I am officially registering a complaint!
At 36 1/2 weeks, pregnancy is no longer fun. Â Yes, up until Saturday, I would have told you that I was having a jolly good time being pregnant. Â I felt like my tummy was relatively compact and sitting higher up (which was nice for my bladder). Â My body felt great physically – no aches, lots of energy, no waddling even! Â And honestly, it’s been good like this since the end of the first trimester, so after 22 weeks of feeling awesome, I kind of forgot that pregnancy could suck.
And just like that, all the goodness went away. Â I had a tough night sleeping and woke on Sunday to find my ankles swollen. Â My belly also started to drop, which added pressure to my bladder (although I’m getting a break on all the rib kicks). Â What’s worse though is that the weight of the baby is pressing on my sciatic nerve, which is causing shooting pains to run from my low back all the way down my leg. Â Little did I know what was coming though…
I awoke Monday morning and the leg pain was still there, but when I went to stand up, my leg gave out on me! Â No lie, for the last 24 hours I’ve been unable to put any pressure on my right leg! Â It’s horrible – I’m super immobile and have to hobble to get around the apartment. Â I’ve been massaging it like crazy but can’t seem to get any relief. Â The idea of dealing with this for the next 4 weeks seems dreadful, but I’ve been told by my doctor that there isn’t anything you can do about sciatic nerve pain (because it’s a nerve, not a muscle). Â I am open to ideas through, so if you’ve dealt with anything similar, please let me know if you found any relief!
Until then, I’ll be mourning the loss of my mobility and keeping my eye on the prize. Â Maybe Nia will decide to have pity on her mama and come a few weeks early…
Water aerobics! I swear by them. I never had any pain while pregnant with Lindsey, and I credit it all to water aerobics!
Oh my, I feel terrible for you. Did you ever think about acupuncture. It just might work. Take care it’s almost over. Love you.
Hmmm, I will ponder that Jessica. I’ve been walking and doing yoga every day, so I don’t feel like it’s lack of exercise. More just that something has shifted and is now sitting right on that nerve.
I think you’re right on. I’m going to look into it today!
I wonder if “The Stick” for self-massage or a foam roller would be any help? (Us runners swear by both, but it’s usually sore muscles/tight tendons and not a big belly that’s causing the pain!)
i second acupuncture. hang in there little mama. maybe it is god’s way of telling you to slow down and rest for the next few weeks…listen to your body
boooo! so sorry to hear that :( at blooma when we do pigeon pose they always say that it’s good if you have sciatica. maybe try that?? hope you get some help soon.
I had sciatica pain after a back injury my first year of law school. It took awhile, but accupuncture & chiropractic manipulations saved the day! Your chiropractor or accupuncturist should be able to recommend some light stretching movements to help relieve some of the pressure on the nerve. Good luck!!
Haven’t heard of it. I do have a husband that can massage me though!
I hate resting. It’s not my thing! :(
I do like pigeon. I’ll try that! Good idea Tanisha.
You will love resting in a few weeks. Mark. My. Words.
Oooh, excellent feedback. I am looking into ones in my area tomorrow….
I hear ya on the sciatic nerve pain…had the same thing when pregnant with Seth.
My therapy was lots of body rubs from the hubby, lots of time in hot baths, and pillows at night.
xoxo Hang in there!
Thanks for the tips Bethany… it’s comforting knowing that I’m not alone!
Sarah, I’ve had to deal with a lot of nerve pain due to some troubled vertebrae and ACUPUNCTURE has worked well in terms of pain management. It can help reduce your swelling, too! I’ve NEVER had a needle hurt and I highly recommend acupuncture for all kinds of issues.
Very cool, thanks for sharing!