And no, I'm not talking toddler tantrums here.
I've been carrying Baby Girl much lower than I ever carried Woodstock (who spent 14 of the last 17 weeks in utero with her head snuggled under my ribs). Starting last weekend with my business trip to L.A., her low-level-lying has made me feel like I'm a near cripple. The pelvic, hip and lower back pain (not to mention the sciatic pain from the pressure on my sciatic nerve) has been nearly unbearable to sit or walk. I have spent every possible moment in bed, on my side, with my feet elevated.
As it turns out, all I needed to do was fling myself onto the driveway.
Wednesday morning, I put Woodstock in her car seat and walked around the car to my side. At some point, I caught my shoe on a crack and soon, I was flying through the air, destined to do a spectacular belly flop on the driveway. My one conscious thought was "do not land on your stomach." So I did what I'm sure was a terribly graceful turn which left my left hip taking 80% of the impact and my shoulder taking the remaining 20%.
Of course, I was wearing elastic-waisted maternity pants, which meant upon the moment of impact they slid down, exposing my the backside of my fleshy white hip to the abrasive concrete, resulting in a spectacular road (driveway?) rash.
Hoorah! I saved the baby, I thought. Then I realized that "falling" is one of the "things one must absolutely not do" when on anti-clotting drugs. Deep bruising can cause problems - more so if you bruise your organs rather than your well-padded hip, but still. Slight cause for concern.
I scraped myself off the driveway and slid into the car, wincing. Woodstock greeted me with "Funny mama!" thinking, of course, that I splayed my arms wildly in the air while falling just to amuse her. It goes without saying, I couldn't quite agree with her.
Once I determined that the bruising, while large and ugly, was not going to cause any serious issues and that Baby Girl (after some prodding thanks to chocolate milk) was moving along as usual, I felt a bit more relieved.
However, the relief has continued to come over the subsequent 48 hours, as the startling bump has caused Baby Girl to reconsider the comfort of her low-lying habitat, forcing her to relocate further up in the direction of my ribs.
If you forget that I can only sleep on one side now - all night long - and can't sit for long periods due to road (driveway?) rash on my rear side, I could almost dance a jig. The forced relocation of Baby Girl has eased the sciatic nerve pain, the pelvic pressure/pain and a significant portion of the back pain. I can walk again! Praise the driveway!
Who says there isn't a silver lining in all things?
3 comments:
Ouch! That sounds terribly painful! I did that once when I was pregnant with Michael (fell going up the stairs, of all dumb things) but I did exactly the same as you - protected the belly at all costs, which meant I smacked every single part of my body, including my chin. I'm glad you had a beneficial side-effect from it all. Here's hoping the baby stays off your sciatic nerve.
I should have thought to try that with my first child. The pain from my sciatic nerve was such that I was sure she would be an only child. Thankfully the problem didn't come back until my sixth. If only someone would have told me that the answer was a hard smack to the hip!
Wow, I'm glad you're okay!! Well, more than okay, I guess, despite the large bruise and "driveway" rash! But...try not to do it again! ;) Especially since you like where she's sittin' now!
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