By 32 weeks, I was on crutches and having real difficulty with day to day things. The pain was mainly in the joints at the back of my pelvis but I also had some pretty major twinges at the front too. For weeks, I’d had to roll out of bed, crawl up the stairs on my hands and knees (I took the lift at work!) and my husband had become used to hauling me up off the settee and out of the bath. I’d planned to finish work at 35 weeks pregnant but I was signed off on sick leave at 33 weeks; my GP told me that I should have been off earlier but, again, I’d been trying to struggle on so I hadn’t visited the doctor before this. For the last few weeks of pregnancy, I did manage a bit more rest but I still felt frustrated, guilty (for not being able to do more for my son, my family or around the house) and, in some ways cheated (out of properly enjoying the pregnancy and for my son who missed out on so much I would have liked to do for him).
As my due date approached, I was looking forward to getting my mobility back, but I was quite nervous about the labour. After the emergency section first time around, I was aiming for a VBAC and as ‘normal’ a birth as possible. Obviously, the PGP would limit my options for active labour, and the previous section meant that I would need continuous monitoring so my hoped-for water birth was not allowed. At a check-up two days before my due date, I was told that it was unlikely that the baby was coming any time soon, so I was booked into hospital the following week. There was a good chance they’d do another section then so I was pretty disappointed.
On my due date, we went to the zoo to cheer me up. As I could barely walk, we hired a wheelchair and I’m convinced that it was being bumped around in this with a toddler on my knee that made my waters break at two o’clock the next morning. Labour wasn’t easy but the hospital were aware of my PGP and took care not to open my legs wider than my pre-measured pain-free gap from the birth plan. With every contraction, it felt as though the joints in my pelvis were being crushed like a ball of paper in a fist; a feeling that continued after each contraction was over and only eased momentarily before the next one started. My beautiful second son was born one day overdue, at 7.14pm on the 15th August 2011 and was worth every minute of the pain. Apart from the odd twinge, the PGP was pretty much gone by the next morning and hasn’t troubled me since. Within a couple of days of the birth, I was able to play on the floor with my eldest son again and stand up unassisted afterwards; a simple little thing but something I’d really missed. I have had some fitness issues recently, mainly because of the enforced immobility and lack of exercise for several months, but I’m now on the mend and building up my strength again. We’d always envisaged having three children, but I will be waiting until the boys are a bit older before we think about having another!
Pregnancy & Birth
Cont. A Pain in the back
More Information
Also known as SPD or symphysis pubis dysfunction, osteitis pubis or pelvic girdle relaxation, PGP affects up to one in five women during pregnancy with varying levels of severity. The main symptom is pain in the pelvic joints, but there can also be joint instability. A combination of postural changes, the growing baby, unstable pelvic joints under the influence of pregnancy hormones and changes in the centre of gravity can all add to the degree of pain or discomfort. If you are pregnant and think that you may have PGP, your midwife will be able to advise you or refer you to a physiotherapist.
For further information www.pelvicpartnership.org.uk or www.pelvicgirdlepain.com
"For the last few weeks of pregnancy, I did manage a bit more rest but I still felt frustrated, guilty...and, in some ways cheated..."