Uh-oh, back pain at 24 weeks

Development of Baby at 24 Weeks

Wednesday night, I had my first case of intense lower back pain, and it was far from enjoyable. For a few hours before bed on Wednesday, Robbie and I played Minecraft together and eventually I had to stop because my back was getting achy. I probably wasn't sitting correctly in my chair, so I tried using pillows to support myself better, but I guess the damage was already done.

That night, my lower back was killing me. I tossed and turned for hours, but no matter what position I slept in, or how many (or how few) pillows I used to adjust myself, the pain was too strong for me to ignore and fall asleep. Usually if I have a migraine, I can still usually manage to fall asleep eventually despite the pain. So it was frustrating that I couldn't just doze off. I think Mattimeo was really down low and pressing on my spinal column. I could feel him kicking really low, and there was so much pressure on my back. Then he started kicking my bladder and I could actually feel liquid jiggling inside me. So I had to keep getting up to use the bathroom. I also kept getting up, starting around midnight, to try various yoga poses that would alleviate back pain and potentially encourage the baby to move. The pain would go away for a bit, but would just come back and I would be back on my mat an hour later trying new things. I also tried some belly dancing; I would gently move my hips in big circles which was both calming and a temporary pain killer. But I was so tired, I couldn't just keep doing yoga and belly dancing all night, I wanted to sleep! At 4 am, I decided to try taking a warm shower to see if that helped. That felt wonderful, though I felt strange taking a shower at that time. But as soon as I got out of the shower and back into bed, the pain was back. Robbie also got up at some point to give me a little massage. It felt good when he pushed down on the back of my hips.

By about 7:30, Robbie woke up to get ready for work (poor guy had a pretty sleepless night due to me tossing and turning) and he convinced me to take some Tylenol so that I could sleep for a couple of hours. That ended up working and I fell asleep until 9:30 when the Tylenol started to wear off. I got up at that point and made some breakfast. It felt wonderful to stand up and cook, it took a lot of pressure off my back. Then when I sat down to eat breakfast, I found rocking gently back and forth was very soothing. That afternoon I had to walk a few dogs, and getting some exercise finally made the pain disappear completely. After that, I was fine for the rest of the day and enjoyed going to my yoga class, then playing board games with friends, and finally having a beautiful deep sleep last night.

I'm not sure if the back pain came from the position of the baby, from my poor computer posture, or a combination of both, but I hope it doesn't become a regular occurrence. I am definitely more motivated to be more careful at my computer, and make sure to fit in more yoga throughout the day now. The cats seemed to really enjoy my sleepless night. They followed me around the house purring, laying next to me while I did yoga, then laying on me or Robbie when I tried to go to sleep (Pi would paw Robbie and wake him up sometimes; he didn't want him to miss out on the fun). Theta even tried to take a shower with me and kept opening the shower door and sticking his head in to lick the water. I was happy to have their company, they made me laugh and I was glad that they were at least happy I was awake all night to pet them. I don't know what my life would be like without my boys!