Rib cage pain

I've been reading some posts here for awhile and have learned quite a bit of valuable information--so, thanks to everyone! I just joined and am 29 weeks and 2 days pregnant with fraternal twin girls. One thing that I was wondering and haven't seen many people address is rib cage pain. Has anyone else had significant pain around your rib cage that does't seem relieved by changing positions? It seems to be worse for me when they are going through a growth phase but it honestly feels like my adominal muscles are ripping away from my rib cage both in the front and the back. Pre-pregnancy I was extremely active as a triathlete so I'm not sure if it has something to do with muscle pain as opposed to true pain in my ribs. I just wanted to see if anyone else had this same experience and found anything that alleviated the pain. Aside from this, some killer acid reflux and extremely achy feet, I have been OK so far (although I realize the hard part is just starting). Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.
Amy

 

I have horrible rib cage pain. My doctor said that the pain in my back is from the weight of the babies and that I need to get a maternity belt that has the straps that go over your shoulders or I'm going to really hurt my back. The front bottem of my ribs is almost constantly in pain as well. It is because of baby b pushing up into them and then when I have a contraction it feels like it's stretching my rib cage when there is baby parts up there.
I was actually wondering last night if anyone has gotten a rib broken from the baby squeezing up there too much.

I carried tums with me everywhere from 20 weeks on. I took at least 5-7 a day. My doctor finaly gave me a prescription at my 29 week appointment. Man has it been a life saver. He said taking that many tums a day was actually not that good for my because of all the calcium. Now I take between 1 and 3 a day. I would definately talk to your doctor about getting a prescription if you haven't already.

Good luck and welcome to twin stuff!

 

I don't have a lot of pain in my ribs, but I can definitely tell when they are being kicked by babies. I did have someone tell me someone they know had 7 lb twin girls and she had bruises on the outside from the babies kicking her ribs. She said during the birth process they broke a rib! When she told me that I was thinking, Ok I want 6 lb babies, not 7 lb babies. We will see, at 23 weeks they were already 1.5 lbs each.

 

Baby B was under my ribs towards the end of my pregnancy and caused quite a bit of rib pain. She was just under them, pushing them out and I remember always being uncomfortable. It actually took a month or more after my delivery for the pain to go away. I think she just had them stretched out a little and they had to get back in place.

As far as the heartburn, I took tums like crazy. I finally started taking Pepcid everyday and that helped a lot.

Good luck!

 

I get HORRIBLE rib pain Especially at night, I've woken dh up a few times w a screech b/c it's such a sharp pain. I try to massage them out of my ribs and that helps a bit. I also have bad back pain on my right side, the rib pain is more on my left.

Tums are my best friend. I too carry a bottle in my purse and have a huge bottle at home too!

 

I remember that with my pregnancy. It wasn't like heartburn, but it felt like burning, like my ribs were on FIRE.
I ended up asking my Dr for a pain med because I couldn't take it any more. He gave me darvocet and I tried to sleep as much as I could so i didn't have to feel it.

 

Oh yes. I will never forget the rib pain. I sympathize. BTW, how do you know your girls are frats? We were told ours were because of different sacs and placentas, but they are ID. A lot of di/di twins end up being ID. Ours looked so much alike that we had them tested after about two months so we would know for sure...

 

my baby b was underneath my right rib cage and she was constanty pushing up against it and was very uncomfortable. The only way i got relief was to either stand or strech out,but either of those isn't much fun at 8 months pregnant

 

Amy--

I, too, have had severe rib pain. And just as you've described--feeling like your muscle is ripping--is exactly how I described it to my OB and peri. I am 5'5" but have a very small frame, and my doctors told me that the babies' growth is so exponential that MY body is having a hard time keeping up with it.

My rib pain has become so severe that I can no longer wear bras, because the bottom of the cup would sit right on top of my ribs. I moved to wearing tanks with built-in bras as an undershirt, but this still causes a significant amount of pain. I have been very swollen (ankles, wrists) and my knees are killing me--so my doctor put me on bedrest two weeks ago at 25 weeks. This has been a blessing because I really feel that standing (and even sitting up for extended periods of time) causes a great deal of stress on the back and ribs, particularly if one (or both) of your babies are breech.

So, having said all of that, I recommend not moving too quickly when turning as well as being conscious of where your bra lays on your ribs. Also be aware of not leaning over and picking things up--any type of stomach muscle use causes the tearing sensation for me.

Hope you feel better soon, or at least can find comfortable positions for the remaining months!

Erin
27 weeks pregnant (one girl, one boy)

 

QUOTE(Kimani @ May 29 2009, 03:09 PM) [snapback]1333071[/snapback]
I remember that with my pregnancy. It wasn't like heartburn, but it felt like burning, like my ribs were on FIRE.
I ended up asking my Dr for a pain med because I couldn't take it any more. He gave me darvocet and I tried to sleep as much as I could so i didn't have to feel it.


Thanks for the reply! We had a VERY early ultrasound that showed separate sacs (before you could even see a fetal pole), so they told us then that they were fraternal. They also look quite different on the ultrasounds (different noses, different face shapes, etc.) so we feel pretty confident that they are right. Interesting that they can be in separate sacs, separate placentas and still be ID.

 

Oh yeah, not fun. I had the ripping sensation in the front (MD said, yup it is the muscle tearing off the bone). I still had weird numbness for a few months after delivery. One of my ribs in the back went in a very strange direction, basically sort of dislocating to make more room for the bambinos. The only thing that helped was my DH giving a serious back rub and pushing that rib back towards where it belonged. It was only a sort lived relief (a few hours) but it did help. I also had heartburn but that was a very different feeling.

Good luck!