Only 9 days left!
This past week has been pretty eventful, the Braxton Hicks picked back up (they had disappeared the week before) and Thursday night I had two more real contractions, Kevin and I even started timing them. But there were only two. For the past few weeks I have been having this pain that is like a band around my lower waist - lower back and in front just under my uterus. It has made it difficult to walk but this past Friday, I had EXCRUCIATING (sp?) pain between my hip flexors on top of my pubic bone but under the uterus. It was so bad I couldn't even tell where it was coming from. It made it extremely painful to walk or even move my legs. I called my doctors office and had to wait for the dr on call to call back (they were closed!) and she said it sounded like I had Pubis Symphysis Disfunction. She advised me to get an epidural and confirmed that the pain can be intolerable, even immobilizing. I did some research and from what I've read, that has to be it. apparently the ligaments holding my pelvis together have stretched farther than the 2-3 mm they are supposed to stretch for pregnancy. This additional stretching makes the pelvis unstable and again, very painful. It occurs in 1 in 4 pregnant woman, of that percentage, 25% report extreme pain and 7% become temporarily handicaped. The pain can linger after delivery and Dr Heck said if it does, there are different things they can do, such as an injection. She didn't mention but I read that they also may have to do surgery and screw my pelvis back together!! Friday night was the worst. I laid down for an hour with ice packs on my feet and I went to stand up to go to the bathroom and literally could not move my left leg. I honestly don't think I've ever felt anything that painful before. What's weird is I went to sleep that night and woke up Saturday and the pain had subsided a LOT. I still have pain when walking but compared to Friday, this is nothing. What was also scary was I saw light spots while sitting on Friday, for maybe 5 or 6 seconds. That freaked me out because not only am I extremely swollen, but I'm seeing spots which are both signs of preeclampsia - a very dangerous condition for me and the baby. I also told Dr Heck about the spots and swelling and she asked what my blood pressure is, and she said it's fine but to let Hedges know. Apparently you can't have preeclampsia without high blood pressure. So I've really got to be careful about what I'm eating now. I cut out adding salt to food a long time ago, but now I need to worry about sodium. And from what I've seen since Friday, it's in EVERYTHING.
I have had my hopes up that baby could come any day now for quite some time. I have given up! I am just not going to think about it anymore, because it is making time drag by. She is only 38 weeks after all, so she has the right to stay in until May 5. I shouldn't rush her.
My next appt is Tuesday, so we'll see what all this activity has done (or not done)!!
Originally posted April 26, 2009
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