Thursday, September 11, 2014

Another Pregnancy Update and the dangers of couch jumping...

Laying down inevitably results
in a scene that looks something like this...
running towards me full speed.
I've been trying to think of a way to write this post without sounding to whiny... and anyone who wants to skip words like "twisted pelvis" and "irritable uterus" can feel free to skip this particular "what's up with the pregnancy" post, but if you're brave or curious (or bored) feel free to continue on.

A couple of days ago during a particularly contraction-y afternoon I tried to lay down on the couch.  The biggest problem with this plan was that my laying down pretty much gave the signal for the two littlest members of our family to sprint across the living room and begin climbing all over the irresistible Mommy Jungle Gym that they'd just discovered.  Patch seemed to think it was particularly exciting to run from about ten feet away and bounce into my stomach, which would instantly cause a contraction (because with an "irritable uterus," which is possibly the most appropriate term I've ever heard, everything causes a contraction).

So my attention was on the littlest trouble maker of the bunch at the moment when his very excited older sister started jumping on the couch behind me and happened to land with both knees planted directly into the center of my back.

Okay, so here's a fun fact for most of you who don't know me in real life.  In college I paid for my affinity for full contact sports with a ruptured L5-S1.  It wasn't a fun time.  It was pretty painful for a solid three years, with four epidurals, tons of physical therapy, and an ordered surgery refused by my insurance that ultimately led to the loss of that same insurance because I hadn't had the surgery that they had refused a year earlier.

In one way I have felt very, very blessed during my previous pregnancies because the spinal orthopedic surgeon that was my doctor during those years was very clear that pregnancy would be very, very painful and difficult and for each of my pregnancies up until this one, that hasn't been the case.

In August for the first time, that started to change when I stopped suddenly when chasing after (and catching) a certain child who was sprinting into a parking lot while we were in California.  I instantly knew that that misstep had been a major mistake.

After a month with the pain steadily persisting in my lower back and pelvis, my doctor referred me to the university's ortheopathic manipulative medicine office.  The appointment was today.

So the timing of the blow to my back, which instantly resulted in swelling and pain shooting all the way down to my ankle was kind of perfect.

I'll admit, I was kind of terrified going in.  I thought I'd ruptured another disk.  The slicing stabbing horribleness felt awfully similar to my last injury.

After spending an hour in the doctor's office this morning I am cautiously optimistic.  She said that she thinks the nerve pain is likely a result of my nerves reacting to a smaller injury in the same way they reacted to the old rupture, but she doesn't think that another disk has herniated (yay for that!).

She also said that my pelvis was tilted all the way forward and was actually also twisted in two different directions and attached really, really tightly to the muscle on the right side, which she thinks is causing the tearing pain around my c-section scar.  And lastly my tail bone was apparently positioned in the opposite direction it's supposed to be in.

That along with the baby being really, really low (she thought he'd already dropped, although I don't think he has because I think he's still breach at the moment) is creating a less than comfortable last month of pregnancy (homestretch though!  I can totally deal with this for a month if I focus on that light at the end of the tunnel).

And on a very, very happy note, she does think the pain should resolve itself after the baby makes his appearance and she also thinks that adjustments before and after that point should make a huge difference in fixing the problems that are going on.

In kind of related news, Paul is betting that we have a September baby (the due date is October 18th), although my bet is still that we'll make it to at least 39 weeks like we have with the other three.

Now to get some sleep and to hope that this little guy decides to stay put for at least one more month!  Tomorrow's another OB appointment, and hopefully I'll get an idea of the date of the surgery at that appointment!

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