Pregnancy Ailments....

This week I'm mostly suffering from the following pregnancy related ailments:

SPD (Symphasis Pubis Dysfunction) - definition from BabyCentre:
The two halves of your pelvis are connected at the front by a stiff joint called the symphasis pubis. This joint is strengthened by a dense network of tough, flexible tissues, called ligaments. To help your baby pass through your pelvis as easily as possible, your body produces a hormone called relaxin, which softens the ligaments.

As a result, these joints move more during and just after pregnancy causing inflammation and pain, known as symphysis pubis dysfunction or SPD.

I had this with my last pregnancy too but it's started much earlier this time. At the moment, it's not too bad in the daytime but by the time I get to the end of the day everything feels really heavy where my pubic bone sits. And getting up in the night, I'm like an old granny. Towards the end last time, I couldn't actually go to the loo without the OH heaving me off the bed and helping me along the hallway - I walked like John Wayne! 

Advice is to avoid having your legs apart too wide at any time, getting in and out of cars/ out of bed/ climbing stairs are all instances where you need to be aware of your body. I also had a belt last time that I wore but I found it to be of no help as I got bigger. It's also important to avoid heavy lifting, so no carrying heavy shopping - but this one is difficult when you have a 20 month old who no matter how much she likes walking will want the occasional carry and that's 2 stone I'm lifting!

It's also important to mention the condition in your birth plan, to avoid positions that aggravate it, but this isn't always possible.

All I can hope is that it disappears straight after having the baby like it did last time...

Acid Indigestion:
This is a daily occurrence now and happens regardless of what I eat - a burning sensation from low down in my throat, it's horrible and it's making mealtimes unpleasant. At the moment I'm trying to cope with it by drinking milk, but I think I'll be downing the Gaviscon very soon!

Leg Cramps:
Another nice pregnancy by product! And another one that I have to rope the other half into helping me with. Last night, I was fast asleep, dead as a dodo. Then suddenly, AAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH, my left leg is cramped, it's rigid and massively painful. I'm trying not to scream out because if I woke Isla that would make the situation 10 times worse, so I'm whacking the OH to wake up and help me. In his sleep, he's reaching over and patting me - not what I need, so through gritted teeth I'm saying, "MY LEG IS CRAMPED! HELP ME!!". I can't even move to get the duvet off me. Eventually he wakes up and massages my calf muscle and it eases off.

Again I can only refer to BabyCentre to explain this one, but in short the growing uterus is putting pressure on the main veins in the legs and that combined with increased progesterone in the body means muscle tone is affected. The baby is also stripping a mothers body of essential nutrients, calcium and magnesium and salts and this shortage can cause the cramps.

All I can say is if you have your partner on hand to help you deal with it all the better, because it's pretty hard to shake on your own.

So there you have it - the joys of pregnancy!