Baby Girl is on Lock Down

Wednesday was my 24 week check up.  My weight and blood pressure looked good.  Baby girl's heart beat was a nice strong 167 beats per minute.

However, when my midwife, Diane, started feeling my belly for the baby's position and noticing my stretch marks she started asking questions about my back.  Ah yes, my back.

If you've been reading my pregnancy posts for any amount of time you know how badly my lower back has been all-but-killing me.  To the point where by bed time I was nearly in tears and lifting my legs to get in the shower or to put on pants was a joke.  I explained to her the pinching, the aching, and the stiffness.

She said that it's obvious that I am carrying very low, which several people have told me. And that the baby is not really sitting down in my pelvis but out in front of it.  This is causing my back, not my pelvis, to do the heavy lifting of holding Ninjalina in place.  It's also causing my skin to stretch more than necessary because it's acting like a sagging water balloon with no support. Stretchy. Stretchy.

After she manipulated my belly and Baby Girl for a minute or two, she got the baby sitting in a little better of a position (relief already!) and sent me to the store for a Mom-Ez pregnancy band.

Fortunately, she could write me a prescription and have it covered by insurance.  I was about to pay any price for it, but now that it's "free" - even better!

I've been wearing it for about a day and a half and already feel so much better.  It comes with it's own challenges - like trying to take it off and on to use the restroom - and it's a tad uncomfortable sitting with bad posture (which I'm sure the forced good posture is an added help), but over all it has already removed about 90% of the pinching and stiffness.

The best way I can describe the way it feels is like having braces for my hips and back.  It's helping to rotate my lower back to tuck back into my butt instead of my butt sticking out to counter balance the added weight in the front.  It's a bit of a little tiring feeling with all the moving of my spine and muscles, but I know it's for the good in the long run.

Part of me is SO relieved to eliminate the pain and part of me is frustrated that my body isn't naturally carrying the baby in the position she should be.  I keep thinking, "if only my lower back was stronger" or "my core was in better shape before I got pregnant" this wouldn't have happened.  But then the other part of me says two things to counter argue (so it wins):  1) I've always suffered from flat feet and weird hip and back issues related to poor alignment so this is nothing new,  just exacerbated 2) At least there is pain relief without medication and the midwife knew of this "cure"

So as you see, it looks like Baby Girl is on lock down.  She's no longer free to just "hang out" anywhere she pleases, she's gotta snuggle down in my pelvis. Get cozy, Ninjalina.  We have 108 more days together!