growing.... pains

warning: pregnancy related post. if words like pelvis or pubic bone bother you, skip towards the second half of this post :O)
i wrote a little note about this topic on Facebook so i apologize if you are getting this info twice.


i may have mentioned here before that i have pretty easy, boring pregnancies & deliveries. i have been SO blessed to have no real complications or scares with my babies' health or development.

One of the challenges i *have run into is pain and pressure in my hip, groin, and inner thighs.
It's been something that i tried to write off as normal pregnancy discomfort but it always seemed like it might be something more complicated.

With Leland there were days where i would get out of bed to get ready for work and i just fell down because my hips/core muscles wouldn't work. this was not in my late late pregnancy so i'm sure my boss was like... um, okay... when i called in.
i had a severe waddle from 15 weeks on and just felt an insane amount of pressure in my pelvic region.
i did some physical therapy to help with the sciatic pain.
With Emory i didn't have as much sciatic pain but had the pelvic pressure increasingly and even more so pain, stabbing pain in my... well what felt like internally in no man's land- if you catch my drift. didn't do any physical therapy because we were still paying off the therapy bills from Leland.

this time it started about 10 weeks, more intense and because i was trying to figure out WHY and HOW i started to put together better ways of explaining the pain. Which made googling it easier and find an article about what was going on possible.
Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction is the culprit and here is the article if you are interested.

essentially, the whole pelvic girdle (the muscles that connect to the pubic bone) is not working well and the joints of the pelvis are not staying aligned. So the pain that feels internal really IS internal- its pubic bone pain. And all of the muscles that go through the groin and inner thigh attach there. The sciatic nerve also goes through the SI joints which is why there is sciatic pain at times as well.

what this means daily: ouch.
hahaha.
extreme pelvic pain, inner thigh discomfort, motor weakness, and hip pain.
lifting a foot to dress, stairs, moving in bed, not keeping my core/hips/pelvis completely aligned at any point, sleeping, driving, sitting in a hard chair, sitting up straight, etc causes pain.
carrying laundry, carrying Emory or Jane, sitting on the floor to play games, driving more than 5 minutes... all bad ideas.

I'm not telling you all this to complain, but more or less as a way to tell you about where our family is right now in our growth and relationships, plus to ask for prayer. Also, now if i just say "today was a rough SPD day" you know what i mean with out lots of explanation.

I am realizing that in order to keep/get our house/family functioning well i have to use the time/energy i have very effectively. which means more lists, more planning and more thought put into just getting daily things done. This is a good thing for me because i desperately need more "type A" skills in my life :O)
i know i will only have enough energy/pain tolerance to get a certain amount done so i have to be deliberate. This means more actually gets done than normal!! unless its a particularly bad day.

This has also been a catalyst for research into healthier eating/cooking habits. Other complications i've been having are digestive issues. As a result we are eating a 50% raw diet and i am doing lots of research into a more natural food selection/lifestyle. (if you need some encouragement to eat better ask me to tell you about how margarin is made. you will probably never touch it again)

Joel is going above & beyond as hubby/daddy. He is such an encouragement to me. He has been sleeping on the floor next to me (i'm sleeping on the couch) for about 4 weeks now, of his own free will and with out complaint. he lifts my legs together to help me get on the couch to lay down so that it doesn't hurt as badly. he knows the right things to say when i'm feeling discouraged about how much longer we have of this or how annoying i must be to him.
He has grown SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH as a selfless, considerate, sweet husband. He used to be... not aloof, but just kind of unaware. Kind of in his own little world. I am so thankful for the way he has stepped up and is loving me through this time.

We are also more appreciative of the health that we generally do have. Some of our friends from college are going through this in a much more extreme way, Lorrie has the severe version of SPD where her pelvic bones have all severely seperated. She can't hold her kids, can't walk with out a walker, has to stay in bed most all day and doesn't know what the treatment will be. After having her second daughter, instead of healing, she got worse. She is a wonderful and strong woman, gracious enough to help me with my questions and i pray for her daily because i know her burden is heavy.

So! am i enjoying this pregnancy? not so much.
recently i read the BabyCenter "how you feel this week" spiel and it said "You're probably feeling pretty comfortable these days. You're not too big yet, and the usual discomforts associated with early pregnancy are, for the most part, gone. If you're feeling good, relax and enjoy it while you can — the third trimester may bring with it a new crop of complaints.""
i wanted to punch somebody in the schnoz. hahahaha. it was just ironic :O)
but i am so thankful i'm not throwing up, i don't feel "sick", i can still (mostly) function, and it will all be worth it for this sweet little boy.
I *AM* enjoying the growth it means spiritually & personally for our family.
We are all thinking less of self and more of each other. We are helping each other the best we can. We have sweet sweet moments together and moments of pain that we try to laugh through as well.

Tonight we went to Pappy's BBQ in STL and just enjoyed each other, life and really great food.
(seriously, if you are in the area you MUST get some Pappy's)




so that's where the S family is this week. One of the reasons that laying around on Facebook all day is so hard not to justify:O)
but it's been so much better and healthier to limit my time and get some reading, studying and family time in, instead of escaping into the interwebs :O)


this week we have read or are reading:
It's Not About Me by Max Lucado (owned)
Grace Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel(borrowed)
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats by Sally Fallon(owned)
Heirs of Acadia series: The Noble Fugitive (book 3) The Night Angel (book 4) by T. Davis Bunn(borrowed)
Acts of Faith series: The Centurian's Wife (book 1) The Hidden Flame (book 2) by T. Davis Bunn & Janette Oke(borrowed)


( i admit that christian fiction is escape reading for me- easy to get through quickly and still encouraging and helpful in your daily walk. i have to make myself put it down to read nonfiction studies and the actual Bible.
see what more you can get done when you aren't stalking facebook?!
any of the books listed as owned you can borrow if interested, as soon as we finish.... the Nourishing Traditions one will take me a while, so much info to process. )

Hope you had a good week limiting your online time and being productive... lets see if we can keep it up :O)