"Light" Duty
I hated to laugh when my Chiropractor said she was going to write me a note for work placing me on "light duty".
I explained to her that I work overnights stocking in a retail store and that there really is no light duty in the traditional. So instead she made the orders to read as such that I should be provided time to break each hour to apply ice to my "affected areas" and that she would like for me to be provided a chair from which to work from as much as possible.
I was afraid it wouldn't be met with open ears when I broke the news to my boss this morning. But I was too pessimistic for my own good and was happy to find myself rolling a nice cushioned office chair over to my work area.
I was able to sit for the majority of the "breakout" phase of my morning, which is when we open up and unload the boxes and hang the clothes on the zee's. I had to get up occasionally to put clothes on the appropriate zee, but other than that I was butt-in-seat the first two to three hours. I took two breaks during my 5 hour shift to ice my lower back and hip, albeit briefly. But it sure helped.
Luckily it was a light freight day for soft lines. I ended up finishing my work early and was reassigned to help over in the cosmetics department for the remainder of my work day. I still walked out of work sore, but not nearly as badly as I have been in the recent weeks. I think the whole part of sitting for the breakout really made all the difference.
I'm sure I'll be on these restrictions for the remainder of my time at this job. I just hope I can maintain this current status and not deteriorate to the point of requiring more physical restrictions.
Luckily, the Chiropractor is doing all she can to keep me adjusted in the meantime. But she does remind me each visit that the changes my body is dealing with as a result of my pregnancy are just part of my life right now and pretty well unavoidable. I will follow her orders, do what I can at work without hurting myself, and just deal with the pain as it comes.
Thankfully ice packs help dull the acute pain with just a 10 minute application. And resting at night at home refreshes me for each new day. Tylenol... not much help that I can see but it's nice to know it's there if/when I need it.
Aside from all that, life is going good. We are gearing up and getting ready for the big Christmas celebration next week. I still haven't and won't bother to decorate at my house, now because at this point it's pointless. But since we always do it big at my dad and stepmom's, with the full dinner spread, kids running around and peeping under the tree anxious to tear into their presents, and all the trimmings to make it feel just perfect, I'm not worried about not decorating here.
I'm sure we'll do it up right next year, when our little girl will be crawling around doing her own poking around the tree.
And speaking of... My husbands mother was a nurse and after she passed away he held onto a few things of hers, one of which is a stethoscope. I've used it so many times since I found out I was pregnant, trying to catch the thump-thump of my little ones' heartbeat. But every time I've tried I have only heard the gurgles of my own innards, the breaths of my own lungs and the beat of my own heart, so much so that it seems pointless to keep trying really. But every few days I lay on the bed and listen hard in the silence.
I always move the listening end from one spot to the next, usually irritating my little womb resident and prompting a little nudge from within where ever the stethoscope landed. I never heard much more than my own body until the other evening. I was laying there, on the verge of giving up again when I heard something I knew wasn't something I'd heard before. I reached up and unplugged one of the ear pieces to make sure there wasn't something in the room or outside that was causing it. When I confirmed that it was as silent as ever, I replaced the ear piece and listened again.
A tear formed in my eye as I realized it was the quick pulsing of a little heart, the little heart inside me. Sure I've heard her heartbeat at the doctors office via the fancy schmancy Doppler device, but now she's big enough and strong enough for me to hear her at home, on my own. I was so excited. I didn't want to stop listening. I hope I can find it again tomorrow evening when I have some time to spend with my hubby, so he can hear it too.
It just makes it so much more real now, not that it wasn't before. But being able to hear that little bitty heart beating without any modern technology making it possible just drives it home.
I have a check up next week, after Christmas. I'll hear her again through the Doppler I'm sure. But in the meantime, I am happy to know I can listen in anytime I want. :)
I explained to her that I work overnights stocking in a retail store and that there really is no light duty in the traditional. So instead she made the orders to read as such that I should be provided time to break each hour to apply ice to my "affected areas" and that she would like for me to be provided a chair from which to work from as much as possible.
I was afraid it wouldn't be met with open ears when I broke the news to my boss this morning. But I was too pessimistic for my own good and was happy to find myself rolling a nice cushioned office chair over to my work area.
I was able to sit for the majority of the "breakout" phase of my morning, which is when we open up and unload the boxes and hang the clothes on the zee's. I had to get up occasionally to put clothes on the appropriate zee, but other than that I was butt-in-seat the first two to three hours. I took two breaks during my 5 hour shift to ice my lower back and hip, albeit briefly. But it sure helped.
Luckily it was a light freight day for soft lines. I ended up finishing my work early and was reassigned to help over in the cosmetics department for the remainder of my work day. I still walked out of work sore, but not nearly as badly as I have been in the recent weeks. I think the whole part of sitting for the breakout really made all the difference.
I'm sure I'll be on these restrictions for the remainder of my time at this job. I just hope I can maintain this current status and not deteriorate to the point of requiring more physical restrictions.
Luckily, the Chiropractor is doing all she can to keep me adjusted in the meantime. But she does remind me each visit that the changes my body is dealing with as a result of my pregnancy are just part of my life right now and pretty well unavoidable. I will follow her orders, do what I can at work without hurting myself, and just deal with the pain as it comes.
Thankfully ice packs help dull the acute pain with just a 10 minute application. And resting at night at home refreshes me for each new day. Tylenol... not much help that I can see but it's nice to know it's there if/when I need it.
Aside from all that, life is going good. We are gearing up and getting ready for the big Christmas celebration next week. I still haven't and won't bother to decorate at my house, now because at this point it's pointless. But since we always do it big at my dad and stepmom's, with the full dinner spread, kids running around and peeping under the tree anxious to tear into their presents, and all the trimmings to make it feel just perfect, I'm not worried about not decorating here.
I'm sure we'll do it up right next year, when our little girl will be crawling around doing her own poking around the tree.
And speaking of... My husbands mother was a nurse and after she passed away he held onto a few things of hers, one of which is a stethoscope. I've used it so many times since I found out I was pregnant, trying to catch the thump-thump of my little ones' heartbeat. But every time I've tried I have only heard the gurgles of my own innards, the breaths of my own lungs and the beat of my own heart, so much so that it seems pointless to keep trying really. But every few days I lay on the bed and listen hard in the silence.
I always move the listening end from one spot to the next, usually irritating my little womb resident and prompting a little nudge from within where ever the stethoscope landed. I never heard much more than my own body until the other evening. I was laying there, on the verge of giving up again when I heard something I knew wasn't something I'd heard before. I reached up and unplugged one of the ear pieces to make sure there wasn't something in the room or outside that was causing it. When I confirmed that it was as silent as ever, I replaced the ear piece and listened again.
A tear formed in my eye as I realized it was the quick pulsing of a little heart, the little heart inside me. Sure I've heard her heartbeat at the doctors office via the fancy schmancy Doppler device, but now she's big enough and strong enough for me to hear her at home, on my own. I was so excited. I didn't want to stop listening. I hope I can find it again tomorrow evening when I have some time to spend with my hubby, so he can hear it too.
It just makes it so much more real now, not that it wasn't before. But being able to hear that little bitty heart beating without any modern technology making it possible just drives it home.
I have a check up next week, after Christmas. I'll hear her again through the Doppler I'm sure. But in the meantime, I am happy to know I can listen in anytime I want. :)
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