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Thank goodness for this website! My doctor and midwife both told me they haven't heard of this before(!?). I've had my pain since 15 weeks and started as a st_tch pain but now is a general agonising pain all round my rib cage. Am 31 weeks now and even lying down gives little comfort. I've been told by the hospital (yes it got that bad i went to A&E) that i had inflamed ribs and inflamed cartlidge, i've also been told i've got a short body so maybe that's the reason we're all suffering!!! I'm afraid i don't have any miracle cures other than lying flat and ice packs. The most annoying thing is people thinking they know what the problem is "aah is your baby kicking you in your ribs?" NO, IT'S NOT I'VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS!" I'm sure they think i'm just being hormonal but unless you've had this pain, you just can't imagine it can you! It's certainly given me hope reading everyone else's comments, can't even think about wanting a 2nd baby at the moment though!!! x Thank goodness for this website! My doctor and midwife both told me they haven't heard of this before(!?). I've had my pain since 15 weeks and started as a st_tch pain but now is a general agonising pain all round my rib cage. Am 31 weeks now and even lying down gives little comfort. I've been told by the hospital (yes it got that bad i went to A&E) that i had inflamed ribs and inflamed cartlidge, i've also been told i've got a short body so maybe that's the reason we're all suffering!!! I'm afraid i don't have any miracle cures other than lying flat and ice packs. The most annoying thing is people thinking they know what the problem is "aah is your baby kicking you in your ribs?" NO, IT'S NOT I'VE BEEN LIKE THIS FOR MONTHS!" I'm sure they think i'm just being hormonal but unless you've had this pain, you just can't imagine it can you! It's certainly given me hope reading everyone else's comments, can't even think about wanting a 2nd baby at the moment though!!! x

Hi there, thanks for this wonderful forum, i've been through this experience during my three pregnancies. I found that using a pregnancy pillow helped me a lot. if you don't know what it is : <a href="http://pregnancy-pillows.blogspot.com/">http://pregnancy-pillows.blogspot.com/</a>

whoops here's the link, sorry http://pregnancy-pillows.blogspot.com/

I am about 3 weeks away from delivery and I went to see another internal medicine doctor because over the last two weeks my skin on my chest actually hurts to the slightest touch. The doctor thought it might be shingles but did not locate a rash. She stronghly feels that it is the nerves and not the ribs that is the issue. This also explains why Tylenol and pain medicine does not help because that will not stop nerve pain. My pain started at 3 months and has progressed as I have gotten bigger. She feels that early on something shifted onto a nerve and as I have grown, it keeps pushing on that nerve causing more and more pain. She is hoping, as I am, that the pain will go away after delivery. Having a short torso and small frame seems to be a theme with women that have this pain. I want to have another child (this is my first) but I am scared of this happening again. Good luck to all of you!

i'm not sure how far along i am, but i am having similar symptoms except that i am having extreme exhaustion and nausea and the pain in my ribs are on both side and my back but at different times, like they are alternating. it is weird and painful.

I'm 21 weeks pregnant and I've been having this pain for 4 months before I found out that I was pregnant. I have costochocondritis, is an inflamation of the ribs and the sternum. You can check with your doctor or on google search. A simple cough can cause it and the doctor said that it will go away when it goes away. Ask the Family Dr. or contant a Chiropractor. I've being living with this pain in my ribs, in my chest and in my back for 9 months now and is getting worst because of the pregnancy. Does it get worst when you breath hard?

Haha hunn get used to that feeling you have like 8months left of i.. dont be too worried just try to relax as much as possible and take nice warm baths it seems to help im 36 weeks and i spend most of my time in the tub lol good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

I'm 26 weeks pregnant and just started having the right sided rib pain. It will subside when I lay down. But it is a sharp, irritating pain all day long especially when sitting.

have the same thing. I am 25 weeks pregnant and I have had the rib pain since the begining. Its excruciating at times and the same as everyone else the only thing that helps is to lay down flat on my back. My OB gave me a referral for physio. I hope it helps!

Has anyone tried a chiropractor for this problem? See: expectantmothersguide.com/library/connecticut/chiropractic.htm I'm wondering if that would help at all. I'm experiencing the exact same thing. i'm 28 weeks, and it's been going on for at least 2 months. My doc prescribed Tylenol 3 which helps me sleep, but really doesn't help the pain (and I don't like taking it no matter how safe they say it is), so makes me think it is a nerve problem (as someone else mentioned above). I just want the pain to go away! 9 more weeks of this seems unbearable!

Sorry, that website did not appear correctly. It is: expectantmothersguide.com/library/connecticut/chiropractic.htm Also, I really appreciate finding this site. It's so frustrating to hear your doctor tell you they don't know, or it's nothing or normal. Once they ruled out the gall bladder, they stopped attempting to determine what it is or could be, and then their last solution is to prescribe T3. I'm going to a GI specialist next week, even tho nothing appeared on the sonogram of the gall bladder, and am considering talking to a chiro. I'll let you know if something works.

I posted back in May of 2006 regarding this rib pain. The rib pain never seemed to go away throughout the entire pregnancy. The pain in the back gradually decreased, but the pain in the front became more pronounced. I was convinced it was a pinched nerve as the skin on top of the area seemed somewhat numb. My ob/gyn and midwife said that "it could be", but of course there was nothing to be done about it! I went for acupuntcure for four weeks, but the pain remained. I then went for myofascial release, another alternative treatment, for another four, but that did nothing to alleviate the problem. I asked about other treatments but the doctors said that I'd just have to deal with the pain until I gave birth. William was born in August and the pinched nerve has left residual damage. It still feels sensitive and hurts a little (but nowhere near as much as it did while I was pregnant). The rib pain has disappeared completely. I thought I'd be hesitant to get pregnant again because I didn't want to go through that pain again, (especially with a toddler to take care of) but I quickly forgot the pain and how uncomfortable I was for so long (probably because I had an infant with colic which is a different kind of pain altogether). The pain will go away when you give birth (if not sooner), but I don't think a chiropractor will help. It can't hurt to try though! Good luck!

OK. Reading this forum has given me emotional relief, if not physical relief. I am 36 weeks pregnant and have been experiencing pain just under my right b___st above my abdomen/uterus since week 33. It is such a strange pain because the skin and dermis feels numbish and the area below is just downright painful. My midwife manually checked my liver and when she pushed deep into the area, it did not hurt in the least. Her and the doctor on staff are convinced it is nerve related due to the growing uterus and baby. Two days ago, rib pain began in my the middle of the right side of my back, rib cage again. This time, it feels like I have fractured a rib, for the pain completely follows the ribs and intercostals to the front. Pain in the front, pain in the back. Sitting hurts the front like crazy and I can barely lift myself in and out of bed (50 million times a night) due to the pain in the back. I am having a completely natural water birth and I have not taken any type of medication my entire pregnancy and this pain has tempted me.......sounds like nothing would really help anyway.........I know my post is just repeating the same challenges as every women here; it just felt good to share with a group who understands. My fiance, though sympathetic, cannot even come close to understanding how much it hurts and how frayed I have become because of it. I've actually started worrying a bit about this pain during labor! Can anyone who has had it and gone through labor tell us if it makes labor more of a challenge? I can imagine the pushing stage making this pain completely out of control..............good luck everyone. I'll post after my delivery and tell you how it goes!

To tiwagner, You're so close to delivery! You're right that it's a nerve, especially with the feeling of numbness above it. I had exactly the same thing and the doctors just said it was the baby pushing up on the rib cage and that it would go away with his birth. The rib pain in the front and back was diagnosed as Costochondritis. The rib pain became better as the pregnancy progressed while the nerve pain became worse. I opted for an epidural at delivery and it was such a relief to have the pain go away for the first time in four months. Once you're in the midst of childbirth, you'll probably forget all about the rib pain and be focused on getting your baby out into the world! Just think, a month from now the pain will be gone! I wish you a safe and quick birthing!

What a relief it is to find its not just me! Cant be that common though? I have seen a chirporactor, had a few ma__sages, asked my doctor and seen an acupuncturist who specialises in fertlity and pregnant women and NONE of them have come across it before!!. I am only 20 weeks and it seems to have been with me for months. Some days nothing, some days it starts in the morning and most days it comes on during the day. Strange, very distracting and awfully painful. Same as many of you, only lying down flat on my back for a while seems to help. Thanks all of you for sharing your experiences. I am based in Melbourne Australia if anyone out there has some recommendatiosn for anything in my oart if the world/therapsist etc I WILL TRY ANYTHING!!! Good luck to all of you,

I am 35 weeks and one day along with my 4th child and am having pain in my back by the left rib and it feels like someone is stabbing me with a knife and twisting it and come and goes as far as sharpness but stays a dull pain constantly as far as jenny clark I will let you know this I have had hyperemesis gravidarum and have been in the same boat but am sitting on bed rest because of placental previa and its severity and now I am heading toward what I believe to be preeclampsia