No lifting, twisting, walking
Not being afraid to ask for help
Working from home one day/week (wednesday) to give my body time to heal
Not being a matyre
Learning things I can't do - like catching trains!
Regular physio
Accupuncture (pregnancy specialist in SPD)
One of the biggest things is surrendering to the body's limitations. So learning to use upper body more when getting in and out of bed, icing whenever possible and learning to be a lounge lizard.
On the bright side, I'm moving OK compared to when I was at work, and speaking to the midwife today she thinks that Quoll will birth easily and that we'll have a fast birth as a result. We'll see
I've heard the advantage of fast birth thing as well... heh heh, we'll be leaving for the Birth Centre as soon as I go into labour, I think! T was not quite 5 hours from first contraction to birth, so I'm not hanging around to see if this one is slower
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