Growing Pains

I went to the chiropractor (certified in prenatal and pediatric chiropractic care) for the second time in my life today. Going has helped me to understand some of the aches and pains that I am feeling in my lower back a little better. She provides a minor adjustment to my lower back then helps me to stretch the muscles that are currently holding everything together back there. I was told that I need to do a better job stretching certain muscles or the pain will get to the point where my movement will be limited shortly (because of the extra work my muscles are doing to compensate for all of the changes related to pregnancy like my shift in posture and weight). Apparently my muscles supplying support to my lower back are severely shortened and need to be stretched much more often. She also recommended using a heating pad to relax the muscles in order to get a deeper stretch and getting a prenatal massage regularly. She made sure that I understood that I am not at risk for a difficult pregnancy or complications as a result of this 'very normal' pregnancy related back pain, but that for my comfort it would be good to implement more stretching into my daily routine.

Paul is also working on stretching more as he is seeing a physical therapist this month in order to get his achilles in tip top shape for the Peachtree Road Race on July 4th (a 10k). We ran in this race last year and it was a lot of fun. Specifically they are focused on stretching and stability of the achilles first, then working on strengthening the surrounding muscles to keep him safe moving forward. Other recommendations included orthotics potentially and biking/swimming. Main take home message from this post ----STRETCH!