OWIE!!

I know that I owe you guys some updates and a few more photos from the holidays - and of course some photos from the boys' dedication... but for today - I need to take a moment and tell you about my most recent foray in to the world of doctors and medicine.

Ever since I have delivered Tyler, I've been having pain in my shoulders and arms. It's been fairly constant, but most noticeable when trying to do something behind my back - like take off my bra at night... or sleep on my tummy. Before I got pregnant, I'd always sleep on my stomach with my arms under my head and/or pillow. Now, I can no longer do that... and actually was the first symptom that I noticed in this crazy problem.

I had a check up with my primary care doc sometime in the weeks shortly after Tyler's arrival, and he put me on some steroids to try to help alleviate the pain - but they didn't work. So at my last visit, we talked about my need to go see an orthopedic surgeon... his advice, not my suggestion. Well, I left his office thinking that I'd give it a little longer to see if it would go away on it's own. It's been about 5 or 6 weeks and nothing has changed - it's actually gotten worse.

So I made the appointment, got the referral and off I went this morning. I've never in my LIFE seen a waiting room that full - it was literally standing room only - and that includes several patients in wheelchairs. Anyway - my appointment was scheduled for 10... at 11 - they called me back... I got x-rays before anyone really even talked to me. Once the x-rays were complete, the doctor came in to talk to me about what's going on.

It seems that my post pregnancy hormones are allowing my body to become inflamed at an alarming rate. I've got two bum shoulders, a problem with my neck that is pinching a nerve causing my right arm to go completely numb, and a bum hip! Geez! Since the initial round of steroids didn't help me - he went straight for injections.

They had to call my insurance company before they could give me the injections - since when does a DOCTOR need to call insurance for permission to treat their patient? Seems backwards to me. Anyway - they did approve the injections, and the doctor came back into the room with the most inhumanly large needles I've ever seen. They must have been 3 feet long!

I'm not kidding either - because they literally were longer than the needles I used for my fertility drugs... scared the snot out of me. You know they're long when the actual doctor is the one that gives the shot... it's normally the nurse, right? Holy moly! It could have been much worse - or maybe he rubbed some sort of numbing agent on my skin because I didn't really even feel them going in... but while he was injecting the medicine - there was this weird pressure and pain sensation. Not cool!

I've still got numbness in my right arm now - and neither of them feels much better. I don't really know how long to expect it to take for some relief. He prescribed physical therapy for me 3 times a week for the next 4 weeks... and then I go back to see him. You know, cause I have time for physical therapy! He didn't really give me anything for my hip other than an oral medication that is supposed to be for pain... or some sort of muscle relaxer - hopefully a little of both!


So - I'm back at home hoping that the pain will stop soon - because lifting the kids hurts... and carrying James up and down the stairs makes me get teary-eyed! It's bad.

Speaking of James... little dude is teething again and was up last night at midnight and 3 SCREAMING inconsolably... not fun for him or for us. It's an extremely helpless feeling when there is really nothing you can do other than hold him and pray for the Tylenol to start working. Darn that teething tab recall! I'm literally watching him on the video monitor right now rolling around and doing just about everything except take the nap he so desperately needs.

Tyler is in the swing screaming at me at the moment too - this kid is a trip. He eats like a bird in the morning but once noon rolls around - he's a bottomless formula sucking machine. He eats 4 ounces every 2 hours between lunch and bedtime... then he's ready to eat again at about 3:30 or 4 in the morning. It's nuts! Sometimes he'll take more than 4 ounces in a bottle, but he still has trouble keeping all of that in his belly... so we really can't go up much more than we already are. I'm thinking he's a candidate for getting cereal before 4 months old... maybe that will help? Who knows?!

Finally, I started a new business this week - I'm now an independent stylist for Stella & Dot. I'd love it if you'd check out my website - there are some AMAZING products on there! I'll be back with more about that on Monday... and a couple of opportunities for you to win some free stuff from me. :-)