One-legged Wonder

I had my latest midwife appointment Thursday evening, and Sky confirmed what I suspected (and had diagnosed myself with, thanks to my medical degree from Google University): I have Symphysis Pubis Diastasis. Which sounds kind of super scary, but is really just a minor inconvenience.

Essentially, my hormones, in their infinite wisdom, are preparing my body to have this baby by causing all my joints etc. to loosen. Good times. However, my pelvis is loosening so much, that I am feeling a bit of discomfort from it.

Did you know your pelvic bone is actually three bones? One across the back, and then two on either side at the front, which meet at your pubic bone. This meeting in the middle is where I am having pain. (Although, I hesitate to call it "pain", because mostly it is more annoying than painful. It's certainly bearable for everyday movement, it's like a constant dull ache, and only when I walk. Which is definitely bearable, but I'm not doing my 4K walks anymore, that's for sure.)

So, score one for my pelvis getting larger for the purpose of what I can only assume will be the easiest birth ever (!) but score negative one for me, because it's not entirely comfy to walk anymore. Or to stand on one leg, which causes more pulling on this joint. (Steve's question: Why are you standing on one leg? How do you even know that?? Answer: When I put on my pants. Or my socks. Or my boots. Try it. I bet you'll find that you too stand on one leg many times in a day!)

Solution: I am now sitting on the bed to put on my pants/socks, and sitting in a chair to put on my boots. Sky has also recommended that I see a chiropractor, who can make sure my stretchy pelvis isn't throwing anything else out of whack, and will probably also recommend some stretches or exercises to try and ease things.

So, on a scale of 1-10 of "yucky things I would choose to happen to myself when pregnant", with 1 being nothing whatsoever, and 10 being constant debilitating nausea and vomiting like my poor friend Kathleen, this one scores a 4 - a bit annoying, but manageable. I'll take it!

Something else that helps alleviate the discomfort of SPD is swimming. The weightlessness of water helps relieve some of the tension. Of course, you have to limit yourself to regular little flutter kicks - no breast-stroke style frog-kicking, or big, splashing kicks, because these movements increase the pressure on your pelvis. So, I have decided to swim a few days a week, to see if it helps. (Also, in the past 4 weeks, since I haven't been able to do my regular walks, I put on 11 pounds, and am now measuring two weeks ahead in fundal height. So swimming will also help keep my weight gain manageable!)

Can you see where this is going?

Of course. I had to buy maternity swimwear. Now, I was not about to spend big bucks on this, because a) it's maternity swimwear, for crying out loud, we're going for function, not fashion, and b) who knows how much swimming I'll actually be doing until I try it - don't want to make a huge investment here. So I nipped out to Wal-Mart at lunch to see what they had. Did you know that Wal-Mart carries maternity swimwear? Neither did I, but I was hoping. :) I got a lovely maternity tankini. It's black. The bottom has a very unflattering cut, and although Steve says I look "cute" in it, I have a feeling that has more to do with my unusually high level of general cuteness than it does with the suit. But you know what? It will work, and it cost less than $30. So, I'm very happy. (Not to mention the fact that I could mix and match tops and bottoms, which is good, considering I needed the XXL top and only L for the bottom.) And, as long as I remember to sit down when I change in and out of it, I hope that I'll be feeling much better soon. Cheers!