SO. It is 6:55 am and I have been up all night sporadically, and up for good at 5:00. I guess the walking from yesterday REALLY bothered my SPD and it was very difficult to sleep. I had horrible grinding pain in my pelvis every time I moved my body at all in the night. I can't remember if I explained what SPD is, so I will do that quickly.
S.P.D - SYMPHYSIS PUBIS DYSFUNCTION
Three large bones constitute an adult’s pelvic girdle, a roughly heart shaped arrangement of bones attached to one another by sturdy ligaments. The three bones are the sacrum, or base of the spine, at either side of this, and connected via the sacro-iliac joints, are two large isometric bones known as the ossa coxae or hip bones. These bones are then connected at the front by a ligament called the symphysis pubis.
Under normal circumstances the ligaments involved in the girdle are not very flexible, but when a woman is pregnant she will produce a hormone known as relaxin which softens them to allow some pelvic movement for the birth. Although there is no universal agreement on the cause of pelvic pain in pregnancy, there are some that believe this hormone to be at the root of it. Difficulties can occur when the ligaments become too loose too soon, and pelvic problems can arise at a time when a woman needs the support of her pelvis more than ever due to her extra load.
Pain in the groin and pubic area, whatever the cause, is usually related to the pelvis not functioning like it should, and is referred to as Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD). The problem is not necessarily with the symphysis pubis itself, it can often be either or both of the sacro-iliac joints putting undue strain upon it.
SPD - SYMPTOMS
Pain and tenderness in the area of the symphysis pubis joint can often be accompanied by pain in the hips, lower abdomen and groin. Sometimes the pain can also manifest itself in the inner thighs and in one or both buttocks. Walking and other activities exacerbate the pain. Standing on one leg can be virtually impossible, so activities that rely on this to some degree will increase the pain. Climbing stairs, getting dressed and getting in and out of cars or the bath all involve the use of one leg at a time. Women can also experience pain while trying to move in bed, lifting things, sitting down and getting up. They may also have pain if they try to spread their legs past a certain point. Sometimes there can be a clicking during hip movement felt or even heard. A tendency to shuffle along or waddle may develop as women try to distribute their weight evenly.
source: http://www.baby-pregnancy-ultrasound-3d-4d.co.uk/
(best explanation out of all of them)
More or less, I noticed I had a problem at about 20 weeks. As time goes by and the baby gets bigger and puts more pressure on my pelvis, it gets worse. I have had such a need to walk and stay active, but it seems that the more active I am, the more I pay for it with my pelvis! Some women end up on crutches towards the end of their pregnancy and it even prevents some women from being able to labor naturally because of the permanent damage it can cause to the already dysfunctional symphysis pubis. Hopefully I won't be one of those women. Needless to say, last night was horrible. Finally at about 5:00 am, I had a warm stream of fluid coming out of my nose and I just knew it was blood for some reason. I touched my hand to my face and could see that it was in fact, blood. I reached for a pair of PJ pants at the foot of the bed and held it to my face. I was immediately met with excrutiating pain in my pelvis that made my hair stand on end. I couldn't even move to get out of the bed to get a towel for my nose! After abou ten minutes of struggling, grunting and almost crying; I got out of the bed and "clicked" and waddled my way to the bathroom to get tissue. At this point, I had bled pretty heavily all over the PJ pants and was starting to get panicky because of the large clots that were coming out of my nose and the enormous amount of blood (it seemed to be). Well, it bled pretty heavily for about 20 or 30 minutes, and after applying pressure for that long, it finally stopped. I guess purchasing a humidifier should be in my more immediate future. Even in my MORE immediate future, a NAP to make up for last night. UGGH. Pregnancy has not been very beautiful and magical for me so far... thank goodness the reward will outweigh the journey.
They are so sweet! There are SO many adorable baby things on there, and for GREAT prices. It actually makes me want to craft more in my spare time. My next project is actually going to be a custom hospital gown for my hospital stay. I wanted to buy one, but they are all SO expensive, so I am going to buy some cute fabric and make two hospital gowns from a pattern I got online. I am super excited about this and I will post pictures as soon as I finish it. Who knows, maybe it will be a hit and I can make it my little side business. This should be a fun but busy next few days for me, so I will blog in length again Sunday to catch you up, with photos. I should have some more news from our day to day lives by then. Adios!
