Friday, June 24, 2005

The days have turned different

AC, the poster child for happy babyhood, has shown herself to be an imposter. In the past week since her 3 month birthday, she has become a shouter and a cryer. No fever, no tooth-points, no more gas or spit-up than usual. Just a change in temperament that is disconcerting, but probably nothing more than normal. As a result, AC must be held more often, nursed more often. As a result, Mommy's arms and hands are tired and sore more often. At my visit to the nurse practitioner Tuesday, I was given splints to wear at night to help with my carpal tunnel syndrome. Additionally, I was given exercises to do, which you may have guessed I haven't done yet. I can't do the megadoses of ibuprofen because I'm nursing, but I am going to have D massage my hands and forearms as was suggested by a friend (thanks Meagan). The splints have helped my overnight/waking pain, but when I woke this morning, my thumbs hurt! I didn't have the splints any tighter or looser than usual, I don't think. I start yoga next week, and would like to be able to do my positions pain free.

The nurse told me that the CTS, my knee problem, and my diastasis could stand another two or three months of observation since they are all probably pregnancy/hormone related. Maybe the hormones will shift and the problems will clear up. If not, I am to come back. Then we may do an MRI on the knee and look into low-dose ibuprofen or aspirin. Meanwhile, I am just to rest and not overdo the yoga. Don't you know the nurse, who's 47, told me that they could just be part of getting older.

Since Wednesdays' produce boxes are now overflowing with perishables, I have begun spending Wednesday nights and Thursdays prepping and freezing what I know we won't immediately use. This is taking lots of time and hand/wrist-work, but it is a chore I enjoy. So far this week I've put up chard and beet greens, and today I will blanch and freeze some cabbage and snow peas.

I've snuck in a Dorothy L. Sayers mystery this week as I wait for several more Elizabeth George's to arrive via inter-library loan. I'm also reading Stephen King's On Writing. Pardon me for admitting this, but it is laugh-out-loud funny. Who knew? Probably people who've read Stephen King since turning 20... So far it has given me lots of food for thought regarding my own writing, in particular, the advice of a newspaper editor he worked with as a teenager: write the first draft for yourself, then rewrite for your audience. Knowing that I can separate the two and concentrate on one at a time fills me with glee. Can you tell this has been my sticking point in the past? So now, once I work out some logic kinks in a murder I'm considering, I can get back to the actual writing of my mystery manuscript.

2 comments:

Christa M. Miller said...

Darn ML, and here I was hoping for a peek of your ms, since you are being so kind as to look at mine. :)

As for AC, two words: growth spurt. At least that's my best guess. We just went through another one with our boy. I always felt worst when I'd spend the week being frustrated about what was up with him, and then by the time I figured it all out it was all done.

Hope your CTS gets better soon!

Mary Louisa said...

I will be happy to give you a peek, but I want to wait and give you the whole MS at once for critique. And that may be a while, considering how incremental my progress is. Plus, I want to give you time to finish your novel. See how sweet I am?

I'll bet you're right about the growth spurt, at least I hope you are. It's like having a newborn again. *yawn*