Tuesday, August 14, 2012

7 weeks into motherhood

Well I must say, this isn't what I expected motherhood to be like. Exhaustion, frustration...and a horrific bout with my sciatica. Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be happier to have my son and thank God daily for that miracle. But things have not gone the way I had thought.

SJ (my son) is colicky. He has terrible gas that seems so painful to him. It breaks my heart when he screams and scrunches his body up trying to get it out. Today was a particularly tough day.

But the worst part has been my sciatica. 12 days ago I had terrible pain in my leg. It didnt matter if I stood, sat or laid down - it hurt no matter what. And when I say hurt, I don't mean a little ouch. I mean excruciating pain that I had never felt before. The next day was more of the same. I had gone to the ER that morning and the doctor gave me a Rx for a pain killer. It didn't even touch the pain. Just made me tired enough to sleep through the pain for 3 hours. I went to the doctor later and got a sleeping pill (which didn't help much either) and a referral to an Orthopedic Surgeon. The next day I started Physical Therapy. That helped some. But the weekend loomed and then I would be on my own with the pain.

IJ was handling everything so I could try to rest in between pacing around my tiny condo. Continuous walking was the only thing that helped the pain. This continued through the weekend and Monday I went back to PT with some improvement. Wednesday I met the Ortho and got an appointment for an MRI. I also saw a chiropractor that day. So the week went on and I was feeling a little better each day. The MRI was easy and by Sunday, I felt good for the first time.

Monday was my first day alone with SJ in almost 2 weeks. And I must have overdone it because last night was rough. SJ had some painful gas and was screaming uncontrolably. My back would not settle. I could only walk around so I got very little sleep.

We called the pediatrician's office this morning but there isn't really anything they can do.  They recommended we give him camomile tea in his bottle a few times each day. I guess it takes a while for a baby's digestive system to regulate so all we can do is wait. I don't know how I will deal with the screaming because I cry every time he screams because I can't help him and it breaks my heart. hopefully this will all get better soon.

3 comments:

Kelly Jean said...

Oh hun, I'm so so sorry. I can't imagine. I feel so bad for you! All I can do is hope and pray that it gets better soon. One day it will feel like a distant memory. I'm here whenever you wanna talk, complain or cry!

Sarra said...

Hang in there! I can't imagine dealing with that kind of pain while also learning to live with a new baby, but this won't last forever.

Our baby had some really bad gas at first too. I took him to our family chiropractor and had her look at him. He had two subluxations (sp?) and went to see her 4 times to correct it. He's been such a happy baby every since! Does your chiropractor do baby chiropractic? Might be something to check into!

I hope everything gets better soon for you!

melissa said...

Thanks for the recommendation Sarra. I will ask her when I go to my appointment this morning.