Hilary Duff will soon welcome her third child into the world. But although the date of delivery is about two weeks from now, it may not arrive anytime soon.
That’s because, as the “Younger” star explained during an interview on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show”, she is suffering from a truly painful side effect of pregnancy – a condition commonly called “lightning groin”.
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Duff opened up about the illness when guest presenter Brooke Baldwin asked her about how she was feeling.
“I didn’t have it with the other kids,” explained the 33-year-old man about the intimate pain. “So I texted my midwife the other day, and said, ‘What’s with the sharp pains in my vagina ?!’ … it’s horrible, like you’re being hit by lightning. “
She was surprised by the midwife’s indifferent response.
“She just replied and was like, ‘Oh, lightning crotch’ – like it wasn’t a big deal,” Duff continued as Baldwin grimaced just contemplating the subject. “I was like, ‘This is pretty traumatic.’ Like, it’s going to hit and suddenly you’re bent. And then it was over. “
Duff explained: “The term is called lightning, which is the baby preparing for birth, bending down, so that you can really breathe and … fill your lungs with air, which I haven’t been able to do for months,” she said. “But you are in excruciating pain.”
While Duff maintained his mood about the sensation, the pain she and other pregnant mothers face is not a joke.
According to Dr. Christine Greves, an OB-GYN certified at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies in Orlando, Florida, “lightning groin” refers to a “really painful sensation like just an electrical discharge, a twinge or something in the vagina or pelvis during pregnancy … Some described it as a knife, because it is very sharp in touch. And many people simply call it the lightning groin because sometimes it looks like a lightning rod going there. “
Strikes told parents TODAY: “There is no medical term, so there are only theories about it, but because it is an acute pain, the thought is that maybe the baby has impacted an area where there is a nerve. Maybe the baby kicks it, maybe the baby moves in a certain area where it touches that nerve that is extremely sensitive.
“It usually happens a little later in pregnancies when the baby is older, to be able to feel … It doesn’t usually happen in the first trimester, but again, there is really no medical literature being able to state when exactly this will happen, the cause exact and everything. “
Not all pregnant women can experience the phenomenon and it is not something to worry about. “It usually lasts a short time and ends on its own, but if you are uncomfortable with it, try to change your position, get up if the baby is feeling bad. Sometimes people wear support belts,” suggested Greves.
“In fact, I went through this with my first and only pregnancy and it was strange, to the point of saying to my doctor: ‘Can you please look and make sure everything is okay?’ Strikes recalled: “I have had patients with the feeling that something is sharp, and I have an exam and it is good. The most important thing to take into account is to know that it is short-lived and that there is not necessarily a pattern. It does not mean that you is going into labor, it doesn’t mean you’re breaking your water bag, etc. “
Greves added: “Definitely make sure it is mentioned to your primary doctor, but there is usually nothing to really worry about.”
When asked if exchanging breathing difficulties for acute pelvic pain was a good exchange, Duff thought for a moment and said, “I’m not sure which is the best one.”
Of course, she won’t have to deal with any of these sensations for much longer, while she and her husband Matthew Koma prepare for the baby or girl on the way.
Duff is the mother of an 8-year-old son, Luca, from a previous marriage, and she and Koma share a 2-year-old daughter, Banks. But baby # 3 remains a mystery.
“We don’t know the sex of the baby,” she insisted. “We found out with Banks what we were having and I found out with Luca. And we thought, ‘You know what? This has been a crazy year, let’s do something even more crazy and not find out what kind of baby we are having. ‘”
She added that when they finally find out, “Anyway, we’re going to be thrilled and very excited and like, I think it’s going to be a laugh festival!”