Clark came upstairs for our normal 10:00 am walk and I tried to stand up and he saw how much pain I was in. He asked if I was sure I wanted to go on a walk and I said yes, I need to move to see if it will loosen up my back. While it didn't ease the pain from my back, it gave me about an hour of temporary relief as the pain was more numb, like when your body goes into shock and it just numbs the area. After that hour, I was in just as much pain. Laughing hurt my back. I wound up going to the acupuncturist to see if that would relieve any pain.
I put a post on Facebook (as many of my friends have had babies already) and asked if anyone knew how to relieve the back pain and if anyone has had such bad back pain. I had a few responses and a UTI made sense. I had a UTI in my first trimester and my back hurt, but I don't remember it hurting this badly. I figured it MUST be a UTI.
I let Wednesday go on, still in pain hoping by some grace of God that my back would ease up with a good night's sleep. Wednesday did not bring the miracle I was hoping for. At lunch, I went to CVS to get the AZO UTI Test Strips and took one. It said positive, which was all I had to read to make an immediate appointment with my OB. I went to the OB's office and gave them a sample and she said my leukocytes were high, but it didn't show I had a UTI. In return, they sent my urine off to the lab for further analysis. I won't know the results until Monday. Dr. Barnes did a pelvic exam to make sure that I wasn't going into preterm labor as the back pain I was describing could be a sign of labor. Pelvic exam was perfectly fine.
Dr. Barnes really did not think it was a UTI but she prescribed me antibiotics anyways because if left untreated I could go into labor. However, she told me that if the antibiotics do not help my back within 2-3 days of taking the medicine, it was not a UTI. She said it is more than likely sciatica and that was what she was going to diagnose it as, as she didn't feel it was an infection.
What is sciatica? Sciatica is pain affecting the back, hip, and outer side of the leg, caused by compression of a spinal nerve root in the lower back, often owing to degeneration of an intervertebral disk.
Well, that sounded pretty darn accurate to what I was having. As Friday hit, my left side was getting worse and my hip and thigh were going numb from the sharp pains. I agree with Dr. Barnes' diagnosis. I believe I do have sciatica.
What helps sciatica? Honestly, NOTHING! I haven't found a way yet to get some good relief. The heating pad makes it worse... Tylenol doesn't touch the pain... The exercises make it more painful.
The only thing I have found that helps relieve it somewhat is by walking. Walking is the only thing that doesn't make it hurt for more than an hour. The only time walking will affect it is if we are walking up or down a hill. The pain is present there. I am just ever hopeful that the pain goes away after Anson is born. I seem to get the most lovely symptoms... who knew?!
On another note, I loved our child birth class on Wednesday! Our regular RN was gone, so the lactation specialist was there. She pretty much told us, we are all capable of providing enough breast milk for our children and it is the mother who will put up obstacles to not breast feed in regards to pain or fear of not having enough milk. My biggest fear was that I wouldn't have enough milk. She gave us a lot of really good tips and pointers! If you are in Ventura County and are planning on delivering at CMH her name is Paris Maloof Bury and she is fabulous! I am hoping she is on staff when I go into labor! I wouldn't mind her as my RN!
Thursday wasn't as busy. I called my father in law to talk to my niece, Zoey, because it was her 5th birthday! I also went to see Allie's new house that they are renting! Other than that we wound up staying home instead of going out because my back was hurting. Friday was a night I worked on some candle orders as I didn't have much energy from the week because of the pain I had. I finally got the Candy Corn candles done and I think they turned out great!!
Saturday, we had another ultrasound and we were so excited to see our little man. We had invited a couple people, but wound up not having anyone come as we figured the next ultrasound people can attend :) This one was a "mommy and daddy only ultrasound". We just need to find out the date! We got 34 printed pictures and then over 70 colored pictures as well as our dvd :) We were so excited to see Anson smile during the ultrasound! It was pretty funny!! We started the session with him being at 155 beats per minute and then by the end he fell asleep and was 131 beats per minute. He likes to hug my placenta and hold his cord.
After the ultrasound, I wound up coming home and making some candles and tarts. The rest of the day was errands and visiting my grandma. Since Clark and his dad are planning on sighting in their guns tomorrow morning, I plan on utilizing the time to sleep in a little.
How far along? 33 Weeks! 7 weeks left.
Total weight gain/loss: 25 lbs total... I am afraid to see what my end weight gain result is!
Sleep: Getting harder to get comfortable, especially with the back pain
Best moment this week: Seeing Anson smile.
Miss Anything? Avocados
Looking forward to: September 15th... the last day I am taking candle orders...after that... I plan on being a nester!
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