In my last post about this pregnancy, I mentioned that my hips were getting pretty painful, and that I was hobbling etc. Well, it just got worse from there, and pretty soon I was in constant pain all the way around my right hip area. It felt like if I could just stretch my sciatic nerve the right way, that would help, but my belly makes it so I can't round out my back the right way to stretch my lower back. I was in constant pain. Sitting, standing, walking, sleeping. . .constant pain. I discovered that if I ever have a condition that gives me chronic pain, I will probably not be one of those people who, when I die other people say 'she was always in pain, but you never knew it.' No, no, I would be a complainer I think. And even sleeping was a burden. I can't lay on my back, not only because they tell you not to, but because the weight of the baby pressing on my ribs and lungs makes it hard to breathe. I couldn't lay on that right side because then I was laying on the sore hip and it hurt. Laying on my left side wasn't any better because that made that nerve pinch just a bit more, and hurt even more!!
I could also feel that the baby was breech. I could feel that the bump at the top of my belly was nice and round like a head, and not quite like a bum. At my 33 week appointment, she did a 2 second ultrasound to confirm that it was his head, and then we talked about having to have an 'external version' if he hadn't turned by 37 weeks. That's where they push on your belly from the outside and try to get the baby to turn. Apparently it's pretty painful, and so I figured I would try all of the 'old-wives-tales' options that you find on the internet for turning a breech baby, rather than just wait until 37 weeks. Oh man, there are lots of crazy ways to try and turn your baby. Everything from laying upside-down on your ironing board that's propped up against your couch, to acupuncture and acupressure, to seeing a chiropractor to align your hips (I have a friend who this worked for, and since I was having so much pain in my hips, I was about to call her chiropractor and schedule an appointment). The best one is these Chinese incense sticks called Moxa-Sticks that burn really really hot, and you burn them next to your pinkie toes to activate your 'baby-turning-pressure-points' or something. I was about to try those too. I figured trying some of this stuff was worth it, especially if it worked, right?! So, the easiest option all of these websites suggest is visualization. I figured that was the easiest because I could do it when I laid down to go to sleep, so I decided to try it that night. I believe absolutely in the power of positive thinking, but I didn't think it would work right away!! I went to bed and visualized him turning a few different ways, and then drifted off to sleep. I woke up at 3:30 and got out of bed. . .and I could walk!!! My hip didn't hurt AT ALL!! He had turned, and the little stinker had been sitting on my sciatic nerve and causing all that pain!!! I was so happy that I couldn't go back to sleep for 2 hours!!
Anyhow, since then, it's been like any 3rd trimester, but I can walk!!!
Cohen got spotlighted in Primary last Sunday, and here are his answers to the questionnaire, which I helped him fill out at the end of January:
1. What is your favorite Holiday?
- Christmas and my Birthday
2. What is your favorite Book or Toy?
- Lots of different dinosaur toys.
3. What is a pet you have or want?
- A dog named Riley.
4. Where would you like to serve a mission?
- The Zoo.
5. What do you want to be when you grow up?
- A train conductor and an airplane conductor.
6. What is something you love about your family?
- Mom and Dad and Evan and the baby and my dog.
7. What is your favorite scripture story?
- Jesus.
I happened to be substituting for another woman that day, so I got to see him get spotlighted. They have all of the kids stand up, and then they read each question and answer, and if what they say doesn't apply to you, you're supposed to sit down until only one person is left. It doesn't always work so well in Junior Primary because kids stand back up if they hear something they do like, even if it wasn't their answer, it's funny. As she was reading along, Cohen was standing up, but not paying much attention, and she reads "I have dog named Riley" and he snaps-to, jumps up and down saying, "My dog is named Riley!! My dog is named Riley!!" So he went up to the front while she read the rest of his answers, and he got a special pillow-case from the Primary. It was really cute to see him up there.