Round Ligament Pain

Round ligament pain is a sudden sharp pain in your groin and hip area, usually on one side or the other. The pain usually goes away within a minutes or two and is caused by a sudden change is position or movement. Stopping what you are doing and taking it easy usually helps the pain stop. Round ligament pain is a normal part of pregnancy and is caused by the strain that the growing uterus puts on the ligaments that support it. Typically happens the most in the second and third trimesters. It can be worse in the mornings because the ligaments are more relaxed when you first wake up.

Now, all of this was absolutely true for me during my first pregnancy. When you look up round ligament pain the above paragraph is what you will find. However, in my second pregnancy I have experienced round ligament pain that put me on the floor. I am here to tell you that the google definition of round ligament pain is not the only definition! The pain and symptoms it can cause can be much much worse than just a sharp pain that goes away after a couple minutes.

At 18 weeks pregnant with my second pregnancy, I woke up like any other day and got in the shower. About 30 seconds into my shower, I got a very sharp cramping pain in my right groin and hip almost going up to my ribs. This hurt so much I could barely keep standing up straight. I wanted to finished my shower so I kept washing my hair, but no more then 30 seconds after that, I started getting extremely light headed and nauseous. I had to sit down or I was going to fall right out of the shower. So, mid shower, I turned the water off, got out and sat right on the bathroom floor. My husband brought me the trash can to be sick in, water, and a ice pack for the back of my neck. After a few min of sitting there and deep breathing the light headedness went away and I felt okay enough to finish my shower. The nausea and pain finally went away about 2 hours later.

Thankfully, I happened to have an appointment with my doctor already scheduled for later that same day. At this point I had no idea what was wrong or what that could have been, because it was nothing I had ever felt before in my first pregnancy. At my appointment, I tell my doctor all of this and he tells me, It’s round ligament pain! My jaw fell wide open. I could not believe round ligament pain could be that bad. He told me, yes, round ligament pain can cause light headedness and nausea and can be that painful. I was mind blown because you never see that anywhere when you look up round ligament pain. Apparently it is even more common to have worse round ligament pain in a second pregnancy because of “muscle memory” and your ligaments already being stretched once before.

So, do not be alarmed if you are having a lot worse pains than what google tells you is “normal” for round ligament pain. Whether it’s your first, second, or 5th pregnancy, round ligament pain can be the “text book” definition of a sudden sharp pain that goes away in a couple minutes with some rest. Or it can be extreme pain that causes you to almost faint and throw up, that lasts for a couple hours. Both types of round ligament pain are treated the same, rest and taking it easy. The good news is, we are women! We are capable of AMAZING things! You got this momma! Hang in there!