It is amazing to me the number of changes that a woman's body goes through during and after pregnancy. Not including the obvious physical change required to carry a baby for 40 weeks, there are a ton of other changes that you can't appreciate until you've gone through them. Those of you that have had babies will understand what I'm saying!
It is amazing (not in a good way) what the drastic changes in hormones will do to us. During the pregnancy those hormonal changes cause serious mood changes. People that were never criers were tearing up at the slightest thing! I often found myself driving down the street, singing along to some random song and then crying. Not sure why. People that were normally very even tempered were snapping at people for the slightest little thing. You didn't push the canister of sugar back against the wall so all the canisters are lined up evenly? How dare you!! Dreams got crazier and crazier as baby time approached. I know there are many more things that changed during pregnancy (I would love to hear about some of yours) but I never really thought about the changes that would come after Nora was born.
Due to the breastfeeding I am always hungry! I haven't felt full since Nora's been born. I am constantly searching for something I'm hungry for...I'm not always sure what it is but I guess I'll eat everything in the pantry until I figure it out. I have started shedding hard core! I am seriously afraid that if my hair loss continues at the current rate I will be bald by Christmas! My temperature regulation is all crazy...unlike the constant heat wave that I felt during pregnancy, now it is all over the place! One minute I'm hot then I'm cold. Annoying!
And now, to top it all off, I have discovered I have something dubbed "mommy's thumb!" No joke. My left wrist on the thumb side has been bothering me for several weeks now with the pain getting a bit worse every day. I was going to try to go to the doctor today but luckily yesterday at work our Occupational Therapist diagnosed me. I had barely described the symptoms when she asked me to do a simple test with my wrist. It hurt like hell!! She said, "Yep. You've got Mommy's Thumb." I thought she was joking but then she printed me out some information about it and it is exactly what I have! Crazy, right? Apparently it's pretty common for new parents. It's basically tendinitis in the tendon of the thumb. The treatment is rest and immobilization, ice and anti-inflammatory medications. That sounds easy right? Wrong.
Rest? I have a 17lb baby that I have to pick up pretty darn often! Apparently this condition is more common in people with big babies. Super. I am heading out today to look for a specific kind of wrist brace, but it will be hard to use that often because I can't wear it at work (not allowed per infection control in our NICU) and it will be hard to handle Nora with it. I am going to try though.
Ice? I can probably handle that. 3 times a day. Maybe.
Ibuprofen? Breastfeeding complicates this a bit. It is okay to take ibuprofen while breastfeeding, but to donate to the milk bank you can't pump for donation within 12 hours of taking ibuprofen. I really want to give my milk to the bank but my wrist really hurts. What to do??
I guess we'll see what happens. I'm thinking I'm just gonna suffer until she walks. I hope she walks early!
No comments:
Post a Comment