Yep, hurts

"Women with symphysis pubis dysfunction during pregnancy often face major functional difficulties resulting in a considerable decrease in quality of life." Depledge et al, 2005

"SPD has been recognised as an obstetric condition since the time of Hippocrates9,10, and as early as 1839 ‘jointloosening’ of the pelvis was described in the literature, with a clinical picture similar to that of SPD. Despite this long history, there has been a lack of clinical interest in and recognition of SPD." Leadbetter et al, 2004

"The condition is associated with much unrecognised obstetric morbidity. The prevalence in our unit over the 2-year study period was 1/36 women. Many medical and midwifery staff have little knowledge of SPD. Patients often felt ignored when they complained of pain." Owens et al, 2002

I spoke too soon about preventing symphyseal pain. After two relatively pain-free days, yesterday SUCKED! It was another day that I couldn't nap. I was also getting cervical pain, which is A-OK with me because it indicates progress toward labor. I had an OB appointment today which showed that I've effaced 75% and dilated 2 cm and that the baby is "pretty far down." So it may be that the increased pain was due to dropping, which makes me feel better. Yeah, I'll just go ahead and believe that. From what I read, the dilation and effacement doesn't really give any indication of when labor will begin, but, hey, I'll take it!

My OB didn't blow it off completely, but she was rushed, and seemed uninterested in exploring symptoms and solutions. What annoyed me was that she said, "There isn't really anything you can do." Uh, au contraire. I told her about the article I found describing exercises and practices. She definitely exemplified the comments I keep seeing in the academic articles saying that medical providers just aren't taking this seriously.

I asked a bunch of questions. She said that most people get a strain in their symphysis during labor (not before) and feel this pain for a few weeks post-partum. That directly contradicts what the research says, but whatever. I asked her if I'm at risk of injuring myself big-time during labor. She said there is some risk, but that it's rare and unpredictable. Only once (very recently) has she seen a patient's symphysis separate, and it was a woman who was birthing her fourth child after three absolutely problem-free births. The OB said, "I heard it pop." YOWZA!!! She said about the patient, "She's healing, but really slowly."

Normally she asks "Anything else?" before leaving, but today she said, "See you next week, if not sooner!" and started to leave. I had to stop her and say that I hadn't gotten any instructions about who/when to call if I think I'm in labor. Apparently I was supposed to get a handout about that two weeks ago. Charming.

Yes, doctor, I realize it's 12:50 and you probably have more patients coming in at 1 and you haven't had lunch yet because you're running late. I'm well aware of what time it is, because my appointment was at 11:20, and I've been sitting here bare-assed so long that I really have to pee again.

Today's conversation with the OB doesn't really change my plans. I'm still shooting for an unmedicated/low-intervention birth. It's just a reminder to take my own post-partum recovery into account as we make decisions along the way. Until then, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing to maximize my resilience.