Hiya Rupert's mom....
I wish I had a good suggestion for you. But the only really good one I have is massage. Massage and hellerwork are the only things that make me really feel better without drugs. Have you had a chance to look for a neurologist who could do botox? It could help now and during delivery....because it will relax the scalene muscles and relive that pressure.

As for your doctor, I think the best way to bring up something that is on your mind is just to make up your mind to put it out there straight. " I am SO concerned about sustaining more damage to my BP that I would like to have a c section to avoid pushing" is pretty direct. If your doctor does not respond to you and either address your concerns or explain very clearly why this is a bad idea, well, perhaps you could look for one who will.

My second pregnancy I had a doctor who would/could not understand my description of back pain. I think my son was just facing backwards, so instead of soft smushy face I had hard skull pressing against my tailbone. I would get very frequent contractions, all through the pregnancy that weren't terribly painful themselves, but the BACK PAIN..OMG..it was like having back labor for 3 months...any activity would bring them on-walking, cleaning, working, whatever. At one visit, after spending three days on my couch resting so that they would go away...I finally asked him to reduce my work hours. I was about 30 weeks, I think. I was in a lot of pain at my visit and feeling very worthless to have to ask to reduce my work hours and I was crying as I asked him.

Instead of sympathy he asked me dumb @ss things like was my husband knocking me around... and yes he guesses they could "come up" with some sort of reason to reduce my work hours, but usually they can't do that until 36 weeks. (that part where I can't move from pain isn't real enough???) He was a huge jerk.

My husband was of course very upset as was I, but I was afraid to leave him because I was so far along. What is my point? Well, I went into labor at midnight on a night my doc was not on call...so someone else delivered the baby (caught him before he came flying out at the wall is really more like it), and I ended up switching to that doctor for my next baby, and it was all fine and I think it would have been very easy to switch during my pregnancy. Baby doctors deliver babies, and if they have your records, they will see what has been happening all along the way. i don't think it is near as big a deal as we the moms seem to think it is.

Actually, for you, if you did switch it could be a wonderful fresh start with the new doc- and a good doc should give you a chance to really express how important it is to not cause increased damage to yourself. If you explain why you are switching docs, he/she will know it is really very important to yo.

Also, there is the kind of OBGYN that people with high risk pregnancies use (forget the name) perinatologist?, maybe you need one of those- they are more used to dealing with people who have issues, and might be more flexible.

I wish I could help more. Having two little kids is the hardest thing I have ever done. I don't think it would be easy if I wasn't hurt, and, feeling like I do, well, it just makes me cry a lot. To be fair- I am prone to crying to begin with, but TOS sure doesn't help.

I wish you easier days ahead....

Johanna