5/24/11

I totally freaked my husband out the other day. Not on purpose of course. We were busy running around all day and when we got in the car to drive home all of a sudden I got a sharp pain in my side. I winced and let out a pain filled breath while pressing my hand against the side of my belly. It lasted only a few seconds and was gone. Neither of us knew what it was so when we got home I whipped out my handy pregnancy book I got from the nurse at our first appointment and looked it up. Round Ligament Pain. 

Round ligament pain is totally normal. Starting in your second trimester, you can feel a sharp pain if you move quickly, cough, get up from a chair, roll over in bed or it can even present as a dull ache after a lot of activity. 

The uterus is surrounded by the round ligaments in your pelvis, but when you get pregnant your uterus needs to grow so those ligaments have to stretch just like the exercise band in the picture. 

If you could trace the pain it would run from your groin up your bikini line to the top of your hip and you can feel it on one or both sides. So far I've only felt it on my right side.

To relieve the pain my book just says I should relax. Sit with your feet up. If that doesn't work curl your knees up to your chest. You can also lay with a pillow under your belly and one between your legs.

Did you ever have something freak you or your partner out during your pregnancy that you later found out was totally normal?