Thank You and Back Pain
I want to say thank you for the warm welcome back. It's nice to see that all of you still wonder what I'm up to now and then.
But it's my lower back that I really want to talk about. First, some background:
I have scoliosis (where your spine is curvy side-to-side) and I had to wear a horrible embarrassing body brace for it from ages 11-14. It was under my clothes thank goodness, but still detectable. I still wake up from nightmares where I can feel it on me.
It was a nasty experience and in my opinion, didn't work. I knew a girl who had rods put in her back surgically, and that worked. Yeah, I'm sure she's no good at yoga, but her back is straight. The estimate is that if I were straight instead of crooked, I would be about 5'10 instead of 5'7. I should really just count my blessings that it was mild, though; I also know a girl who had a severe case. Surgery can only do so much, and she is quite disfigured. I don't like to say that but she's, like, a genius history professor and I'm sure she's aware. Duh.
My curvy spine really gets curvy in the mid and lower back. It's kind of like I've been squashed from the top. Like a giant gorilla put his hand on my head and squashed me a little.
SO, my lower back gets a little ouchy now and then (because it cannot distribute pressure properly) but I'm getting the feeling that this pregnancy is really going to be a pain in the back. I weigh 140 lbs (up from 130, my starting weight) and the weight is all gathering on my torso. Legs, arms, and face still look the same. On any pregnant woman (or person who suddenly gains 10 lbs in the torso, I guess) that weight is going to pull forward or down on the spine. My spine, already not good at being a spine, is REALLY rebelling against this. I know all pregnant ladies have back pain, but the fact that mine has come on so soon...
So, all day I am ouchy. It's tolerable though. Now. But I wonder...as time goes on... My uterus is also tilted really far back (just like my mom's) and the doctors say it doesn't matter, but my mom had no belly labor. Only back labor in the small of her back. So I wonder, is that what I am in for? Is this whole pregnancy going to feel like a kick in the back? And then, is labor going to feel like a knife attack to the back?
Really, though, as long as I continue to have absolutely no nausea and no other irritating symptoms, I'm grateful to have only back pain.
But it's my lower back that I really want to talk about. First, some background:
I have scoliosis (where your spine is curvy side-to-side) and I had to wear a horrible embarrassing body brace for it from ages 11-14. It was under my clothes thank goodness, but still detectable. I still wake up from nightmares where I can feel it on me.
It was a nasty experience and in my opinion, didn't work. I knew a girl who had rods put in her back surgically, and that worked. Yeah, I'm sure she's no good at yoga, but her back is straight. The estimate is that if I were straight instead of crooked, I would be about 5'10 instead of 5'7. I should really just count my blessings that it was mild, though; I also know a girl who had a severe case. Surgery can only do so much, and she is quite disfigured. I don't like to say that but she's, like, a genius history professor and I'm sure she's aware. Duh.
My curvy spine really gets curvy in the mid and lower back. It's kind of like I've been squashed from the top. Like a giant gorilla put his hand on my head and squashed me a little.
SO, my lower back gets a little ouchy now and then (because it cannot distribute pressure properly) but I'm getting the feeling that this pregnancy is really going to be a pain in the back. I weigh 140 lbs (up from 130, my starting weight) and the weight is all gathering on my torso. Legs, arms, and face still look the same. On any pregnant woman (or person who suddenly gains 10 lbs in the torso, I guess) that weight is going to pull forward or down on the spine. My spine, already not good at being a spine, is REALLY rebelling against this. I know all pregnant ladies have back pain, but the fact that mine has come on so soon...
So, all day I am ouchy. It's tolerable though. Now. But I wonder...as time goes on... My uterus is also tilted really far back (just like my mom's) and the doctors say it doesn't matter, but my mom had no belly labor. Only back labor in the small of her back. So I wonder, is that what I am in for? Is this whole pregnancy going to feel like a kick in the back? And then, is labor going to feel like a knife attack to the back?
Really, though, as long as I continue to have absolutely no nausea and no other irritating symptoms, I'm grateful to have only back pain.
3 Comments:
At 6:11 PM ,
Ninjanun said...
Youch. I have very slight scoliosis, but it's probably milder than yours. It does cause my right hip to stick out further than my left hip, though. Can't sleep on my right side very well because of it.
Just out of curiosity (you totally don't have to answer this), are you planning on giving birth naturally, or taking something for the pain?
At 5:00 PM ,
Anonymous said...
Have you checked around to see what other pregnant scoliosis sufferers have done to alleviate discomfort? Maybe you ought to camp out on your couch and watch 90210 reruns for the next 7 months.
At 10:28 AM ,
Lucia said...
Sorry to hear about your back pain. It's odd that you mention your scoliosis as I noticed for the first time recently that I have one shoulder higher than the other. When I googled it (how embarrassing to admit), I got lots of hits on scoliosis.
It's nice to have your blog back in the public world!
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