I’ve been really lucky with  my pregnancy and haven’t had many aches and pains, except for something that cropped up in week 27 and has come and gone ever since.

It started with a burning feeling on the lower right side of my ribs and, to begin with, I didn’t think much of it. At my next check up my Dr asked if I had any unusual symptoms and I lightheartedly mentioned it. She was onto it straight away and whisked me off for a CTG and a blood test, which were both fine. That appointment was on the same day that I was flying back to the UK to visit my mum for the last time until next year and the Dr gave me strict instructions to keep an eye on the pain and go straight to a hospital if it got worse.

It did get worse. I used my friend Google to do some investigating and when the Dr called me that evening from Germany to check up on me (how lovely is that!), I asked her if she was worried about pre-eclampsia. She said the rib pain coincided with one symptom of the condition but that none of my tests showed anything to worry about. I should be checked again though if I had a sudden headache, nausea or swollen feet/hands.

The next day, the rib pin was excruciating. I couldn’t get comfortable and I couldn’t get to sleep so I took myself off to a walk in centre where I was checked by a midwife, who did another CTG. Everything was fine and she told me it must be muscle strain.

When I got back to Germany I went straight to the clinic and was seen by another one of the amazing Dr’s there. He immediately put his hand on the painful area and asked, “Does it hurt there?” as I winced and recoiled. He said that tall or thin women often get it (I took that as a compliment even though I don’t think I particularly fit into either category!) because the rib cage gets pushed outwards and up, which makes the muscles expand. He gave me a prescription for magnesium (a controlled dose that wouldn’t upset my stomach) and told me it should sort itself out after a week or two.

Magic! It worked. I do still sometimes get a twinge or two, particularly after a large meal, but I’m laying off the magnesium now because it can interrupt with contractions. Google tells me that the condition is known as ‘rib flare’, which is exactly how it feels. My brain immediately connects that with flaming ribs though, and then I just want to eat flame-grilled ribs with chips and BBQ sauce….