I am trying to see the bright side in all this, in the pain and discomfort I am in right now, the misery of my unending morning sickness, and the worse pain I know I am in for.
To put it into perspective, the baseball season just started a couple of weeks ago, and we are still at the point where people are saying “it’s a long season” and “it’s early” when a team gets off to a good or bad start. The baseball season will be nearly over by the time this baby comes. It lasts about six more months. All 162 games will have been played, and the playoffs will be underway. I don’t know what it will be like for me then, if I will be able to walk at all, or if there will somehow be a treatment for my pinched nerve that allows me some relief. God I hope so.
But then I think: it’s only six months, and my bulging disc saga went on for two years. There was no end in sight with that. With this, I can see the ending. And in the end there will be our child. I will forget this pain and the pain of labor when I see my baby at last. When he or she arrives, a wait of four long years will conclude. I will recover from birth and then I will proceed to lose the weight that is crushing my femoral nerve. I have already gained fifteen pounds and am the heaviest I have ever been in my life. I wonder if I had gotten this heavy without pregnancy, if this same symptom would have occurred? Probably not since I gain in my legs and butt, not in my waist.
I am trying to find comfortable ways to sleep. Can’t sleep on my back, the violent tingling starts within minutes. My uterus is at the front of everything, including this nerve, so laying on my back just makes the womb sit right on top of it. The worst pain is in my right hip, so no laying on my right side. I could lay on my stomach, but that won’t be comfortable for much longer. So I am left with my left side. It’s hard to lay still all night, it’s not what I do.
Anyway, I have been referred to a neurologist. That’s the best I can do. Maybe he will prescribe cortisteroid shots. Hey if it works and the baby is okay with it, fine. I need to raise my pain threshold anyway.
Have you tried a body pillow to help sleep? It helped a bit for me.
Yeah I will try more pillows for support.
I’m reading a couple forum posts from people with the same thing as me and they all say that Meralgia Paresthetica cannot be treated with stretching or other exercise and in fact the best thing to do is avoid being on your feet for long periods, which I would think causes even more weight gain. They all say that it stops after you deliver though, thank dog.
I am still going to do yoga though. I am still focused on somehow being strong and flexible for labor.
Would acupuncture be contra-indicated? It seems like an apt condition for the needle-stick analgesic.
That would be awesome. I love acupuncture. I’ll ask the nerve doctor about that too.