While my pregnancies are relatively easy, I end up with a tremendous amount of hip pain that I try desperately hard to manage and not exacerbate. My first pregnancy I started going to the chiropractor around 34 weeks. I waited until I was in way too much pain and the midwives told me I had a breech baby. This time around I knew I wanted to take better care of myself and when the pain started up, I started going to the chiropractor at about 26 weeks. While the chiropractor does tremendous things for my pain, there is plenty that I need to do at home and throughout my day to help manage the aches.

– Staying active helps to keep pain at bay. The problem with pregnancy and pain is that you’re also exhausted, leaving little inclination to exercise or do anything other than lay around.

– Staying upright and doing light exercises keeps my body stretched and flexible. Carrying lots of heavy things (i.e. a toddler or stacks of plates, I’m a server) does not.

– Wearing proper shoes.  It’s hard for me to give up my typical body and along with that my typical attire. Living in a variety of boots does not help my posture and the extra weight put on my feet. Fortunately, the athleisure look is in and sneakers are all the rage. The look is getting old, but at least it is helping.

– Sitting slightly elevated relieves pressure. Sitting with a pillow under my bum, helps to relieve some of the pressure I put on my tailbone and hip sockets. Just a slight incline leaves me feeling much better after watching a movie.

– Watching what I eat.  It’s easy to want to over-indulge during pregnancy and I do my fair share, but that bloated, gassy feeling from too much rich food throws my posture off and therefore ups my pain.

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– Getting good sleep. It is near impossible to get amazing sleep while pregnant, but it helps a lot. I constantly need to readjust what works well, but being tired relaxes my posture and leaves me prone to pain.

– Foam Rolling. My chiropractor had me start foam rolling and I have mixed opinions about it. It’s awkward and painful to foam roll. I feel like one of those circus elephants balancing on a ball. However, it does help. I don’t feel particularly relaxed and pain-free, but it feels nice to finally get to those painful spots and massage them out.

– Chiropractic Adjustments: The adjustments are great; everything in my body gets popped and I walk away feeling normal again. My appointments are also a week to two weeks apart, meaning that they do require at homework from me. My recommendation would be to find someone specializing in prenatal chiropractic work and start going to them early. It is hard to get everything out of a chiropractic visit if you don’t feel comfortable and trust the person. I noticed a big change in my care this time around that I believe is due to the relationship I have formed with my doctor allowing me to trust them with my body.

-Prenatal Yoga: My last pregnancy I tried to stretch throughout and make adjustments to my regular yoga routine. Switching to actual prenatal yoga has made the biggest difference in my pain management. I don’t know if it is listening to my body more, the breathing, the stretching or a combination of it all, but doing daily yoga has been keeping my pain at such a low level that I hardly notice it. I do about 25 minutes and go on with my day, lighter and happier.

– Massages: While a professional prenatal massage is glorious, they are also pricey and not readily available in my home. I’m already paying $70 a visit for chiropractic care so my husband is utilized as a masseur while I’m pregnant (and when I’m not- he’s really good). Plus I feel like I would feel awkward asking a stranger to massage my butt!

– Warm Baths: I’ve been soaking in a bath about half the time instead of taking a shower. Epsom salts helps me to feel a little buoyant and with relaxing my muscles, but honestly just being in the warm water is so good for my mind and body that thoughts of pain tend to melt away.

– Swimming: I haven’t gotten to do as much of this as I would like to this pregnancy, but my last one I spent as much time in the pool during those last two weeks. Swimming is amazing excercise and takes all the extra weight and pressure off your joints. My recommendation would be to try to do it without your toddler. We stayed in a hotel and spent lots of time in the pool a couple weeks ago and when I had Eli with me the whole time, my tummy was so tight from catching him, teaching him to swim and generally taking care ofnonswimminging, swimming toddler.

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Any tips for managing pregnancy associated pain that I’ve forgotten? I’m always looking to hear more ways to not cry when I roll out of bed!