Pain & Pregnancy

In light of my LONG weekend and all the recent rainy weather I was thinking about my current pain level. You see, on any given day since the bus hit me my senior year of college I am constantly operating with a certain level of pain to contend with. It becomes white noise to me most of the time, but can range all the way to intolerable pain that makes it difficult to breathe depending on my activity level and the weather. For those of you lucky enough not to know, once a joint suffers a trauma it will forever after respond to damp or cold weather to some degree. This simple fact is a large part of why I left New York and moved to California. Basically I've got the cerebral palsy related stuff: bad balance, spasticity, tight muscles, swelling and pain with over use and on top of that the bus injury. In my senior year at BU a big yellow school bus turned onto Commonwealth Avenue and into me in the crosswalk. I took pretty much all the impact of that in my left hip. Now, back to the CP for a second my left hip never sat perfectly in the socket so this made it a particularly bad target for that kind of injury. Since the bus I have chronic bursitis (swelling of the bursa-the fluid filled sack that allows muscle to slid over bone) and my hip will occasionally pop right out of the socket (subluxation). I also twisted my back pretty good in the fall and have more inflammation and swelling than I had before. Got all that? I know you all wish you were me right about now.
Now let's add pregnancy to the mix. Aside from immediate stomach upset and crippling fatigue one of the first symptoms I had was horrible dizziness. Now add the dizziness to the bad balance and what do you think happened? You got it, I took a considerable spill in the shower just a few days to a week after I conceived. Also, when I get dizzy and fall I'm falling on inflamed joints and tissues. Fun stuff. Your body also releases special hormones to relax your tendons and open up your joints to prepare for an expanding uterus and eventual labor. Obviously, my hip joints didn't take very kindly to this at all. Besides the intermittent pain this process caused my hip just kept popping out of the socket. Rather annoying especially because it never did it in response to activity just when I was sitting quietly relaxing. I'd feel a pop and then burning and when I tried to stand up I wouldn't be able to bear weight. All of those interactions happened before any significant weight gain. After I started gaining weight my balance issues increased, the daily back pain levels increased and I started having swelling. The swelling was not in my hands and feet like it is for most pregnant women it was in my hip and knees. I also suspect, but don't know for sue that my spasticity has an effect on my contractions (how intensely I feel them and how long they persist). Now, toss in some summer Florida weather, rain, and the fact that I am not allowed to take anti-inflammatories (Advil, Alieve, etc), use an electric heating pad, have muscle relaxers or even go to yoga anymore and now you have an idea why I didn't want to carry a baby. It's a really good thing I'm tough. I know it'll be worth it in the end, but some days are more intolerable than others.