Dare I Say It?

29 Weeks.

I am almost afraid to say it out loud, but it seems that my pain in the butt is starting to go away! It was just wonderful to have so many folks concerned about me and giving me loads of ideas on what to do to help relieve me of my pain. I am so grateful to be lucky enough to be surrounded by such caring people!

I am now able to walk without wincing and sucking in my breath. The searing pain has been reduced to an annoying sharp poke. The strength in my left leg is returning allowing me to walk up and down stairs at an almost normal speed. I am finding that there are moments when I even forget that I have any pain at all! For many days it was all I could focus on.

Here are some things that seemed to set me on the road to recovery:

Heat. I continued to use my heating pad on my leg and lower back everyday. On Monday, I started bringing it to school and using it there too. I switched it on for 10 or 15 minutes and tried to relax my leg. The heat helped loosen my muscles that had become very tense from anticipating pain.

Sitting. One of the hardest things for me is to stay in my seat. At work I am usually up and about helping students and running around the school doing things. I made a conscious effort to rest and sit more. Students came up to me for help whenever possible and when it wasn't possible, I sat in my wheely chair and rolled around to them. I only used my right leg to push myself around and avoided straining my left leg. I also did a lot of sitting at home. Griffin has been just wonderful. He hops up when I need something and tells me to stay put. He has done my laundry and cooked several meals. I really am lucky to have such a kind and generous husband.

Pillows. A pillow in the proper place seems to make a huge difference with my positioning. I took the advice of a couple of people and am sleeping with my body pillow between my legs all the way down to my ankles. I am focusing on keeping my legs aligned and not crossed over each other. Before I started doing this, I think I was sleeping with one leg tossed over the other and it was twisting my spine and hips. This is probably why my sciatica hurt so much when I would first get up in the morning.

Shoes. I switched to only wearing my Earth Shoes. I love my Birkenstocks, but they were doing nothing for me with this pain. My Earth Shoes have a negative heel that pushes your posture up. I always feel a little taller wearing these and they also exercise your calves at the same time. It also helps that they are not clogs so they stay on my feet without effort.

Back brace. When I first got my Mommy to Be back support, I was skeptical that it would do anything for me. It took me a few days of experimenting with the position to figure out what would help, but now that I have, it has been a great addition to my back repair regimen. I have to wear it really low below my ever-bulging belly. It lifts my belly up and takes the pressure off my lower back a bit. Piper seems to hate it. She kicks at it every time I sit down wearing it, so I guess it must be squashing her happy home a bit. She certainly seems to be aware that I have it on.

Distractions. DVDs, PBS online, books, emails, buttons, felting and ice cream have all been great distractions for me. The more I focused on the pain the worse I felt. My lowest moment was over the weekend when I decided to take a hot bath and soak for a while. Well, the water never really was hot enough and it was a major struggle to just get into the tub. Once I was sitting there every little movement triggered the pain and I was then trapped. Out of nowhere, I burst into tears. It was just a moment later that Griffin came into the bathroom to tell me he was going to leave to pick up his brother David from work. He saw me crying and rushed in and saved me. After he got me out of the tub, fetched my clothes and helped me get dressed, I became a little more composed and parked on the love seat with my heating pad for the rest of the day. I was forced into relaxing and it was a very good thing for me.

Feeling the love. It was also really reassuring to hear from so many people that they have gone through this too. Sometimes I start to feel a little crazy and alone with this pregnancy. I spend a lot of time inside my head thinking about everything. I was reassured by the outpouring of kindness from so many people. Thank you.