Oh.... my son cracked / fractured several of my ribs. So much fun. Ugh. (I swore up and down he was "stretching".. come to find, when he was born after 14 hours of labor he not only had a perfectly round head -aka he had himself jammed above my pelvis, and spent almost no time in the canal whatsoever- but he also *stretched out* like a cat, and stayed stretched out from then on. Arms as high above his head as he could make them, and legs stretched out. He was my "spread eagle" baby for weeks. HATED swaddling or being confined in any way/ shape/ form where his arms and legs weren't free. Even after those first few weeks where he was only happy stretched out, he wouldn't tolerate being worn/wrapped for longer than a few minutes. That boy REALLY wanted room to move.)
I had to keep my ribs taped.
Medicine wise... you need to see your Doc. Standard non-Rx meds for a cracked rib are:
- 1000 mg of tylenol (2 extra strength tylenol)
- 800mg of ibuprofen (reduces inflamation)
The problem is that ibuprofen isn't usually allowed after week 32 (is often allowed prior to week 32)
So depending on how far along you are, your docs may or may not have you take ibuprofen, and it may be at a totally different dose. Many Rx meds are actually much safer than OTC meds during pregnancy, so you may bypass the ibuprofen all together and skip on to more "powerful" but safer meds. Since it's MONDAY, call your OB to come in this evening or tomorrow morning.
Cracked ribs aren't usually dangerous, but a blow to one can cause it to spiral or compound fracture and stab it through your lung. Which is in the realm of "bad". So it's worth not waiting. More often, however, it's actually a pulled ligament or inflamed connective tissue sheath, which has an entirely different method of treatment than cracked or broken ribs.
