This last week was very full. July 4th was Emily’s birthday, so we traveled back “home” to where she is buried to do our traditional decorating and sparklers.
It was a long weekend, but very nice. Sometimes I wish we didn’t have to travel so much to see family, but that’s just the way it is right now. When we lived closer, we had the ability to visit family and friends, now we seem to only get through all the family, leaving very little time to see any of our old friends from the area.
I will say this week made me appreciate fair weather. I don’t handle heat well when I’m pregnant, so as soon as it gets hot, I no longer want to be out and about. However, this week, we have some beautiful days! In fact, a couple of nights we left the windows opened and got the house nice and cold!
While I was sick, I neglected to cut the boys’ hair. I slowly worked my way through all of them, leaving wiggle worm Creed for the very end. As you can see, he had quite a mop on his head…
To some people, long-haired boys aren’t any big deal, but with Daddy being military and a former police officer, buzz cuts are a way of life. In fact, even though Ty has a civilian job, he still keeps his hair cut very short. Honestly, I like it that way. Reminds me of a shar pei puppy!
Even without morning sickness, I don’t do well cutting all 5 boys’ hair the same night. I have Sacrioilic Joint Dysfunction to varying degrees when I’m pregnant. I have learned what aggravates it and try to avoid those things. One thing that really bothers it is standing in one place and bending from side to side like you would when cutting hair or doing laundry. So, I give a couple of haircuts at a time and have someone else help with giving the showers afterward to avoid getting “stuck”.
A little bit about SI Joint issues…
I originally thought it was sciatica. It wasn’t until a few years ago, I realized it was actually my SI joint. There isn’t any real treatment for it, and as soon as I’m no longer pregnant, the pains goes away. It makes you feel like you are “stuck” and could not possibly move without breaking your hip. While that is not truly the case, the pain is seriously intense. Sometimes I need help to get unstuck and move my legs enough to get headed in the right direction. Even sitting down once I’m in that kind of pain is difficult. It’s like your hips simply do not work. But you learn to cope. I have not met anyone else who has had this issue in pregnancy, so please speak up if you’ve lived with this!
One final thing about this week – I am starting to see all the things I haven’t gotten done and all the bad behaviors that have crept in over the last few weeks. As I say in my ebook, Large Family Homeschooling, I have to give myself some grace. We have been working on weaning from the screen (the 5 year old is really having a rough time), and this coming week, I will start decluttering. It all takes time to get back to “normal.”
Kelsey says
I see so much of myself in your pregnancy updates! I’m *mostly* back to normal these days, with some sickness returning in the evenings. We’ve been working on weaning from the screen too, and my boys got those buzz cuts they desperately needed. 😉 In other news, we found out we have boy #3 on the way! Yay!
Amy says
Fabulous!
CabotMama says
Oh my!! So that is what it’s called – SI Joint Dysfunction!! Yes, I have it during pregnancy. All four pregnancies. People would tell me it was my sciatic nerve, but the details of sciatica did not match exactly and the stretches recommended for sciatica did not help my condition. It was the worst with my first because I didn’t realize the cause and effect, so I unwittingly did things that made it worse. One night, my hip was so flared up that I got stuck in the middle of the bedroom on my way to the bathroom. The pain was so intense I could not take another step and I was scared I’d not make it to the bathroom in time! Thankfully, I managed to take several deep breaths, say a few prayers, and then muster the courage to take the last couple of steps to the bathroom. Few memories of my pregnancy are as vivid as that incident!
My youngest is now three years old and my hips have begun to give me problems. Mostly just stiffness. Nothing like what I experienced during pregnancy.
Angelika says
I love pregnancy updates! Especially as I am nearing 14 weeks, it’s really nice to hear how others are having the same issues and joys as I am…on another continent!
Glad to hear I am not the only 1st trimester:” too much screen time” person. Poor toddler does not understand why we are starting to cut back on her recent addiction to Postman Pat! I am still working on not feeling guilty about having survived that way. It is good to know Amy from Raising Arrows does it too, haha! And that there is hope that this will not damage my kid’s brain forever! Aargh…mommy guilt…
I love when things start turning around from “surviving on the bed” to “dear me let’s get this place organized!”..not quite there yet myself, but I can feel it…just around the corner! 🙂
Thanks for sharing…
Amy says
You’ll get there! ((HUGS))
Rachel says
I don’t have this exact problem but have had terrible back pain and pelvic pain with each pregnancy. I have found the Gabrialla maternity belt, for around $30 on Amazon, to be a big help. I have to basically live in it when I’m standing/walking/cleaning. But it helps a lot! Just a thought. My ob recommended it.
Amy says
I might have the same one! It does help. I haven’t been wearing it yet because I’m waiting for the morning sickness to be 100% gone!
Suanna says
Interesting. I’ve had hip pain with all my pregnancies, and in two of them I would get “stuck” like that. Usually, if I got down and sat for a while on the floor I would have trouble getting back up. It was only a real issue for me one time when I weeded a flower bed and couldn’t get up afterward. I ended up crawling to the house where I could use it as leverage to get up. Inside there was usually something to help me get up. Since, I’ve regularly seen a chiropractor and I haven’t seemed to have as much getting stuck in subsequent pregnancies although I still seem to have a fair amount of hip pain, especially if I sit on the floor for a long time or stand a lot more than usual.
Rachel Bueckert says
Yes! I had that hip thing with my pregnancies too, and it didn’t really match with Sciatic nerve that they told me it was. The stretches didn’t help either. But if I sat on the floor too long, I couldn’t get up, or laying down too long, and it especially flared up if I was doing dishes in that stand up position, going back and forth from one leg to the other for balance. I hope yours feels better!
Amy says
The sciatic nerve stretches actually make it feel worse! OY!
Jamie ~ Alabama says
Hi Amy, I am not sure if you remember me but we met in Nashville earlier this year at the Teaching Them Diligently conference. I am right there with you on the pregnancy joints. Mine starts to get worse earlier with each pregnancy. We laugh with my last pregnancy that I knew the next morning I was pregnant because I had my “80 year old hip” almost immediately. I also get really sick with each pregnancy too so I feel your pain, friend. Take care!!
Amy says
Hi Jamie! And sorry you have hip issues too!
Jillian says
Same here. Only I thought it was called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction. I got it for the last 3-4 pregnancies and it really was debilitating. I once got stranded on my recliner and had to wait for my husband to come home to help me up. I think it has to do with producing too much relaxin. Getting in/out of the car is painful and getting out of bed can be excruciating. Even just lifting my leg to get in the tub would hurt. I’m sure you know, but it does help a little to keep your knees together if you turn over in bed. Sometimes my husband had to help me with this. Also, sitting on a soft or low chair was the kiss of death. During our family devotions, I could only sit on our dinning room chairs. I feel for you, Amy. That is definitely no fun. :/
Amy says
I think the two are hard to tell apart. I don’t have any trouble rolling over in bed, and sitting isn’t typically an issue either. It is that repetitive motion of bending at the hip that causes the most issue. For some reason, when I was doing my research a few years ago, I felt it wasn’t SPD, but I really can’t be for sure…and now I don’t remember why I thought that! lol
Jen Pierce says
I think that’s me too. When I was teaching while pregnant with my first, I’d sit for too long at the table, then have to drag my leg down the hall:( with subsequent pregnancies, I learned to take a walking stick out to the garden if my hip goes out of joint, to help limp back home. It is worst in the third trimester, but here I am 12 weeks with my 5th and already had some issues. My shoulder also gets “displaced”. It’s one of the first signs to me I am pregnant.
Karyn says
Weaning from the screen – love that. Our family is almost three weeks into the postpartum phase for baby number six and I realized I really need to rein the screen time back in. I’m ready for things to be back to the “new normal” but on the other hand, I’m trying to remind myself to relax and enjoy this “babymoon” without putting too much pressure on myself.
Amy says
Good plan!
Gaby says
Weaning from the screen – awesome name! Would love to see a post and get some advice and wisdom about this.
Amy says
Sure!
Rébecca says
Yes, I have SI joint dysfunction too. Started with my second pregnancy (I’m expecting my 6th child). Sometimes I climb up on a stool since I’m short and my kitchen cabinets are high, and then et stuck on the stool… I also have a lot of trouble rolling over in bed, I have to ask my husband to hold my hips and help me turn over. Getting up from bed is always a challenge : I ask my husband to halp me roll on my side and basically let myself slide off the bed until my feet touch the ground and then I get on all fours and stand up from there. It’s pretty silly sometimes !
Amy says
Glad our husbands are willing to help us out! 🙂
Joanie @ Simple Living Mama says
According to my OB I have SI joint pain. It started during my third pregnancy. The pain was always the worst when getting out of bed. It would bring me to tears. The pain nearly diminished after I gave birth, but is still there vaguely. I believe my hip is out of alignment because it’s the same side I carry my kids on. I’m pregnant again and the pain is already flaring. I’ve seen a chiropractor for it, and it relieves the pain temporarily. I plan to use a maternity belt when my belly gets a bit bigger to hopefully help a bit.
Amy says
A maternity belt does help!
Kelly says
Yes! I had the same joint issue with pregnancy #3, a little, and with #4 a lot! I didn’t know the exact name either, but I went to the chiropractor weekly with my last pregnancy. That seemed to help, but not totally alleviate the pain.
Weaning from the screen….. glad I’m not the only one who goes through this! 😉
Amy says
We are in Week 2 of weaning – MUCH better! lol
Ellie says
Thanks for the info about the SI joint pain! This is my first pregnancy, and I started suffering from SI pain at about 20 weeks. It is terrible. The worst things for me are getting up off the floor–hard to avoid with a 2 and 4 year old at home!–and rolling over in or getting out of bed. Ouch! Some nights it takes a very, very long time for my hips to start moving again if I have to wake up to use the bathroom.
Anyway, I’ve never known anybody else who’s had this, and I have been worried it will stick around after deliver (I’m due in two weeks, so any day now!). I’m glad to hear that in your case it clears up after delivery. I’m hoping mine does, too!
Ellie says
Meant to say, this is my *fourth* pregnancy, but my first time having this pain. I have to say, of all of the pregnancy discomforts I’ve had, SI pain is the worst.
Amy says
For me, as soon as the pregnancy hormones subside, the pain disappears completely. 🙂
7 yearsLacey says
Amy, I always thought I was the only one with severe SIJ dysfunction during pregnancy. And here you are too! I have had 5 children. I am a physical therapist and you would think I would know what to do for this problem, or at least someone else I know would know. But I am a stay at home mom so I have been kind of out of the physical therapy loop for the last 7 years or so. But I have asked all my friends to help me and done countless exercises, to no avail. My hip has often hurt so bad I could hardly walk. There were times I felt it was going to totally dislocate and pop out just with doing my daily activities, like you said, laundry, cooking, etc. That’s not even considering trying to exericse or walk at all, that would send me through the roof. During my 4th pregnancy I tried going to a chiropractor which helped some but by the end of the same day I had visited, I was always really really hurting. Are you by any chance a Samaritan Ministries member? I am, and it has been such a huge blessing. They will publish up to 25 chiropractic visits related to pregnancy. My fifth pregnancy was a planned homebirth and I asked on a FB group for local homebirthers what others do for SIJ pain since that group is always full of great suggestions. Another mom suggested a chiropractor that was different than the one I had been seeing. I was skeptical, since during my last pregnancy it didn’t really provide any lasting relief. But I decided to try it since Samaritan would publish the visits as part of the pregnancy and this chiro came highly recommended as having a special interest in pregnancy related issues. I started out going 3x/week, then tapered down to 2x/week, then 2x/month, and by the end of the pregnancy I was going 1x/month AND jogging 1 mile while pushing my double stroller! All that is so say, if you haven’t tried chiropractic, consider it. If you have but haven’t had good results, maybe try a different one who uses a different method 🙂 I was to the point of not wanting any more babies after #4 because or the severe pain. Now, I feel that I could endure many more pregnancies if the Lord gives them, thanks to my chiro 🙂
Amy says
Wow! I’m glad you had such success! Unfortunately, I went to a VERY good chiropractor who specializes in women and she couldn’t do anything for me after months of trying. 🙁 I’m in an area now where finding a chiropractor would be like finding a needle in a haystack (literally), but thankfully, so far, the pain has been minimal.
Asiya says
Hi Amy,
You aren’t alone, I have had SI pain in all my pregnancies and its actually the worst pregnancy symptom for me, such intense pain! With my last child I was on crutches for the last three months due to this problem!
Hang in there!
Windi says
I had SI joint dysfunction when i was pg with baby #2. it was horrible. I ended up seeing a chiropractor for the first time in my whole life and it saved me from a very painful pg in one day. don’t know if it’ll work for others but it helped me