Over the weekend, I had very little problems with my back aching. And then Monday, it flared up again. It actually hurt pretty bad–bad enough that I left work early to get horizontal. The yoga and hot bath did very little to help–this was the first time I really could get no relief. Then I woke up Tuesday morning and thought I had a dart in my back–below my waist, on my right side. And from the dart emanated a sharp shooting pain down to the back of my knee whenever I took a step or turned or sat or stood or whatever. This was really bad. I got to work and bent over to get creamer out of the refrigerator when the electronic dart hit me again. I sucked in my breath and involuntarily dropped an expletive, a bad expletive, THE bad expletive. The ladies in the room stopped talking and turned to see what was wrong with me. I apologized profusely. I curse far more than I should, but I usually am in control of what words come out of my mouth and when. I decided right then I’d better call my doctor. This was not what I’d been dealing with to date.

The doctor asked me to come in to see him that afternoon. I packed some work that I’d take with me such that if things were not better the next day, I’d have the work with me at home. Of course, when it came time to leaving, I was running late and flew out of the office sans briefcase. The doctor checked on Baby–she’s fine–and pressed around on my back–no complaints. He said that the sacrum (the wide triangular bone at the bottom of your spine) has a sacroiliac joint on each side for the hip (fancy medical term for the hip joint, I guess) and that somewhere up in there is the sciatic nerve–the largest nerve in the body that shoots down the leg. He suspects there is compression on that nerve that is causing my pain. He gave me two options: (1) a referral to an orthopedist; or (2) a referral to a chiropractor (notice that “do nothing” was not an option). He also re-recommended a maternity belt. The worst is that he said this, “It probably will last the whole pregnancy but usually goes away once the baby is born.” The lasting during pregnancy part is what I had been concerned about–I can’t last 4 more months in this kind of pain. But what was that thing about USUALLY leaving once the baby arrives? That means that SOMETIMES it doesn’t?!? Now that perked my ears right up. Yup–he said if it continued after birth, he’d refer me to a neurological surgeon. What the hell is this about? I guess this is Secret Pregnancy Fact No. 5. This was a real bummer.

So I made an appointment for the next day with a chiropractor that does a lot of prenatal work. I also stopped by the maternity store to buy a belt. The belt was only $15! But they were out. They’ve got a shipment coming in a day or two, so hopefully before long I can get some relief. It’s bad enough being 37 and pregnant. But this was making me feel 67–an old 67. Ugh.

Yesterday, I woke up feeling the same way I did the day before. As much as I need to be in the office, I stayed home. Oh the guilt that goes with an attorney calling in sick! But I crawled back into bed and stayed there reading blogs until it was time to see the chiropractor.

After doing several tests, the chiropractor determined (much to my relief) that it is NOT nerve pain. The muscle underneath the gluteus maximus has a “tension point.” He was kind enough to say that the muscle pain is every bit as painful as nerve pain. What I heard as the official prognosis: I have a pain in the ass. By the end of the afternoon, I was feeling a lot better. I am not sure how much relief is from the chiropractor and how much is from spending 20 hours in bed, but I won’t split hairs on that point.