Carter's Gift To Me

Carter was born about 15 month ago and is a super little guy! We love him so much! However, when he was born he fractured my tailbone and knocked my right hip out of joint. I have not felt normal or good since he was born. I just assumed I would start to feel better eventually. I would mention to Tyler about all my aches and pains and how I was having a hard time doing this or doing that. But, there was a lot of stuff going on and I just didn't feel like there was time for me to hurt or to complain or really do anything about it. So, I managed the best I could until a couple weeks ago when the pain was just too great for me to take. I had no idea what was going on, needless to say, it was a long night and the next day (Friday) I just took myself to Oasis Urgent Care because the pain was not going away. They thought I might have Gall Stones and would need to get my Gall Bladder removed. The doctor there gave me Vicadin and set me up to have an ultrasound after the weekend. The pain medicine was nice, actually it was really nice, it was the first time I had felt relief in almost 15 months. I was a little scared. I went for the ultrasound the Monday after that appointment and I did not have Gall Stones, or anything for that matter. They checked my kidneys, liver, spleen, pancreas, and everything else down and around that area and came up with nothing. Something was still wrong with me. So, I called my OB/Gyn Dr. Knutson and we talked about life since the last time she had seen me, which was my 6 week check up. She read my chart to me which said "Ashley says her hip and tailbone ache, but not bad enough, it'll get better". That sounded like something I would have said in the midst of having a 6 week old baby, a 2 year old, and not getting very much sleep. Obviously we had done nothing and I had never called her back. Case closed. Well, when she recapped Carter's birth she reminded me that he was born in about 2-3 pushes or 5 minutes. That's kind of quick, and just quick enough to knock a few things out of place. I would not have known at the time, I was numb and feeling great and ready to meet the new little guy! She told me that I probably cracked my tailbone, and my hips might be out of line. She called STARS (Saint Al's Rehabilitation Services) and set me up with an appointment to get x-rays and some physical therapy. I went to my first PT appointment on Monday. I first got x-rayed and saw the fracture in my tailbone which kind of creeped me out and I also saw how different my right hip looked from my left hip. I was told that was because my right hip was not really "in". Fantastic. I should have called a long time ago. My therapists name is Maril and she is wonderful! The first thing she did was pop that hip back in and then get to work on the rest of me. That was not as much fun as it sounds. Of course, since I have been walking around with a whacked out hip for a while, I have caused a few other muscular and ligament and tendon damage that spans from the top of my spine all the way down to my ankle on the left side. Evidently there has been a lot of compensation, which makes sense. So, Maril is giving me workouts to strengthen and straighten and get everything back in order. They hurt like crazy but I know that I will feel better soon! I get to hang out with Maril 3 times a week for hopefully no more than 2 months. The only thing she can do about the tailbone is just strengthen the muscles around it. There is no fix for a fractured tailbone. They have to heel on their own which can take a long time. I feel lucky because when I am sitting, I only have tailbone pain for about 15 minutes and then I go numb down there. It's a weird sensation, but it's better than pain and with the PT, all that should start to subside. I am excited for my PT journey and it's also kind of fun to go back to my old stomping grounds and see old co-workers!