Pregnant lady here, first time, week 30. It’s mostly going very very well. The one thing that’s bugging me is that feeling like I just overate at Thanksgiving dinner all day every day. Not stretching of my skin, but stretching of my insides. I feel like that fellow in the restaurant in Meaning of Life (you know the one, right?)
Anyone have any coping strategies for this? Stretches to do, positions to sit in, support harness designs (kidding), anything?
I’m at week 27 and I know exactly what you mean! And after actually eating anything it’s even worse, Mr. Creosote is a great comparison.
Also god forbid if you don’t poop for a for a day. It’s like the baby, my organs, and my colon all fight for space. Baby wins so far because he just kicks me until I ensure matters are taken care of. But man, this is only going to get worse from now until my due date isn’t it?
That’s what I’m afraid of. Earlier, for me, I would only have a day or two of feeling impossibly stretched, followed by a few days of feeling fine – as if my guts had got used to it. All that stuff they say about ligaments being extra-stretchy due to hormones, just to accommodate this sort of thing, you know? I theorized the bad days coincided with baby growth spurts. But the last week it’s been constant.
Oh, yay. I’m in week 17, so I guess I have this to look forward to.
But no matter how full you feel, surely you have room for just this one mint? It’s “waffer-thin”!
My coping mechanism was to eat small meals and walk frequently. It won’t make it go away entirely (and sometimes walking can make the bottom of your belly hurt), but keeping your muscles toned really helps. Swimming would probably be a good alternative. But while at work, I used to set a reminder on my Outlook to go for a 5-minute walk every hour.
Oh, and pelvic rocks help, too. If you’re not familiar with them, you get down on all fours, let your bell drop so your back makes a shallow U, then tighten your stomach muscles until your back is level. This also helps your stomach snap back better and can help you during pushing.
Better get a bucket, is all I’m sayin’.
overlyverbose, I’ll try the pelvic rocks; thanks. I already know that position, even without doing anything while in it, feels good – nice to get the pressure off the guts for a few minutes. Makes me think the evolutionary move to two legs ‘n’ upright wasn’t a great idea from the pregnancy perspective.
Oddly, I have (so far!) had way more stretching/round ligament pain in the beginning than I do now.
For about the first month, my abs felt like I’d done a hardcore ab workout every day, all the time. After that, from about 8-12 weeks, my whole gut area just felt very tightly wound. Now at about 20 weeks, it’s much better than before - though I’m sure it will get bad again later.
One thing that’s helped me with all the general aches and pains is to exercise frequently. It doesn’t have to be intense, even a walk helps keep my back from aching which has been my worst problem (shooting pains, anyone?). As long as I try to move around as much as possible, I’m OK.
The pelvic rocking sounds good, I’ll give that a try.
I have a prenatal yoga dvd that I think I need to try out. My legs are getting achy and I want to ensure I’m not putting my back in bad positions, so I’m going to stretch things out as much as I can.
That end-of-pregnancy achy-leg feeling is the worst! You already can’t find a comfortable position and then your legs start to hurt, making you even more uncomfortable. If you can, maybe find a way to keep your feet up during the day or, at the end of the day, take a quick walk, then put your feet up for 30-60 minutes if you can. That way you’ll get your blood flowing, then take the pressure off your legs. And I think the stretching is a very, very good idea.
Also, be sure that you sleep with a pillow between your knees. Some pillows holding up the belly can also be helpful, depending on the configuration, but the one between the knees is key to not having as much hip pain the next day.
I did yoga regularly through my pregnancy - I think finding ways to stretch your body upwards and around can really help. Although in saying that, I’d still get home and want to sit with my arms crossed over my head to give a little more breathing room in the ribs.
I’d try that DVD, although be careful if you’ve not done it so far in your pregnancy as your body may not be used to it and you are much more stretchy now than you were before due to the relaxin. IIRC, you’re in the fast growing stage now - for me at least, things seemed to slow down towards the end, and while I was over it physically, it didn’t seem to get much worse.
I felt that way more and more and then one day it was really bad and then something happened. It felt odd for a while, but then it felt better. I noticed that the middle of my belly near my belly button looked off, and then discovered the hernia where I had split.
You know, there are support harnesses, and they actually work. I had SPD during my pregnancy (picture feeling like you’ve been kicked in the pubic bone, constantly, and worse when you attempt to cross your legs or roll over or lift one leg, which oddly enough you do while you’re WALKING) and the Prenatal Cradle was sometimes the only way I managed to get out of bed.
Ooh! Want! Thank you! Over dinner last night my husband was actually talking about trying to make something like that.
What’s SPD stand for?
Also, Drain Bead, I’m looking at the site and at eBay and wondering about Original Cradle (the non-adjustable one) sizes. EBay has them for good prices, but it looks like I fall between sizes. I wore size 14 or 16 pants pre-maternity, which indicates I need a size Medium-Large – but I only weigh 155 right now and don’t expect to go above 165, which indicates I need a size Small! Did you use the Original? Any advice?
It’s pelvic girdle pain - really sharp pain right in the centre of your pubis. I got it a lot when walking, but was lucky - my OB said that some women end up on crutches or in a wheelchair during and after pregnancy until it goes away. It felt to me like the two bones grinding against each other. I think you’d know if you had it!
I had the Mini, mainly because I am both plus sized and tall and it was the only one that would fit both. It was true to size with the weight more than the clothes sizes–if you’re particularly short or particularly tall, your clothes size won’t necessarily align with the weight they think you should be. You should probably go by weight. You may also try e-mailing them and seeing what they suggest.
Thank you, Girl From Mars and Drain Bead. D.B., I think I might try the newer “Best” version, which is adjustable; the sizing on that one makes more sense as well as being adjustable, and it’s only about $10 more on eBay.
Actually, I’m putting off that purchase for a week or so – I went to a nearby Motherhood brand outlet and tried on one of the belt-style supporters. When I picked up the box and asked if it was OK to take it out to try it on, the salesgirl (and I use that antiquated term advisedly – she couldn’t have been more than 19) said “Oh, you want some instant relief? Women rave about those things. Sure, try it on!” and she was right; it really felt much better right away. So instead of buying it from her I went home and bought one for 1/3 as much off eBay. I did buy a couple of nursing tops from there on sale, though, so I hope she made at least a few bucks’ commission off me.
And I’m very thankful I don’t have to deal with pelvic girdle pain! Yeesh.