Pain, lots of pain

Wednesday was my 25w appt and I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. I had experienced 4 random and severely painful moments within the past 2 weeks and when I had looked up a possible cause called Round Ligament Pain (or RLP), I became convinced this was it, no big deal. I mean, if it feels like someone was ripping something from my body, that I become incapacitated for the duration of the agony I was going through, well that's gotta be normal, right? Who cares if it lasts about 5 to 10 minutes instead of a few seconds like it's described at babycenter.com:

Round ligament pain generally refers to a brief, sharp, stabbing pain or a longer-lasting dull ache that pregnant women commonly feel in the lower abdomen or groin, starting in the second trimester.

Well I tell the Dr. that I assumed it was RLP, showed him where it was and was informed that it was actually most likely a hernia. When he checks to make sure he's right, he says that it seems I haven't fully developed one yet but was probably in the middle of developing one. Hmmm, that would explain the ripping feeling.

So of course I head home and start researching hernias during pregnancy and just freak myself out with the information. The Dr. I had seen was not my regular one from the practice (I'm trying to see all of them if possible before delivery since I don't know who I will be stuck with) and I called the one I regularly see to ask his opinion. He said from the description over the phone, it sounds like either a hernia or RLP but he'd have to see me in person. So I'm waiting until the 30th to get this figured out (which will also be my GD test, YAY).

Either way, I'm told I have to deal with the pain. I've read there's definitely cases where women have surgery before their baby is born, but this is when the intestine gets strangled and has the possibility of dying from lack of blood flow (sounds fun). Most likely I will wait until the baby is born and be reassessed. And if it's RLP, then I will be writing to babycenter.com to have them update their page to inform women of just how bad it can be.

I've also decided driving is probably not a good idea since I'm a spaz and immediately clench up whenever the pain attacks me. DH agrees, so he's having fun being chauffeur. Good thing I work from home.