Unidentified pain and numbness under ribs

[rikki]

The whole last few months of my pregnancy I would get waves of extreme, toe-curling, bend over and cannot stand up, had to go to the ER pain under my ribs, especially on my right side.  When it wasn't pain, it was numb and tingly.  I had ultrasounds, tests, saw specialists, etc. to rule things out, but they could never come to any conclusion.  A few days before delivery, they decided that I more than likely had a hernia and decided to induce.  The minute E was born the pain went away. 

Guess whose pain is back?  Ugh!  Did anyone else have something like this and if so, was it diagnosed?

[everafter07]

Sounds like the baby's feet are hitting a nerve?

[Deleted]

I had similar problems with all my pregnancies. It was worse with the first and I had to quit working at 37 weeks because I couldn't sit up in my office chair without being in a ton of pain. All the doctor could come up with was that it was likely bruised ribs and there was nothing they could do about it. It sucked but the pain always went away right after delivery when there was no longer something pushing on my ribs.

[rikki]

I thought (think?) that the baby is wedged under my ribs, but whenever ultrasounded, he is not up there and neither was E. I hadn't thought of the nerve and nobody has mentioned that.

[Deleted]

I've had some rib pain, but not where near as bad as you describe. I'm sorry rikki. My OB said normally the muscles between the ribs don't do very much, but in pregnancy they hold a lot of your belly up and get worked really hard. He said pulled or torn muscles in that area are common. Mine were just pulled, it got better with a heating pad and being careful not to re-injure it for a few days. Maybe yours are torn, which is worse?

[yellowbrkrd]

I had the same issue, and think I remember commiserating with you when we were both pregnant before. I still get a pain in that area every now and then. I have NO idea what causes it though. That sucks it's happening again.

[loskadoodle]

I had it with my first. It was like under my boob on my ribs. It would go numb and I would get shooting pains. I didn't set it at all with my second though.

[roo54]

I had this around 8 months with DD. I'm hoping to not get it again. It was horrible! The hospital really thought it was my gallbladder but all those test came back that it was fine. It went away after birth.

[matildasun]

I hated rib pain in pregnancy. Mine was from A's gigantic feet putting pressure against an old fracture.

A hernia makes sense. Mine can go months without bothering me.

[gibbinator]

I dislocated the cartilage in my ribs from coughing over several weeks. The pain sounds similar. Obviously it's not the same cause, but I'm really just chiming in to say I know how you feel and it's so painful
I'd guess it's a nerve or just your intercostal muscles being over strained from your ribcage expanding.

[vtdiamond]

Yup, I had something similar. It came on for me really suddenly and traveled around to my back and made it hard to breath. I called my OB's office and as it was at night they had me go into L&D to get checked out. Everything turned out to be fine, they couldn't figure out what caused it. The pain ended up passing pretty quickly.

Sorry you're having this again, I would just keep mentioning it to your doctor so they are aware and can keep an eye on it.

[toutsuite]

Sounds like your gallbladder...a simple ultrasound should be able to determine whether you have gallstones....the right side excruciating pain is a classic symptom. It's also really common during pregnancy.

[dcrunnergirl52]

I had this with both pregnancies. It felt like muscle being pulled away from bone. It burned and felt bruised and was just awful. Only things that helped a tiny bit were wrapping my ribs in an ace bandage to keep me from twisting/moving, icing my ribs, and taking tylenol to dull the pain a bit.

Only thing that cured it was birth. It was one of the first things I noticed after my c/s...I could twist and move without pain.