Aching Back

My rash has thankfully cleared up. At this point I think it was a heat rash, exacerbated by the fact that we were moving. Lifting things, even light things, in hot, humid weather is no good. But shortly after we were settled in the new house (and with the liberal use of cortizone) it cleared up and I'm back to the more typical summer itchiness caused by a million mosquitos.

However, that means it's time for the next pregnancy symptom to rear it's ugly head: lower back pain.

I'd been anticipating this one. I've struggled with back pain since I injured myself in a dance class in high school. I'd done a good job, in recent years, of building up those muscles. But with the pregnancy I knew it would only be a matter of time before I was laid low with an aching back.

What I didn't expect was the cause of the aching back. It turns out that I'm actually mostly fine when I'm sitting or standing. If my back does start hurting at work, a five minute walk will clear it up. If I've been standing for too long, it's easy enough to sit down for a while. I quickly learned not to go barefoot on hardwood floors, since that makes my back hurt more quickly. And I rediscovered the joys of epsom salt baths.

No, what took me by surprise is my inability to lie down for more than three hours. This is probably true of any position, actually. I'm constantly fidgeting and moving around to get more comfortable. But it's especially noticeable when you're trying to sleep for a typical 8 hours and you find yourself physically incapable of lying down.

It took a lot of trial and error and 3 AM internet research, but I've finally figured out something that seems to be working. I start the night off with a pillow between my legs, curled up as close as I can manage to the fetal position. I hate curling up like that to sleep, especially with this bowling-ball shaped thing in my middle. But it does allow me to get a few precious hours in the bed on my right side while my cell phone/alarm clock charges. Sometime between 1 and 4 in the morning I'll wake up with the aching back and tight hamstrings. That's when I move to the couch in the living room. It's lumpy in the right places to support my back, and it allows me to stretch out completely, but it does require me to sleep on my left side (head near the table with the precious water and hated alarm clock).

Nothing is 100% comfortable, but between these two positions, I'm managing to eke out a solid 7 hours of sleep on a good night. There are still plenty of nights when I'm only getting 3 or 4 hours, whether because of hot flashes or stress or Kevin stealing my pillow. To be fair, the ball position leads to me taking up more than half the bed, so it's not that surprising when I wake up with him crowding my space.

It took a couple of weeks to hit this rhythm that's allowing me maximum sleep. Seven hours still isn't quite enough, and I can feel myself dragging come Thursday or Friday. But there were a few weeks there when I was starting to distrust my ability to drive and was wondering if I might have to stop working a lot sooner than I'd intended. When I alternated between being a zombie, and being a cranky, grumpy, crying mess. I've found another equilibrium finally, and I'm hoping it lasts for a while.