I am 5 months pregnant and my back is killing me. Now, counting those 5 months is CRAZY. When I got pregnant, I tried to guess my due date before the doctor told it to me. What a joke! I counted nine months from the date of conception. WRONG. So the very first thing I learned about being pregnant is that I was pregnant for two weeks that I was NOT PREGNANT. What??? They count from the first day of your last period. Well, that was crazy. In my case, that day was more than 2 weeks before my date of conception. But whatever. Then I learned that I’d be pregnant for 40 weeks. By my math (40/4), that’s 10 MONTHS. Oh boy. So it’s 40 “10 week months” or 9 “calendar months.” Alls I know is that it’s a lot easier to go by weeks. I mean, I find conflicting info on even how long a trimester is — some say the first trimester is 12 weeks, others 14. So though I am saying I am 5 months pregnant, what I really mean is that I am in my SIXTH (calendar) month, with 5 (calendar) months behind me. Get it? Me neither. Let’s just say I am wrapping up Week 21.

So what’s this got to do with my back? Well, from about week 5 (3 weeks of ACTUALLY being pregnant), I started having lower–I mean really low–back pain. I hadn’t gained any weight and couldn’t understand it. Pregnancy Fact No.3 that I learned is that apparently your pregnant body creates a hormone that loosens and softens the soft tissue and whatnot in your lower back to make room for the growing baby. Great. So my sacrum is outta whack. I was once a devoted yogi, and I knew I needed to start practicing again to strengthen and stretch my back. But, man, I was (and still am) TIRED ALL THE TIME. But I did the yoga and the pain was better. Oh, did I mention I haven’t been in heels for months now, too? Because the pain was better, I slacked off the yoga.

For a solid week now, my back’s been killing me again. I have gained a total of 7 pounds so far (doing pretty good, I thought!) but it hurts to sit, sleep, walk, stand. IT HURTS ALL THE TIME. Except when I am having a hot bath–which a pregnant woman should not do (New Pregnancy Fact No. 4). So now I balance it–I suffer and I take quick hot baths when I can’t take it any longer. And I deal with the guilt that gives me. The doctor recommends I wear a “maternity belt” (and maybe I will try one), but I think that I don’t need a belt, I need EXERCISE. But I am so LAZY and TIRED that it is totally contrary to what I want to do when I actually have the time to do it.

So each day, I think, “how many more days?” Too many. Ugh.