Third Trimester Sickness

Do NOT mess around with this! I don't mean to scare you, but I went through the same thing while pregnant. I ignored it the first time, in my first trimester, then the pain started again in my third trimester. I went to the doc and he immediately sent me to the ER. Turns out I had pyelonephritis, which is an infection in the kidneys. Symptoms are mostly on the right side of the back. I never had any painful urination or felt frequency (well other than going all the time while preggers anyway). It is quite painful. I learned that I was not only putting my own health at risk, but also my baby's and I had no clue. Better to be safe than sorry and rule this one out.

Not to freak you out, but your pain sounds A LOT (like, exactly) like my pain, and combined with the nausea, I would go back to your doctor, or L&D, tell them your symptoms and refuse to leave until they do bloodwork (specifically your liver enzymes and blood platelets) and a 24 hour urine test would be a good idea too. My pain and nausea that was like yours turned out to be HELLP syndrome. By the time they figured out what it was I went from class III (the lowest class) to class I and they were worried about my liver rupturing. An ultrasound also revealed our baby was in fetal distress and they delivered me immediately-unfortunately I was only 23 weeks pregnant. My blood pressure was never high and I never had protein in my urine (signs of pre-eclampsia).

I was exactly the same way except I could hardly stand or walk. I had to stop work a little early b/c the pain was so bad. I had these little electropads on my back that sent vibration to the spot to help massage it out, but that didn't work. NOTHING worked. When I finally delivered my daughter, we knew why: She was "sunny side up" and the back of her head was resting on my tail and backbones pretty much the whole last two months of pregnancy. She had a well defined bald spot too :) Unfortunately there isn't much you can do if this is the case. I agree with the post that suggested a chiropractor might be able to help a little and you should get in touch with a doula or midwife. They will be able to give you some stretching exercises to do to help turn the baby off your spine (if that's what it is). Good luck!

Everyone else's advice is very good, and you absolutely need to talk to your doctor. I'm just going to add something small. Look into getting a supportive nursing bra or sports bra to help with posture and support. I didn't think this would work, but it really helped with my 3rd-trimester back pains.

I think you should call your doctor, especially if it's getting worse!

I also have back problems during pregnancy. This time around I have used little balls I place between my back and chair and it keeps me in the right position. I use the balls from the miracle ball method (you can see it on amazon). But only because my mil bought them for me. My sister uses tennis balls and they work just as well.

I recommend getting checked for a UTI. I had something similar and it turned out to be a really bad UTI. I had to immediately start an IV and antibiotics. I did not have any symptoms of the UTI but the lower right side of my back hurt SO bad that it was hard to take a breath, it was very painful to walk, it hurt to sit, and it was even painful to lay down!! Good luck and I hope you feel better soon!

Please insist that your doctor do some tests to rule out kidney stones, etc. With a history of them and drinking a whole carton of milk in a day (milk can be a trigger) and so much juice, you are not doing your body any favors. If you are not hungry, stick to water and pregnancy tea (you can make iced tea out of it, that's what I do).

If you find out that this is not something very serious, I would then look into a pregnancy chiropractor.

Yours in health,
Dr. Alyssa

When I first started having heartburn (not during pregnancy- 8 years after my last was born)... it felt like pains in my back/shoulder blade area. Eventually, I had a horrendous evening/night where I literally thought I was having a heart attack. Then for days after I felt like someone was poking me really hard near my shoulder blade with their thumb (or maybe a gunshot wound?! it was that uncomfortable). I did go to the doctor and checked everything out. It was heartburn. I started taking prilosec daily when I got up and things got better. During the first couple of days after the worst night, I also got light headed feeling and headaches (tension in my shoulders/neck from the pain and worry can complicate symptoms)...
I now don't need to take anything.... but maybe every 9 or 10 months I'll start to notice that old familiar acheiness in my shoulderblade/back area and I'll take a Prilosec for a day or two and then I'm fine.

Boy I remember this! My first child rested totally on my back thru the whole pregnancy-talk about miserable! I was sick the whole time-best part was when she started moving and getting in the birth canel it all went away-she was no longer pushing on my back! So what I did was to eat crackers whenever I could and hope they stayed down. Also for some reson any fresh fruit helped me so I kept any in season in the frig and I could slip some when the mood struck-hmmm it was also the healthy thing to do even if that was not my point at that time. (Hard enough she was a Jan. baby-so it was hard to find fresh) I never slept either-I ended up with maybe 4 pillows at any time and it changed each night as I needed the support.
This worked in my chair too. Good luck Mom and the best part this is your 3rd trimester-not the first. Not much time left!!!! Walk as much as you can it helps move the baby around and this might relieve some of your pressure.

It may not be but you may want to get it checked to make sure , but it possibly could be your appendix. I had an appendicites at 34 weeks , and because when you are heavily pregnant everything is pushed upwards , the pain is not in the normal place you would experience appendicites (my appendix was under my liver) so all the pain was in my back like yours and the top part of my bump on the right hand side , with an appendicites you also get vomiting , mine ended up ruptured and I had to have emergency surgery and my daughter was delivered at 34 wks , so it is worth voicing your concerns and getting checked to rule that out.

Sounds like pressure on your vertebrae to me. I tend to have it through most of my prengnancy (and even when not pregnant). A chiropractor can help alleviate the pressure on the nerves in your spine, or you could try a massage therapist that does trigger point therapy.

Your erector muscles are working very hard, and sometimes they can become SO tense that they actually cause the bone (your vertebrae, in this case) to clamp down on the nerve. I good adjustment and massage would release that pressure. I'm especially thinking that it's a nerve because of your nausea. The nerves in your spine tie into your stomach and surrounding organs. If something is out of whack in your back, it can definintely cause nausea.

I've been dealing with this issue both during pregnancies and regularly for years, so I've had a fair amount of exposure to how the body effects itself and how you can help yourself deal with it.