A little bit goes a long way

Yesterday marked the 36th week of my pregnancy. It's a little surreal at this point!!  Still feeling a LOT of movement (to the point of being uncomfortable, this kid is beating me up from the inside!), lots of baby hiccups too. No Braxton Hicks yet... which doesn't really bother me I guess, although I'd love to know things are getting closer by feeling some of those common "he's coming" signs! Everything is going really well, and I am grateful that the aches and pains I have felt throughout the pregnancy have been relatively minor. Last week I started waking up every few hours with throbbing hip pain. Felt like someone punched me on the sides of my hips/butt and continued to feel the pain throughout the day. I attributed it to the weight gain and sleeping only on my sides, but after discussing it with my midwife and chiropractor, I remembered that the Relaxin hormone is really kicking in right now and making my joints loose. This means the hips are widening in preparation for birth. I also considered the fact that while a more firm mattress may be very supportive and comfortable when not pregnant, when pregnant, it can put a lot of pressure on your body if you are only sleeping in one position. Thankfully my pregnancy brain allowed me to recall that we had vacuum-sealed an old tempurpedic-ish foam mattress topper and it was stored in the garage. We took it out, put it on the bed, and I have felt 100% improvement in my hip pain since that first night I slept on it. What a blessing to not have to spend any $ and find the solution was right in my home already! THANK G-D!

Around the same time last week I also started noticing a little bit of burning pain in my groin and front of the thighs. I pulled out some differential diagnosis from the inner depths of my distant chiropractic student brain and remembered a fun little disorder called Meralgia Paresthetica (pronounced Mer-al-ja  Pair-ah-stet-ick-ah). A quick google search confirmed my inclination... when you are pregnant (or overweight, or wearing tight pants, or wearing a tight work belt like a police officer or handy man commonly does...) you can cut off or pinch the nerves that run through the groin area and provide normal sensation to the groin and front of the thighs. Hello 9 months pregnant belly and this weird burning painful sensation. So lovely to meet you after all this time. Thankfully, it comes and goes... and it only comes for a few minutes every few days, so I guess I'll just deal until baby arrives and the belly starts to shrink again. Oh week 35, you were not kind to me... week 36 is shaping up much better!

I wanted to share another experience with one particularly common symptom that I, along with many other pregnant women have had to deal with. When I was about 18 weeks pregnant or so, I started noticing some lower back pain. It started on the left side where my hip meets my tail bone and was aggravated by certain movements such as lifting my leg to get out of the car, getting out of bed, and even doing certain types of adjustments on my patients. I couldn't fathom why, after so many years of diligently taking care of myself and my spine, I would be one of the lucky ones to suffer from unrelenting low back pain in pregnancy. I wasn't even that big yet, so I was a little disappointed and disheartened to feel this pain.

I pulled out my notes and resources from school (nerd alert) and started researching the anatomy and physiology of how a woman's body changes through pregnancy. I knew it would make me understand more clearly the changes that were happening to me and hopefully give me a little bit of (mental) relief that although I wasn't comfortable, what I was experiencing was pretty normal.  

Here is a summary of what I found: 

Towards the end of the first trimester and beginning of the second trimester, the mommy-to-be may start to feel changes in her uterus, and even in her spine and pelvic area. These changes become more apparent as the uterus and baby grow.  The uterus has many ligaments that suspend and support it inside the abdomen and connect it to other structures in the body. Two ligaments worth mentioning (and by understanding their function, will help you understand why pregnant women may be feel some low back discomfort) are...

(Ready for your anatomy lesson of the day?!)

1) Utero-sacral ligament: (ligament connecting the uterus and sacrum, aka, tail bone). This ligament extends from the back portion of the uterus, travels around the rectum, and inserts over the middle of the sacrum. This ligament prevents the uterus from displacing anterior and inferior (forward and down).  If the ligaments stretch unevenly, they can cause the sacrum to move out of alignment (low back pain!). If there is enough displacement of the sacrum, the sciatic nerve may become irritated, which causes the burning/shooting pain down the butt and sometimes into the back of the leg. If the sacrum goes out of alignment, it can transmit torsion through the ligaments and cause tension within the uterus (this can cause uterus pain or even a breech, or feet-down positioning of the baby).

2) Round ligament: This ligament extends from the sides of the uterus, travels into the inguinal canal (groin area) where it joins with the inguinal ligament, and inserts in the upper portion of the labia. This ligament prevents the uterus from displacing posterior (backward). Tension of the ligament can increase the tension on the uterus and again create discomfort or even re-positioning of the baby.

Changes in a mommy-to-be's center of gravity, balance, and spinal positioning are common as her uterus and baby grow. It's important to recognize the body releases a hormone called Relaxin in larger amounts throughout her pregnancy. This hormone literally relaxes the joints in preparation for the widening of the pelvic girdle, which will eventually be the area baby exits from if mom decides to have a vaginal birth. Although this hormone is completely natural and normal, it does significantly loosen all the joints. Mom may already start to feel changes in her joints, not only in her pelvis but even other areas as well.  Most commonly because of the additional weight of the baby in the front of the body (creating additional stress on the spine) the pelvic and sacrum joints are more likely to move out of alignment, thus the low back pain and possibly sciatica. 

Once I reviewed all the info and refreshed my memory, it made SO much sense to me as to why getting adjusted by a chiropractor throughout your pregnancy is so beneficial. So... why?! Chiropractors can help by analyzing the spine and adjusting specific areas that are out of alignment. This helps to reduce interference to the nervous system and balance the spine, maternal pelvic muscles, and ligaments.  This in turn can make mommy-to-be's body function better, which will make her feel A LOT better! It will also reduce torsion in the uterus and allow for optimal fetal positioning (head down) in preparation for birth.

I think it is really important not to ignore the signals your body is telling you. Unfortunately, many times people run to the medicine cabinet and want to pop a pill that will make them feel better, but don't necessarily address the underlying issue. It becomes more difficult to do this when pregnant because it will greatly benefit the baby to avoid introducing chemicals into their developing bodies. I would recommend finding a chiropractor in your area that specializes or focuses on prenatal care. You can find a chiropractor at www.ICPA4Kids.org (I'm on there!) and they also have other wonderful pregnancy resources there.

Recognizing what your body needs, whether it's nutritional, emotional, spiritual, or physical is really important. When you take the proper steps to take care of yourself, a little bit goes a long way. It really has for me :-)