With my first child I skipped drugs for pain relief and had a pretty easy labor (6 hours from the point I recognized the pains as labor pains) With my second (39 weeks preggo now) I'm having really bad hip spasms and leg pain that a PT said there is not much I can do about (once the baby is out it should go away). I didn't have these spasms with my first so I'm wondering will going into labor trigger these spasms as well. Anybody have experience with this? The hip/leg spasms truly feel worse than contractions to me.
**Edit: Maternity belt helps some but by the evening they come back. I'll have to try a chiropractor though since I think the PT was afraid to do anything since I was so far along. I can deal with the hip pain now since it comes and goes but I'm really afraid that they'll continue during labor and make it unbearable. Does this kind of pain continue during labor?
Apparently I was a bit premature in asking this question...my lovely Father's Day baby arrived about 5 hours after posting this:) My hips are super BTW--such a relief to not be pregnant anymore! Thank you all for the advice --i'll definitely keep chiropractors in mind if I have a third:)
I second the idea of seeing a chiropractor. I went ro one each month throughout my pregnancy and it was SO helpful.
I didn't have that but a friend had sciatica during pregnancy and got some relief with acupuncture and chiropractic adjustments. She also had a donut pillow for sitting.
could it be your sciatica? I had pains like that, where it would start at the hip and shoot down my leg. So random and painful! I got a maternity belt at Motherhood Maternity, which was basically just elastic and velcro. I wore it most of my pregnancy, it basically just lifted the baby off of my sciatic nerve and helped alleviate the pain.
As a childbirth educator and birth doula, and massage therapist, I am happy to tell you that there is help for your hip pain.
The PT you saw obviously does not know much about pregnancy. Others are possibly on the right track of sciatica. There is some type of spinal misalignment that is causing pain for you.
A chiropractor will help you and in addition help to align your spine and pelvis so that your baby will be in a better position. Therefore your labor will be more comfortable, quicker and easier. There are stretches you can do and you can use ice and or heat in the meantime.
There are at least 2 chiros near you. Go to:http://icpa4kids.org. Hit the find a chiropractor link at the top of the page. You can put in your zip code and then be on your way.
I had a lot of hip pain/sciatic pain the last month with my third baby. It felt like a lightning bolt running down my leg and sometimes it even felt my leg would give out. I did not experience this pain in my labor. Don't know if being in the tub till few minutes before delivery is why or not, but it really helped with labor pain.
Caution with consulting a chiropractor. The advice you received from the PT is correct. Until the baby is out, there is not much that can be done. You are almost to the finish line. Sometimes it's better to just wait it out. Best wishes for a healthy baby and delivery! Midwife Mom
Sorry, I don't know the answer to your question- just wanted to say that if you wind up needing medication, it's not the end of the world.
I wasn't as lucky as you with my 1st baby's delivery. It took me longer than your 1st labor just to get to 4 cm- and the pain was unbearable (went into labor on a Sun. afternoon around 1 or 2 pm- didn't get to 4cm until 4am Mon). I had been planning to go natural, but seriously just couldn't take it. The epidural was amazing. I was able to get some rest before the 2 hours of pushing that were coming up-
Congratulations!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! =o)
Congratulations!!!!!
You might want to seek out a chiropractor who is certified to do the Webster Technique -- it's a specific technique used to align the pelvis during pregnancy in order to optimize the baby's position for birth, but can help with this type of pain as well, if it's being caused by a misalignment in your pelvis. It certainly helped me.
Tr acupuncture in addition to the chiro. That should help a lot.
I don't get hip pain like you're describing, but I do get sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy. When I'm in labor, my back labor is like an awful case of sciatic nerve labor. It's unreal and way more intense/painful than normal labor, which I also feel at the same time, (and I've had a few of mine natural). But there are other prego women who get sciatic nerve pain during pregnancy and don't get any back labor at all during labor. So...I'm not sure there is anyway to say what will happen with you. I think it's an individual thing. I just know if I didn't get the sciatic nerve labor pain thing...I would probably describe it like you described your first labor. I hope you don't get it. Dealing with an additional pain like that during labor is NO FUN. A chiropractor trained in the webster technique (?) is good, so I hear!
Find a Webster certified chiropractor here: http://icpa4kids.org/
They know pregnancy!! If there isn't one in your area, however, a non-certified chiropractor can still work wonders!
Chiropractic should be REQUIRED of all pregnant women! (and no, I am not a chiropractor!) Get in ASAP and feel some relief soon!! :-)
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