Pregnancy Forums

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 3:57pm | IP Logged

Oh honey I feel for you so much.

I had SPD in my pregnancy from 20 weeks and had the crutches/wheelchair/hospital admission thing! I have done an article on SPD (see members articles).

All I can say is you need to take it really easy. Dont push yourself too hard, do only what is needed! Make sure you see a physio really soon as its important to get started straight away! Also see if you can find a chiropractor near by who has experience of treating SPD and pg women as I have had tons of improvement since seeing mine!

DO you have any friends or family living near by who can help with the school runs etc?

If you do find its getting worse and you are strugging, contact your local occupational health team as they can assess your home and needs and lend products to help with day to day tasks.

Make sure your midwife and consultant understand the condition so you are not put under any extra strain during labour.

See www.pelvicpartnership.org.uk they have been a source of constant help to me!

If you do need a wheelchair contact your local red cross as they will lend them for just a donation!

I will add more as I think of it. PM me if I can be of any help, or just to talk, I know how hard it is going through it when noone understands. I'm here whenever you need me!

Hugs honey!

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 4:05pm | IP Logged

http://www.madmums.com/gh_showarticle.asp?hid=147

http://www.madmums.com/GH_ShowArticle.asp?HID=216

Above are the two articles I have written for madmums regarding SPD

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 4:09pm | IP Logged

i have never experienced this but i have read the article and i really do feel for u.

take it easy and dont over do things.

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 4:51pm | IP Logged

Hey hun,

I really sympathise with you, i too had spd with both of my pregnancies, and in my 2nd pregnancy it happened a lot sooner than my first. I won't lie to you, it hurt more in my opinion but i found that with having one baby already i was more strong willed to carry on doing things as much as i could. Take any help that is offered to you, put your feet up when you can and take your time.

If the washing doesnt get done for a day, its not going to end the world. See about some painkillers for the days you just can't be without them.

Also make sure that your mw's are all very aware of your SPD, and during the birth make sure they know your limits before they compromise you with drugs lol.

Its not easy 2nd time round, especially when you are huge and it takes you 30mins to get out of bed but please come to us if you need help coz we are all here to help you and support you.

As regards to the pushchair...I found that pushing Meg's buggy about i didn't need crutches as when it got too much i leant on that or stopped and supported myself on it.

I hope you are able to find some comfort during this pregnancy xxxx

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 4:54pm | IP Logged

I had SPD too with my 2nd baby - it's no fun so I feel very sorry for you starting with it.  However, the physios did help me so it's worth pursuing.  I got lots of advice from www.spd-uk.org - their information booklet is good especially about how midwives & doctors should look after you during routine examinations & labour.  Oddly, just as I thought I wouldn't be able to do anything if the SPD got any worse, it eased off a bit (at about 35 weeks).  I mostly had to spend the summer of my pregnancy walking with tiny steps especially if I went up & down hills - hills were more painful & slow than on the flat.  I found if I sat too long in one place, I really stiffened up & found it hard to get up again, it's worth making sure you can get up out of any seat you get into before sitting there too long! 

Keep going & don't let anybody tell you it's a normal part of pregnancy, some health professionals have very little insight into this condition & next to no sympathy!  Some, of course, are fantastic so I hope you manage to find sympathetic physios & midwives.

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 5:13pm | IP Logged

I have accumulated a lot of info - if you PM me your address I'll get it photocopied and sent to you! It might be of some help!

Like Sam, I also found pushing a buggy helped rather than hindered!

What age are your children?

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 5:22pm | IP Logged

Hi Georgina,

I'm really to hear that you've got it back again, especially so early... Did you have it with both your previous pregnancies?

With regard to help on the school run etc, I've got one thing to say - Health Visitor!!!! You should still be in touch with yours given the ages of your lo's and they should be able to help with the 'Home to School Scheme' where they (or your council) will provide a taxi/minibus/whatever to take Jennifer to/from school.  Your HV should also be able to get in touch with the Home Help service and they might be able to help with some housework, shopping etc.. There are people out there to help, it's just knowing that and knowing to get the help that's the tricky bit... I had to find out the hard way, and usually I had to arrange everything myself as my HV is worth than useless... I think I've told him more about everything!!! and I'm not kidding!!

Have you applied, or do you get disability benefits? If you already get them, then under the Disability Discrimination Act, your council should provide this service free of charge with virtually no questions asked... If not, apply as soon as you can.. If, like me you end up on full rate care & mobility, you will end up kicking in all sorts of other benefits (not to mention the extra £100 per week which certainly helps) like: free road tax, parking, subsidised entry to various places etc etc.

The most important thing for you just now is to get all the help that you need in place as soon as you can as the longer you can stay out of the hospital the better it is for everyone concerned... even you!! Believe me I know coz I developed this first time around and spent the last three weeks in hosp which I thought was as bad as it could get... Nope!! second time around it started at 8 weeks and I spent the last three months in hospital.. I've got to say that it goes down as the most isolated and lonliest time of my life...  You will be very lucky to find a MW who has full knowledge of the condition and it's limitations so you will probably get the constant "you really should try to weight bare as much as possible"... I actually found that I was educating the midwives on the condition, not the other way about...

Hopefully, you will not suffer too much and everything will go back to normal once the baby is born (as it does with most sufferers of SPD).  If it doesn;t settle down after the birth, you might have the more sever form (DSP) which I have... That being the case, you would need other investigations once baby has arrived... Please don't worry about that though, the chances are that it'll be the SPD you have and with the proper management and awareness you will recover..

I know how frustrating, lonely, painful, depressing and debilitating this can be (christ, I've now got 7 years of experience of it..) so if you need to chat at any point, please get in touch...

Posted: 08 January 2007 at 5:42pm | IP Logged

I had SPD with my second pregnancy, I developed it at around 22 weeks and then it continued till about 11 weeks after birth.

It is difficult and frustrating to deal with especially when you have other lo's, becuase you cannot fully relax like you are supposed to and you do find yourself struggling to look after them so like people have said, if you have friends and family near by try and get as much help as possible off them.

Speak to you HV and see what help they will be able to provide

bit of advise i found helped loads, when you get out of bed, roll out with both legs together and when climbing the stairs, go one step at a time.