Ladies, did your rib cage hurt when you were pregnant?

[Kermit]

I didn't have a very big frame to begin with, and the stretching of my rib cage is really hurting. It hurts mainly on my right side (basically where the band on my bra is), and my doctor says that's because my liver is right there pushing it out further than on my left side. He said I could take Tylenol for it, but it hurts all the time, and I'm not about to take Tylenol every 4 hours for the next 4 months. I wouldn't do that if I weren't pregnant.

None of my friends have had this problem. Has it ever happened to any of you?

 

[dianeschlicht]

I had liver pain too, but it was near the end of my pregnancies. DD had very sharp pointy heels, and she seemed to know right where my liver was!!! DS was just a HUGE baby, and everything was pinched in there!

 

[becka]

I had lots of pain in that area but it was a strange pain kind of like when you hit your "funny bone".

I always thought it was the baby hooking his feet up on toward my ribs because it was not constant but it sure was a lot of the time.

 

[luvmydogs]

I had the same kind of pain that becka described. It felt like my son was pushing his legs as hard as he could, sticking his feet under my ribcage. I always tried to poke at them so that maybe he'd he'd pull his legs back. I remember it being very uncomfortable.

 

[ChiTownZee]

Oh yeah! And to this day I sometimes move a certain way and my ribs feel funny. I swear some of those lower ribs were knocked out of place!

 

[browneyes]

Yes. The top part of my right ribs hurt both times I was pregnant. I still have a little bit of tenderness in my ribs (but I think that's from where my dd thought it would be fun to jump up on my ribs when I was a sleep one time-she was about a year and a half at the time).

 

[mrsv98]

DD was breech for months, like from 6 months on, and my rib cage and sides hurt all the time. Not only was her head up, but she had a foot on either side of her head and everything was poking me! You can take Tylenol, perhaps use heating pads, but what really helped me was acupuncture. Good luck!

 

[A kid at heart]

I did but thats because the baby fractured 3 of my ribs while I was pregnant!

 

[TexasErin]

I have a month to go and my right ribs hurt all of the time- right where my bra ends. I know exactly what you are going through. Between heartburn and aching ribs, I can't wait for him to get here.
I especially hate being in the car as there seems to be no comfortable position. I really feel best when I am sitting straight up in my chair at work behind my computer.

 

[Princess_Aurora]

Oh yeah! As I described it, it felt like DD was using my ribs as a foot rest and my bladder as a pillow (I was peeing a whole bunch). I was a jr. in high school when I was pregnant with her and had the same problem TexasErin described, only instead of being in the car I was sitting at a desk for 7 hours a day...not allowed to get up either. I was always squirming in my seat.

I didn't seem to have that problem with DS though. Instead of my ribs it was my pelvic bone...that was a real killer for me.

 

[Serena]

Yes, I sure did. My girls liked to try and make more room.

 

[tar heel]

Yes, I did, especially with my first child. It really scared me, too. It was one of those things no one had told me about. This is a tangent, but another thing absolutely no one had told me about was that my feet would remain larger after pregnancy. I could not find comfortable shoes for ages b/c I was still trying on the size I had worn since I was 15.

 

[nativetxn]

I have a very short waist. I had discomfort across the bottom of my ribs (approximately the bra band area), probably because ds was 24 1/2 inches long at birth and I am short waisted.

The discomfort disappeared after the baby was born but the numbness remained for almost two years after delivery.

I did nothing to relieve the discomfort because the doctor said there wasn't really anything I could do.

Good luck with this

 

[CamColt]

I didnt have it on my ribs, but I was about 5 months along too and I had that same kind of pain on my right side, down lower. I swore it was appendicitis. I was told it was the ligaments stretching and some people get it mild, but others get it bad. Mine was so bad, I still say labor was easier than that pain.
I too was told take Tylenol and use a heating pad. I did both with no harm to the baby. Dont worry about taking care of yourself. Tylenol is very safe if taken correctly, and you dont need to take it all the time if you dont want to. A little will most likely help a lot more than it would hurt. The good news is the pain went away in about 4 days.
Take care!

 

[Saphire]

YES!!!!
I had similar pain, it was constant and on the right side of the ribs. It felt like the baby was pushing out and up, and it hurt! I have had three children, and didn't have that pain with the other two. Funny, though, that baby was the longest, and he is now 6'2" and still growing! So hang on, this soon will pass, and you will always remember fondly your little one that poked you in the ribs!

 

[Chattyaholic]

Yes, there were a couple of times during my pregnancy with my son that I had pain and my doctor said "oh, it's just the baby pressing up against your rib cage...." so I sufferered through it. Lo and behold, the pain continued after he was born....turned out I had gall stones so had to have surgery to remove the gall bladder!!!

 

[Wagamama]

Originally posted by A kid at heart
I did but thats because the baby fractured 3 of my ribs while I was pregnant!

Thats it!!! I'm never getting pregnant!!!

 

[peg2001]

YES! I would put my hand on top and push back down, trying to push those kicking little feet away. It helped as long as I applied counter pressure but as soon as I stopped pushing, those active little feet were at it again.

It stops once they are born.

Peggy

 

[ellyn2000]

DD broke my rib while I carried her. Dr. said there was really nothing to do about it---couldn't bind in as one normally would because her feet were under my rib and it could have causes a deformity. Until I delivered her my left side was bruised and I always smelled of Ben-Gay. DH called it "pregnancy perfume". Hopefully you'll feel as good as new once the baby is born. I did.