Pregnancy Fashion: A Lovely New Belt

I was starting to think I would have a fairly easy pregnancy. But now it seems that my past has come back to say hello. A gazillion years ago I was in a car accident that, while neither of us were going very fast, totaled my car and put me in physical therapy for a year. The upshot was that my pelvis had gotten titled forward and sideways. I had to wear a lovely hip belt thing (great for a young twenty-something's ego) for the full year and get weekly chiropractic treatments. It sucked.

Today I'll be going to get another hip belt thing. All those hormones that loosen the joints and make it easier for baby to come out, are working a little too well. And in combo with my possibly-still-effed-up hips, are making my pubic bone separate a little too much too fast. It hurts like a bitch!

I won't get into all the gory details of the pain, but suffice it to say that it's getting increasingly difficult to do almost any kind of movement. Drop something on the floor? It's staying there. Pants? Who needs 'em? Getting up from a chair? Not if I can help it. I've been pretty active in pregnancy and this immobility is a major blow.

So, first, the lovely belt. If that doesn't solve it, I'll be making some chiropractic appointments. *sigh* I don't even want to get into all the delivery and long-term implications of this problem. Send me some good healing energy. I'll be needing it.

Oh - the problem I'm having is called SPD. The pelvic bone is a circle of bone that doesn't quite meet in the front. In the gap are a bunch of ligaments that usually hold the pelvis fairly immobile. In pregnancy, the surge of the hormone Relaxin softens all your joints and ligaments to make way for the baby. But if the hips are misaligned or there is too much of the hormone, or the woman is particularly sensitive to the hormone, the ligaments can relax too much and the pelvic floor becomes unstable, possibly even causing the pubic ligament to tear or separate. More fun than you can shake a stick at.