With Littles
It was around 30 weeks that the pain started to kick in.
At first, it just felt like I had a bruise right on my pubic bone. Annoying, but tolerable. I asked my OB about it, and she said, "Sounds like public symphysis pain. Totally normal."
While that was reassuring, it didn't help it go away. Over the next few weeks, it got progressively worse. Walking became difficult, especially after I'd been seated or lying down for a while. I started to dread rolling over in bed, or lifting my legs to put on pants. Climbing stairs was nearly impossible. I remember getting up one morning when I was about 33 or 34 weeks along and thinking, "I can't do this anymore."
But I knew I had to keep doing it, so I turned to the Internet, and found this link: http://www.plus-size-pregnancy.org/pubicpain.htm
It described my symptoms perfectly. And unlike my OB, it offered some suggestions for lessening or even eliminating the pain.
I started sleeping with a pillow between my knees, and whenever I needed to roll over, I concentrated on keeping my knees together. Those simple steps helped somewhat.
But one of the biggest recommendations was to look into either chiropractic or acupuncture. I asked my OB about it, and her response was, "Well, it's safe. It probably won't help, but it won't hurt."
I asked my doula for recommendations, and she referred me to a nearby acupuncturist who specialized in treating a variety of women's issues. I had never tried acupuncture before and was pretty skeptical. I walked out of my first appointment feeling no different, aside from a wallet that was quite a bit lighter. (My insurance doesn't cover acupuncture at all.)
Within 24 hours of that first appointment, I was feeling 90% better. I still had some pain, but it was quite tolerable. I could walk upstairs again. I no longer dreaded getting out of bed in the morning.
I kept going weekly for the remainder of my pregnancy. I didn't see much improvement after the second or third appointment, although the pain also didn't get any worse, which was a blessing in and of itself! Within a day of the fourth appointment, I saw more improvement, to the point where I was feeling close to 100%.
So much for "it probably won't help."
With Noob
I started feeling the familiar twinges of SPD (symphysis pubis dysfunction) much earlier, before 20 weeks. I'm not sure if this was because the pain actually started earlier than it had with Littles, or if it was just because I was more aware of it.
Thankfully, the pain didn't get as bad as it had with Littles. I was already under the care of a chiropractor, where I got regular massages and adjustments, so perhaps that had something to do with it. (As a bonus, chiropractic is fully covered by my insurance. Hence why I was already seeing one, even before I got pregnant: It was a way to get free massages!)
As the final months of my pregnancy approached, I did start feeling it more, so I started working with a chiropractor who specializes in treating pregnant women and children. That helped keep the pain at bay and also ensured that I was properly aligned for a smooth delivery.
Noob's birth was a lot easier than Littles, and while there are many possible reasons for that, I do wonder whether those adjustments helped.
With Q
Again, I started feeling the familiar twinges much earlier, around the start of the second trimester. I started seeing a chiropractor at around 20 weeks. My previous chiropractor had returned to teaching exclusively, but my midwife gave me a recommendation for another one who also specialized in pregnant women and children. In fact, as it turns out, my new chiropractor was a student of my previous one :)
I'm currently just shy of 35 weeks, and feeling wonderful. The SPD pain does kick in more some weeks than others, but even at its absolute worst, I'd say it's where it was at after my first acupuncture appointment with Littles. At its best, I hardly feel it at all.
In talking with other women, I find that many of them have suffered from SPD during pregnancy, and have had it dismissed as "normal" by their providers. My chiropractor and I often talk about the fact that so many women think that pregnancy has to be uncomfortable and painful. I'm sure some women will struggle with discomfort regardless -- putting on 25+ lbs in a short period of time and putting a watermelon where various internal organs used to be does have its effects -- but many women probably put up with discomfort as being "normal" when it's not.
What happens at a typical appointment?
A lot of people are unfamiliar with or even scared of "alternative" medicines like acupuncture and chiropractic. I think they also get a bad rap from people who think they can be used to treat everything, e.g. the stories of cancer patients who forego chemotherapy in favor of chiropractic and it doesn't work.
Using them to treat pregnancy pain is much different. In most cases, Western medicine offers no solution for this pain. So it's not like you're foregoing a treatment known to be effective in favor of alternative medicine. Worst case scenario, it doesn't work, and then you're no worse off than you were if you didn't try it.
To hopefully demystify these forms of treatment, let me explain a bit about what happened at each of my appointments.
At my first appointment with each provider, she (they all happened to be women) spent a lot of time asking me about my pain, my general pregnancy history (including prior pregnancies and births), etc. Then she talked to me about how she planned to approach my treatment and gave me the opportunity to ask any questions. As a result, this appointment was much longer than subsequent ones.
With acupuncture, the treatment consisted of sticking small needles into various areas of my body. Once all the needles were placed, which took maybe 5-10 minutes, my acupuncturist left me to relax alone, with the needles in, for another 15-20 minutes. The needles were not painful at all. In fact, I usually fell asleep during the relaxation time :) How a needle placed in my big toe alleviated pain on my pubic bone, I do not know, but it did!
As for chiropractic, each of my chiropractors had a special table for doing adjustments. They could change it to accommodate my growing belly, so I could lie on my stomach to get my back adjusted. They felt for any misalignments in my spine, and pressed on different areas of my back ("cracking" it) to fix it. Misalignments in my pelvis were fixed by rolling me on my side and pressing on each of my hips. I lay briefly on my back while my neck got cracked. Finally, each provider treated my pubic area specifically. The one I saw with Noob used a special tool, called an activator, that "shot" me in my pubic bone -- not real comfortable at the time, but it helped. My current one briefly massages me right on my pubic bone to get rid of any inflammation in that area. It's a little tender, so she's careful to not do it too hard.
After the initial appointment, each provider generally asked me about how I had been feeling since my prior appointment, then proceeded with the appropriate treatment.
Different providers do operate differently, and have different levels of expertise with working on pregnant women, so if you don't have a good experience with one provider (or have had a bad experience in the past), try another. I think the best way to find a good one is to get a recommendation from an OB/midwife/doula/other pregnant woman in your area. For chiropractors, in lieu of a first-hand recommendation, you can use this link to find a chiropractor: http://icpa4kids.org/Find-a-Chiropractor. Use the "Search for" drop down to select "Webster Certified Chiropractors," as this type of chiropractor has more experience with pregnant women.
I really can't say enough about the care I've gotten from my acupuncturist and chiropractors. I honestly think it's made the difference between tolerating pregnancy and truly enjoying it.
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