I Bet Elvis Didn’t Suffer from This!

So something disturbing just happened. I stood up and heard the very distinctive sound of Velcro being ripped apart. Unfortunately the sound was accompanied by acute pain and was not Velcro but was in fact my pelvic bones grinding up against each other. So not fun!
According to my doctor I have SPD (Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction) which is a very common ailment to get during pregnancy, apparently 1 in 4 pregnant women get it and it is even more common with women who carry twins. SPD can strike anytime from the end of your first trimester and sometimes (though not often) can stick around for a while after the birth... I did hear though, that by having the baby (or babies in my case) this pretty much clears up the SPD, and I really hope it does.
Huh...What’s SPD???
The two halves of your pelvis are connected by a strong little joint called the symphysis pubis, and this little joint is surrounded by and made stronger by ligaments. During pregnancy your body produces a hormone called relaxin (which I think is a pretty good name for a hormone - sounds like a party hormone to me) and basically this hormone softens and makes the ligaments more pliable so that the babies can make their entry as graceful as possible (if graceful can even be considered when talking about birth!) This softening can cause the normally stable and stiff pelvic joints to move, which then causes inflammation and pain...and that is SPD!)*
So when my symptoms (splitting pains in my pelvic region when walking and throbbing aches in my lady parts) pointed towards SPD, my consultant sent me to physiotherapy, where I got to watch a Doctor with a fake pelvis (looking suspiciously like it was made out of papier mache) explain what SPD is (in a way more professional way then I did above). She also showed me and the 4 other pregnant ladies in attendance how to do different exercises to curb the SPD from developing further as well as helpful ways to manage the pain. It was both helpful and funny. Helpful in the sense that the exercises and techniques she showed us to manage the pain are really making a difference to me and funny because never having been a gym bunny when she started on about strengthening my core, all I could picture was apples, and when she came over to check if I was doing my pelvic tilts properly she basically used me as an example of how not to do it, but then tried to make me feel better by saying I managed to at least do a small one... I really don’t have a problem laughing at my dunce-like capacity for doing anything physically coordinated.
Well they hooked me up with a belt to hold my pelvis in place when I am out walking around, which helps a bit and I am doing my pelvic floor exercises regularly along with the exercises to curb the SPD so it is all good, and I am just looking at this pain as teeny tiny warm up to labour!
*BTW if my description of SPD does not fit what you were thinking, or if you wanted to find out more about it, there is a really good in depth description on babycentre.co.uk and on Wikipedia – just Google it! And if you are thinking that SPD sounds like a b**** - you would be right!