Namaste

I had my ob appointment this morning.  Usual stuff, measure the fundal height, check the heart beat with the doppler, and ask if I have any questions.  Of course, I rarely have an appointment when I don't have a question (or two or three or ten).  Today one of my concerns was my lower back.

I am not kidding when I tell you that I am in pain morning to night and if I happen to wake up in the middle of the night and need to go to the bathroom, I wince with almost every step I take.  When I have to lean over to get Superman out of his crib, it feels as if my whole lower back spasms.  When I am sitting on the floor playing with Superman and he decides to toddle off to another part of the house, there is a part of me that wants to plead with him to stay in one spot because getting up and down can be so painful. 

I have tried Tylenol and that did absolutely nothing.  I tried stretching and that helps a little, but I am not entirely sure I am doing the right stretches.  I tried heat and that feels good at the time, but doesn't provide any longer term changes.  I need help and I thought that physical therapy was going to be the route I would go. 

Imagine my surprise when my doctor looked right at me and said that I must find time for yoga.  She said that she has had patients completely transformed during their pregnancies because of it.

I have to admit, I did yoga for most of my pregnancy with Superman and it was amazing.  I looked forward to it every week, even when I was exhausted from teaching all day.  The problem is that it is in the afternoon and I don't have childcare.  The idea of paying an extra $25-35 every week so that I could go to yoga seemed silly (cost of class plus childcare).  So I had bought a DVD, but the only time I can really do it is when Superman is sleeping and frankly all I want to do when he is sleeping is rest.

But, the doctor said do yoga (and some other stretches she gave me) for 2 weeks and if I still didn't feel better, she would refer me to a physical therapist.   I want to feel better.  I want this pain to go away so I can enjoy my son, my pregnancy, and get back to normal a little bit.  So I tried it today.

I am so mad at myself for not doing it sooner.  My back isn't feeling better right now, in fact, it kind of hurts a little more.  But while I was doing the stretches I could feel the muscles in my back and abdomen engaging, working hard to keep my core strong.  This is exactly what I needed.  It may take the full two weeks, but I am hopeful that this may be the end of my back pain.  Fingers crossed!