Riding, pregnancy, and pelvic pain

[FlashGordon]

I’m almost 35 weeks pregnant and have had excrutiating pelvic pain the last two weeks. At first it was just soreness in my “riding muscles” as if I’d ridden for a few hours or multiple horses in one day. It is now to the point where I can barely lift my legs, walk or get in and out of bed or a chair.

I commented to my husband tonight that I would have thought riding for 20 years and working those muscles/ligaments would have made them a little more supple. He had a good point though, maybe my muscles and such have been trained one way from all the riding, and now nature is trying to re-organize them for childbirth.

Just wondered if any other women who have been longterm avid riders experienced the same problem. Would also love to hear from anyone who may be well-versed in biomechanics may have some insight.

Headed to the doc tomorrow so will them too. It literally feels like my pelvis is broken in two! Major sympathy to anyone who has had pelvic/hip replacements, fractures, etc… this is nasty!

[MassageLady]

could be that your hips are widening due to the pregnancy and that change is causing this pain.:yes:

[whicker]

Isn’t pregnacy fun?

Yup, You are coming apart, for the grand event. I had twins. My experience included feeling the pelvic floor drop. BOOM! Couldn’'t get my legs in the right spot to waddle. I had to have help getting in or out of any position. Had to go through doors sideways, as I got too wide for normal. Plus the doors of our house were really narrow- Probably were closet doors.

Ligaments don’t respond with all the hormones. You think a movement and it doesn’t happen. You might want to consider giving your doctor’s office a call to ask what you can do to relieve the pain. Might be raising the foot of your bed 6", or warm or cool compresses in the aching area. Pillows between your legs are another trick.

[PNWjumper]

Sounds pretty normal…or at least within the normal(ish) range!

I quit riding with my second in my 38th week (after riding multiple horses every day of my pregnancy up to that point) because my daughter settled down low and my hips opened right up to accomodate her. It was excruciating to ride (and not that great to walk either). I tried to ride through it for one day and then decided that it was going to make me give birth on the horse :lol: I thought it was because she was ready to pop out, but my doctor said it was just my ligaments loosening in preparation. It hadn’t happened with my first, so I was surprised to be so uncomfortable for the last couple of weeks with my second.

[Candle]

My friend’s daughter dropped while she was cantering my horse. I believe the term she used was “It feels like there is a bowling ball between my hips and it’s stabbing my hips from the insides”. :dead: I think that was around week 37. She’d been riding up until that point also, and then suddenly it just killed her to ride, walk, pretty much anything.

[FlashGordon]

Thanks guys…

My sister and friends who have had kids don’t seem to have experienced this level of pelvic discomfort, so I wondered if maybe the incidence was higher among horse women for some reason.

It feels like I’ve ridden for 5 days straight without stopping, if only that were actually the case! I’ve not sat on a horse in months, sadly! (Kudos to you guys who rode so far in, I’m jealous!!)

Headed in to the doc this morning so we’ll see what she has to say. Hubby is a big guy at 6’3 and built like a typical rugby player. He keeps teasing me the kid is going to be 13lb. Perhaps that is why I am so sore!!

[onelanerode]

Any updates? Hope you’re doing OK! Been thinking a lot about you lately. Can’t wait to see pics of the “colt” … lol.

[FlashGordon]

Aww thanks OLR for checking.

She said the pelvic pain is common, some have it worse than others. I’m still surprised by how intense it is, though.

Blood pressure is up which was a surprise but then again I’ve been so swollen I kind of wondered… So spent most of the morning laying on my side at the doctor’s office to see if it’d come down. It did, they sent me home, but now I’m on strict instructions to take it even easier (is that possible?!?)

I admit the last two weeks I’ve been doing too much, sneaking out to the barn to sit and watch friends ride, doing bits of housework, etc. So… back to real bedrest…

Just lined up a friend to take over Win’s care completely for the next month or two, making sure he’s groomed, feet picked, blankets changed, etc. Hubby’s been doing some of it and the BO has been super, but figured it was easier on everyone to have a single person responsible for him at least until later this spring. It is very odd to have given up complete control of my horse and his care!!

But… few more weeks… I swear our little colt will be making an early April arrival…

[mjrtango93]

I haven’t had that yet, and truly hope I don’t. I am 29 weeks with my first and had to stop riding last week. Came off (well stepped off the side and landed on my ass), kind of freaked everybody out. I am fine all is well, but had Dr appointment 2 days later. Didn’t mention the fall, but hubby asked if I should still be riding. Dr flipped a lid and said I shouldn’t have been this whole time which did not make hubby happy because the horses make him nervous anyways. Where did you all find Dr’s that know about riding? Mine is way old school and not supportive of it. But come on I’ve been riding at the top levels for 16 years, I know my limitations, I know how to ride, honestly I am safer on the horse then off. I fell down the stairs way worse then that just the week before.

[EqTrainer]

Ah yes…

I never understand why they tell you to lay down more tho’. So it hurts then, while you are laying there, bored. WTF? At least while you are at the barn you are distracted!

At what week are they going to tell you to get up and start jogging around? 38? Because girlfriend, we will all be cheering you on.

[whicker]

Try This

Hi Flash,
Glad to hear you saw the dr. Does his office have a nurse who can show you ways to relieve the pressure?

Because I had a high risk pregnacy, I was on bedrest on 10 weeks. My dr arranged for a home nurse to come out and show me ways to set up my room. One of the things that helped was raising the foot of the bed on 4-6" thick books. I used the collected works of Winston Churchill and phone directories.:lol: Raising the end of the bed is enough to let gravity help you “encourage” the little colt to move up higher and off those nerves. Your stomach will feel perhaps a bit more squished, but I hope the relief is worth it.

I also used a book, “What to expect when you are expecting”, which helped me feel prepared for the obstacles ahead. I approached the big day the same way I did a major high level 3- day event. I believe in walking that cross-country course many times to know all the options.

just wait until you start stall walking! :lol:

[TimelyImpulse]

Oooof. And Ouch. I hope you’re feeling a bit better. Did anyone mention the cartilage in your pelvis can separate? I didn’t know either, but mine did, and along with the hormone relaxin working wonders on my ligaments, it felt horrible. I felt split in two, and just rolling from one side to the other required using a towel to lift my legs up and over. It sucked.

My husband is also 6’3", and I ended up with a 10 lb 2 oz bouncing baby boy, 3 weeks early, after 3 hospitalizations for pre-term labor and 3 months of bed rest.

I’d love to have more kids, but after my whole pregnancy experience, every time I really want a kid, I get a kitten. 4 cats and counting. Oh, and 3 dogs, and 3 horses and a pony.

[FlashGordon]

Aww thanks whicker! Those are great tips. I never thought of using gravity to get the little dude off my pelvis. The worst is when I get up out of bed and I can feel him sinking back onto my pelvis… ouch!

As far as the blood pressure, the doc didn’t tell me much, just lots of fluid, left-side laying, and elevate my feet. My mom is a nurse so she’s been giving me some info and will be monitoring my BP. I’ve had some cardiac issues in the past so doc and mom and hubby are now treating me like a china doll!!! I’m just thankful we’ve made it this far and if little (big) colt comes now he should be just fine. I went into preterm labor at 28 weeks so this has been a feat getting him this far!

The worst part about all the rest is that my muscles seem to have atrophied. :eek: I will be a sack of potatoes when I get back on a horse!!

EqT, forget jogging, maybe I should take a spin on a bouncy horse if he’s not out by 38 weeks! :lol:

[FlashGordon]

[QUOTE=TimelyImpulse;4766287]
Oooof. And Ouch. I hope you’re feeling a bit better. Did anyone mention the cartilage in your pelvis can separate? I didn’t know either, but mine did, and along with the hormone relaxin working wonders on my ligaments, it felt horrible. I felt split in two, and just rolling from one side to the other required using a towel to lift my legs up and over. It sucked.

My husband is also 6’3", and I ended up with a 10 lb 2 oz bouncing baby boy, 3 weeks early, after 3 hospitalizations for pre-term labor and 3 months of bed rest.

I’d love to have more kids, but after my whole pregnancy experience, every time I really want a kid, I get a kitten. 4 cats and counting. Oh, and 3 dogs, and 3 horses and a pony.[/QUOTE]

OMG I love it, we are twins! Your post about sums it all up for me!

We gave up on bio kids and pregnancy a long time ago, and adopted our daughter in 2006. It was so off the radar that myself (AND my doctor) missed the pregnancy until I was cruising into my second trimester. (Duh.) And while I’m thankful we have a healthy baby on the way, I’m not sure I want to repeat the whole experience! I have friends with 4 and 5 kids and am not quite sure how they’ve done it…

Kittens, puppies, and ponies sounds good from here on out!

[whicker]

There is a reason that most moms stop getting pregnant after having multiple kidlets in a single go…:winkgrin:

You have done very well to get this far. I had the blood pressure/cardiac part, too. Plus, the twins kept setting off premature labor cramps. Please do take it very carefully and don’t ignore the directions. What I found was that if I moved much, like taking a shower sitting down, the baby weight in the pelvis would set off labor pains.:eek:

Oh, and make sure the chair in the shower doesn’t lose it’s strength when it gets the hot shower water on it. (Ask me how I know)

[ladipus]

[QUOTE=FlashGordon;4763917]
I’m almost 35 weeks pregnant and have had excrutiating pelvic pain the last two weeks. At first it was just soreness in my “riding muscles” as if I’d ridden for a few hours or multiple horses in one day. It is now to the point where I can barely lift my legs, walk or get in and out of bed or a chair.

I commented to my husband tonight that I would have thought riding for 20 years and working those muscles/ligaments would have made them a little more supple. He had a good point though, maybe my muscles and such have been trained one way from all the riding, and now nature is trying to re-organize them for childbirth.

Just wondered if any other women who have been longterm avid riders experienced the same problem. Would also love to hear from anyone who may be well-versed in biomechanics may have some insight.

Headed to the doc tomorrow so will them too. It literally feels like my pelvis is broken in two! Major sympathy to anyone who has had pelvic/hip replacements, fractures, etc… this is nasty![/QUOTE]

I’m a long time avid rider and at about 7 months i started experiencing severe lower back pain as well to the point where i could barely lift my legs or move upon standing…it turns out i had a placental abruption and was hospitalized/bed rested for 4wks…this severe back pain had been present for a couple weeks-gradually getting worse,and then finally i started bleeding - and thats when we rushed to the ER and discovered all of this…my advice to you…if your gut or something is telling you that this is just more than some aches and pains…go w/ your instincts and get checked out asap…better to be safe than sorry.

[ladipus]

[QUOTE=FlashGordon;4765361]
Aww thanks OLR for checking.

She said the pelvic pain is common, some have it worse than others. I’m still surprised by how intense it is, though.

Blood pressure is up which was a surprise but then again I’ve been so swollen I kind of wondered… So spent most of the morning laying on my side at the doctor’s office to see if it’d come down. It did, they sent me home, but now I’m on strict instructions to take it even easier (is that possible?!?)

I admit the last two weeks I’ve been doing too much, sneaking out to the barn to sit and watch friends ride, doing bits of housework, etc. So… back to real bedrest…

Just lined up a friend to take over Win’s care completely for the next month or two, making sure he’s groomed, feet picked, blankets changed, etc. Hubby’s been doing some of it and the BO has been super, but figured it was easier on everyone to have a single person responsible for him at least until later this spring. It is very odd to have given up complete control of my horse and his care!!

But… few more weeks… I swear our little colt will be making an early April arrival…[/QUOTE]

Be especially careful too w/ the high blood pressure and swelling…i also had that as well…and low and behold i developed pre-eclampsia and bells palsy all in the same day…keep checking your urine too see if there’s excess protein present