Good news: All of my insides look great! I'm probably not going to die after all.
It's not a gallbladder issue and that means I can eat whatever I want. I celebrated by taking Faith for donuts after the appointment.
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| SUGAR!!! |
Bad news: The doctor and nurse practitioner both think it's a displaced rib, but can't rule out a cracked rib based on my pain level and limited range of comfortable motion in my right arm. Plus, the pain is constant, with spikes brought on by movements, so that's another check mark in the "rib injury" box.
The bad part of all of this is that the doctor can't do anything to help end the pain (but I did get a painkiller refill!). If the rib is displaced versus cracked, then it can be put back in place, but they can't do it until I've given birth because it would just pop back out. If it's cracked, then time is the only cure. I may get some relief when the baby drops, but that is probably 7-8 weeks away.
There is some concern about the pain when it comes to pushing during labor (I can't even imagine assuming that hunched over position right now), but I told them that I'll cross that bridge when I get there. An epidural won't numb my rib area, but maybe it will take the edge off the pain. I'm just hoping I don't actually break anything in labor this time (like I did with my tailbone with Faith).
I think at this point I'm officially the Anti-Baby Fever Fairy of the blog world. Once the little yet-named fetus makes her grand entrance, I'm sure I'll forget about all of this. That's a lie, but it's a comforting lie. See, parenting is magical:
My new favorite phrase is "displaced rib" because it makes me think of my rib as some displaced person (polite term for refugee). It's like one of my ribs is a Palestinian forced to live in a camp in Lebanon. No wonder my rib is so angry. It would probably throw rocks if it could.
As far as running and other activities like lifting, the doctor said to let my pain threshold be my guide. If it hurts too much, stop doing it, and if I feel like it's making me worse, stop doing it. I might have to force my husband to come grocery shopping with me for a few weeks because that is by far the most painful activity at this point. He is already doing all the toddler lifting when he's home, so that helps a lot.
I ran 4ish miles today and it wasn't painless, but it was bearable. The nurse suggested compression on my rib area and I tried it, but I mostly felt like I couldn't breathe so I ditched it halfway through. I'm also going to try to reduce my daily distance and see if that helps with the pain.
I'm 30 weeks pregnant today, so I thought it would be nice to include a picture that wasn't one I took in the bathroom mirror. I think my husband has lost his picture taking privileges.
This is all he was doing at first:
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| He's focused on the important things |
Then when I realized that he was laughing too much, he snapped this one:
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| This is my "You're not zooming in my boobs again, are you?" face |
I know you're wondering why I don't blog my hair styling tips, but I don't want to give away my patented "Sit out in the yard with wet hair and let the frizz go nuts" methods.
I'm actually really thankful to finally know what is wrong with me, even if the treatment plan involves a lot of waiting in pain. I'm also really, really glad I don't have to live on a gall badder friendly low-fat diet. No matter how bad things are, at least this way I can still have bacon and ice cream.
If you had to go low-fat, what would you miss the most: sweet or savory stuff? I would have said sweet, but once I actually did for a week, I realized it was actually savory.
It's a good thing that all you do is sit around the house all day anyway.
ReplyDeleteOh, and Jeff has a good photographic eye for composition.
Do you ever see a chiropractor? They do wonders for displaced ribs. I almost always feel better after seeing the chiro when I'm pregnant...at least for a day. which is something!
ReplyDeleteMaybe you can have them cut the baby out of you so you don't need to push. Then when you start running again, it will feel like all of your insides will soon be outsides.
My doctor told me that a chiro can put a rib back for a pregnant chick, but it will just pop out again and cause more inflammation.
DeleteI still think I'm going to try to avoid getting cut. :)
Maybe because most chiropractors are fucking quacks?
DeleteAre you trying to get Kara killed?
Oh I feel your pain, when I was pregnant with Avery she cracked my rib, it was Painful! It healed up over the 10 weeks I had left being pregnant and I kind of got use to it, if that makes you feel better!
ReplyDeleteThat does make me feel better! I'm glad I'm not the only one who had this happen (without having a cough or something)
DeleteI just had a thought... maybe the baby is jesus, and the cracked rib is Eve.
ReplyDeleteI think I read that in the bible.
You read real good.
Deleteif anything this will increase your pain threshold for a 100-mile race!
ReplyDeleteIt better! :)
DeleteOh man, I hope you feel better:( Glad you can eat what you want though, that makes it a little better:) The boob shot looks like something my husband would do.
ReplyDeleteAre you married to my husband? Cause any time he has to take a picture he zooms up on boobs. No matter what or who...
ReplyDeleteI would miss savory too. Sweets can be replaced with fruit, but savory - ohh man, nothing can replace bacon!
You are so right about the bacon.
Deleteouch! sorry about your rib. And I don't think I knew Faith broke your tailbone. I assumed tailbone injuries were from, say, falling on your butt. Not pushing out a baby. Nice boxer pics...haha.
ReplyDeleteYeah the two standard ways to break a tail bone are falling or childbirth. I'm thinking I should have married a guy without the genes for huge baby heads. :)
DeleteI'd take pictures of your boobs, too, yo.
ReplyDeleteThat's why I like you.
DeleteYou still look great, broken rib and all. :). I would miss the sweet stuff hands down.
ReplyDeleteI've experienced a displaced rib. It hurts like a mutha. Laying down to sleep at night was the worst, I cried myself to sleep many nights. It took a chiropractor to diagnose it and pop it back in and then 12 more follow up visits to straighten the rest of my back out. I feel for you!
ReplyDeleteSavory for sure.
It is really painful! Thank goodness for drugs to let me get at least 6 hours of sleep!
DeleteBOOBS! Whoops, sorry, I got distracted by your enormous rack. What was the question?
ReplyDeleteThe question was boobs.
DeleteThat is exactly what Eric would do. Every time we go anywhere I have to delete like 20 cleavage and ass pictures. I'm so relieved you can still enjoy chocolate.
ReplyDeleteLife without chocolate would be so sad.
DeleteI'm glad my husband isn't the only one who randomly takes boob shots when he's supposed to be taking a real picture. Boys.
ReplyDeleteI would totally miss savory stuff.
Sounds like our husbands would get along :)
DeleteSo are we hoping for the crack with the idea that it could maybe heal in time for birthday, or are we thinking if it's displaced it could also be better when she drops? Which scenario is better for birthday? Probably no real answer. But it's still better than your innards needing extraction!
ReplyDeleteI think I would equally miss savory more because I find the longer you go without sweet, the less you want it, but savory is where it's at for real satisfaction.
Cracked would heal faster than displaced, so I guess I hope for that?
DeleteI know that whole rib thing sucks, but console yourself with the fact that you have a nice rack. It could be worse, right? You could have a displaced rib AND a shitty rack. That would just be the worst.
ReplyDeleteThat would be too much for any one person to handle.
DeleteDo you know how the rib got displaced/cracked to begin with? Like, did you know when it happened? That has got to suck with all that pressure already going on there.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I would totally miss sweet stuff. I know this, because when I wake up every morning before I eat, I'm already missing sweets. I miss them right up until I put them in my mouth. After every meal.
I've been without the sweet for a while and I'd definately miss the savory, I love bacon and sausage, yum! Glad you found out what is going on, but so so sorry about the rib pain. I can't imagine how much that has to suck!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you can eat!! But I'm sorry you have to put up with pain. My daughter's little noggin did something similar (but in my case less painful) to my left ribcage area--it still sticks out more than the other side. It's like there's still an alien being in there.
ReplyDeleteI like the 100-miler comment above! If it's Leadville, I'll be a pacer. For the shortest leg. :^)
I'm so glad you can eat - but the pain of a displaced or cracked rib on top of the joys of pregnancy just isn't fair.
ReplyDeleteYour melons are enormous. I wish this was giving me anti-baby feelings, but nothing is overcoming my sudden desire for another one. There is something seriously wrong with me. I hope you are feeling less pained or the little bugger drops or something!
ReplyDelete