I have struggled with back issues since I was 17 (I'm almost 24 now). It was when I was 17 that I herniated two discs in my lower back - my doctors advised me NOT to have surgery since my sister happened to herniate the exact same two discs (trampoline accident), had the surgery, and the discs just re-herniated. I just did intensive physical therapy for almost a year and was able to manage the pain.

Last year my back was getting REALLY painful again, so I went and so a specialist. Turns out the existing herniation lead to "degenerative subluxation" in my lower spine. Basically a "normal" spine would look like an S from the side, mine looked like a question mark. Again, I did 6 months of intense physical therapy and I was able to manage the pain.

Well pregnancy is doing horrible things to my back! And I can't do my normal exercises anymore because I'm pregnant (they're all ab exercises, basically) and my belly just doesn't do that anymore. And I've been bad and haven't been stretching properly. Well, it got to the point where sometimes I can't even carry my own weight so I brought it up at my OB appointment yesterday.

The doctor did some basic reflex tests and turns out I have a reverse reflex on my right side (instead of my leg kicking forward, it swings back) which is a sign that the herniation is back and worse than ever. We want to avoid doing any other diagnostic tests (MRI, x-ray, etc) since I don't want to expose the baby to that kind of radiation so I'm just going to start physical therapy again ASAP.

On top of that, I need to meet with the anesthesiologist sooner rather than later because herniated discs and epidurals don't really get along. Even though I would LIKE to have a natural childbirth (mainly because of my existing back issues) if I change my mind the anesthesiologist is gonna have to know my spine inside and out in order to be able to give it to me. And if I lose feeling in either of my legs I have to go straight to labor and delivery because it could trigger labor and I might not even know it. It's all just really overwhelming...

So, has anyone else struggled with serious back problems during their pregnancy? Did you have to do physical therapy? What the hell do they have pregnant ladies do during physical therapy, lol?