My Broken Butt: a Tailbone Tale

Please excuse the ridiculous title, but I couldn't help getting a little creative since the situation I'm in is so embarrassing. My butt hurts. All the time. Specifically, my tailbone, aka my coccyx. I've mentioned it a couple of times already, but this blog is going to be all about it, so just ignore it if you find it boring.

When I was 15, I used to wear much more fancy shoes than I do now. I had better feet and better pedicures. I liked to wear wedges and platform heels. Not the Spice Girl kind, the really cute sandals platforms. Okay, maybe they weren't that cute, but I thought they were at the time. I don't know if it's a sign that I've given up that I don't wear these kinds of shoes today, or at least the 2011 equivalent, but honestly, I'd rather be comfortable. And I work in a very casual dress environment, so I don't like to dress up unless I'm going to church or a wedding.

Flashback to 2000--I had gotten dressed in my finest for school - a skirt, a cute flowery top, and some Steve Madden platform sandals (I promise, it was sort of cute at the time). I stepped out of my bedroom to head down the stairs and I immediately slipped on my giant heels and fell down half the stairs. At first, all I could think was how glad I was that this had happened at home and not at school in front of everyone. And then, the pain set in. Horrible, debilitating pain that made it hard to crawl back up the stairs and change into more comfortable clothes. My tail bone was definitely broken.

For some god awful reason, I went to school that day. I don't know if I had a test or what. Usually I was looking for an excuse to stay at home, and this seems like it would have been a good one. I don't remember a lot from that day, but I do remember having to stand up during most of my classes due to the pain. I know I told my parents about it, and we might have even gone to the doctor, but really, there is nothing you can do for a broken tailbone. You just have to wait it out. And I did. And eventually, it got better.

Now, it's 2011. And I wear comfortable shoes. And I had an amazingly easy 1st trimester. I dealt with a lot of fatigue, but I was expecting to be throwing up every waking moment, and I didn't. I felt like a very lucky lady. And the whole time I was in my first trimester, I kept reading online and hearing from women that the 2nd trimester is such a golden time, and how much better I would feel then. I was looking forward to the burst of energy, I couldn't wait for my nesting instinct to kick in, I was so excited to be able to go out and do stuff after work instead of coming home and taking a nap for two hours everyday.

I'm still waiting for all of that to kick in. And I've been told that it takes longer for some ladies to feel the effects of the lovely 2nd trimester shift. I have been sleeping somewhat better at night and I haven't been sleeping so much in the afternoon, but I'm still feeling pretty tired, and I don't feel like cleaning my kitchen.

And right around the time I entered the 2nd trimester, this tailbone thing started. It's not like the pain I felt when I broke it. It's more of a dull aching all the time that gets worse throughout the day and makes it so I don't want to sit at all when I get home. I'm either standing or laying on my side. So much for the golden 2nd trimester.

I was sure when I told my doc about it, she was going to express concern. Instead, she said it's not a big deal, it happens to a lot of her patients who work in jobs where they sit most of they day. I'm sure the previous tailbone break doesn't help things. She told me some confusing things about the pregnancy hormones changing my bones and possibly shifting them. She said I probably wouldn't get any relief until I got to labor and delivery, and only then if I opted for the epidural. She did say in the meantime, I should get a donut pillow to relieve some of my pain. Which means, now I can have a pillow that looks like I have hemorrhoids at my desk at work. Yay.

My sense of vanity could not outweigh my feelings of "ow!" I went on a search for a suitable donut pillow. The only place I could find them in person was Walgreens. The one I found there felt about as comfortable as sitting on a toilet seat all day. That was not an option.

Finally, my mom (who I love SO much!) found a pillow online that we could order through Wal-Mart. It's not in the shape of a donut, it's more of a square with a rectangular cut out in the back. She ordered it for me in the hopes that it would meet my need.

So, after waiting about a week, the pillow showed up in the mail. And --it's perfect. It's comfortable, and it doesn't look like a hemorrhoid pillow. I did feel a little bit embarassed walking into work with it, but I'm much more comfortable. I'm not in total pain on my way home from work, trying to figure out a way to drive while sitting on one side of my butt. This is a vast improvement over how I felt last week.

Thanks goodness for mamas---this isn't the first time that mine has saved my butt!

Elizabeth