Pregnant and Paralyzed: The Aches and Pain
My first trimester of pregnancy was riddled with headaches, afternoon naps, and my learned lessons on proper nutrition and increased water consumption. It was uncomfortable and I wasn’t lovin’ it. My second trimester, though, was much more pleasant – either because my symptoms lessened, or I adopted those lessons. Now, in my third trimester of pregnancy, I’m slammed with a different sort of trouble. To be specific: the aches, the pains, the (metaphorical) twisting knives, and the needles.
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I’ve been fortunate in that my paralysis didn’t come with a lot of pain. Aside from my constantly tight shoulder muscles from pushing/transferring and the invariable discomfort that comes with scoliosis in my spine while sitting in a wheelchair all day, I don’t deal with much else. I know my situation is fortunate, and I’m thankful for it. This trimester, though, is testing me.
I’m a big (pregnant) girl now, and that spills into every facet of my life. I stalled for as long as I could in giving up bending over (to dry my hair, pull up my pants, pick up my dog), but when I bend now, my head feels like it’ll burst from the pressure, and my lunch will resurface. Alas, I use a round brush for volume, my dog stays on the floor, and I exclusively wear dresses.
My transfers got harder. I learned that lesson at 3 AM when I was getting up to go to the bathroom (which I do, constantly) and almost wiped out with my bed-to-chair transition. My body is about 20 lbs. heavier now, so I don’t move with as much ease as I’m used to. That requires me to exert more effort to move around with loud grunts of effort when I do, and I reliably increased muscle tightness and pain in my upper body. Since I was a kid, I dreamed of marrying a masseuse for times like this. It didn’t work out that way, but instead, I married a man who laughs at the noises I make with my transfers. It’s just as good.
The pins and needles of pregnancy were another learned phenomenon. As my uterus grows to support my growing baby, it presses against my nerves. I’ve read articles that tell me the same thing is happening in my legs and toes right now, but, the beauty of paralysis, I can’t feel that discomfort. I do, however, have some numbness and tingling in my fingers and hands. It’s nothing much to complain about, but it’s not comfortable either.
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Headaches were at the nucleus of my previous trimesters, but thank God they’re somewhat things of my past. The Catch 22 is most medications (and all headache ones) aren’t recommended to pregnant women, at the risk of harming the baby. I just have to sweat it out. Some women get what we call Pregnancy Headaches due to the body’s changes and, in worst cases, a blood sugar condition called preeclampsia. If you’re past your first trimester and still getting bad head pain, tell your doctor to make sure it’s not a bigger problem.
Overall, my back hurts. It’s the kind of pain that, since I’m sitting in a wheelchair all day, I can’t do anything about if I want to be up and productive. Again, my husband laughs when I get in bed at night and let out a near-animalistic groan [of relief] when my body hits the mattress. He says I sound like Lord Voldemort, and I can’t say he’s wrong.
I’ll say this at every opportunity: pregnancy is a blessing, and I’m honored to experience all the good and bad parts. The bad parts are bad, though. Two truths get me through that bad: there’s a baby at the end, and this is all temporary. Hang in there, girl.