rib pain

kstarr

i'm now 18+3 weeks. i've been having some pretty bad rib pain on my right side. has anyone experienced this? i know it's not the babies yet. any suggestions for relief?

OkayBaby

Things are moving up. I'm 25 weeks now and every day I wake up I feel like I've been in an all night long boxing match .. Everything is hurting on a rotating basis. And then the thought flashes that this is the best of the worst! .. At least our little babies are healthy and growing!
And I've always poo pooed heating pads, but I used one a few days ago and it did wonders.. May be worth a try?

old mama

Positioning a pregnancy pillow may take some pressure off during the night.

kstarr

i regrettably googled this. i read a horror story that this woman's ribs were constantly being dislocated! it wasn't even from the baby kicking, it was from relaxin. towards the end of her pregnancy, her physical therapist would put them back in to place and by the next day they'd be dislocated again. it wasn't just 1, 3-5 ribs almost daily. i'll try the heating pad. arizona is going through a rough heat wave right now, i don't know how long i can tolerate the pad. i'm also trying to move more and change positions while i'm sitting. i also wake up on my back a lot (i'm normally a side sleeper). i know that won't happen for much longer either. i also know that if this is the worst of it, i'm super lucky.

OkayBaby

Oo!! I forgot- twinsies! Haha your probably as squished up inside as I am already if not more so. I've been trying side sleeping with a pillow between the legs and hugging one .. But everything starts hurting so much by like 3 am my back is the only place I can get relief.. So I'll sleep on my back for awhile. I've read you can wedge a pillow under one side so your not completely flat ... Buuuut you know, that hurts my back too!! I'm not winning lately. I guess I'll just be thankful all my ribs are in place!! ;p

kstarr

yep, two in there duking it out for space. i'm glad i have a long torso or this could be even worse. i have a pregnancy pillow behind me, a king size pillow between my knees, and another spare above the curve of the pregnancy pillow. this will be a whole new ballgame when my back starts to hurt.

Shannon in MA

I had the rib pain from pretty early on. It sounds like you're doing almost everything I can remember doing. I used a snoogle until it got too got, then I would lay on the couch on my side (the couch was more comfortable than my bed) with a toss pillow between my legs and another one under the side of my belly.
I also saw the chiropractor a couple times a week because I ended up with pelvic girdle pain. She did seem to help my rib pain as well though.
I'm jealous of your long torso! I was perfectly round and in pain all the time. Hopefully that will help as you get further along.
It sounds as if you have a good handle on things. Try to stay cool and I hope you get some relief soon!

kstarr

thanks Shannon! today wasn't as bad as the last few days. i don't see it going away though.

A&J

I had rib pain too. It would come and go throughout different stages of my twin pregnancy. My dr often commented on how well my long torso would serve me during this pregnancy and I must say this proved to be true, so good for your long torso too:-) Basically the only thing that seemed to help some was a nice shower, stretching, and a million well positioned pillows:-) It seemed one thing would come, then go, then something new would happen. My babies are 2 weeks today. I still remember being at all of the different phases like they JUST happened. Do what you can to get and stay comfortable and have fun, which I'm sure you are. I had a really good, uneventful pregnancy, yes aches and pains, but was able to mostly carry on as usual throughout--just sharing because while I was pregnant with twins it seemed hard to find positive experiences about twin pregnancies and deliveries.
I hope your rib pain eases soon:-)

blkbrd3

(Congratulations on the birth of your twins.)

kstarr

A&J i must have missed the post that you had your babies. congratulations!! i'm glad you had an uneventful pregnancy. so far mine has been the same, except this rib business. my quad test came back negative, i have a nice long cervix, i've only gained about 9 lbs so far, my bp is consistently normal, and i just started feeling them move. i'm gonna have to go get some more pillows.

2NewMoms

I had this too around the same time. It may come and go throughout your pregnancy but don't worry too much about it. I went to a chiropractor which helped me a lot! Your body is growing quickly so there will be a lot of aches and pains. You get used to them! Enjoy this time! Weeks 16-18 were the best for me! I hope you don't get the stabbing pain in your vagina when you walk! I got that after the rib pain and it sucked!!

My twins are 7 months now and even though I never thought I'd say it, I miss being pregnant! Everyone told me I'd feel this way but at the time, I was so miserable that I didn't want to hear it. So know that as you get bigger, you'll be more uncomfortable, and this time next year you will miss all of it!! Haha!! Good luck

michgirl

Heating pad helped but I couldn't stand it for very long because I was HOT all the time!! I slept with about 10 pillows. I called it my nest. Sorry I don't have better advice but I do remember your pain.

OkayBaby

michgirl wrote:

I slept with about 10 pillows. I called it my nest.

Haha! I call mine my pillow fortress!