It was a rough trip for me because I had thrown out my back a couple days earlier that week and although I was mobile, I was still in quite a bit of pain. On Wednesday, Maria had tickets to a ballet and took Zuri with her (I was supposed to go, but we found out that they don't allow babies; J also had scouts that night, so we didn't have anyone to watch River or Kai). Since Zuri was going into her spring break at school, Maria volunteered to take her for the weekend. I thought it would be a nice chance for Zuri to enjoy time with her cousins as well as give me a break.
Well, that didn't turn out as planned. Thursday morning, I gave Kai a bath. As I was getting him out of the tub, I decided to see if I could make it any easier by placing the ventilator strap across my shoulders (the ventilator resting on my left hip, the strap on my right shoulder). I then grabbed Kai, and as I stood up with all the weight, I felt something "tweak" in my back, but I was okay. I got his cares done and although my back felt a little off, I thought I would be fine. River was sleeping and Kai was content in his crib, so I laid down on the couch hoping that it would help my back. About an hour later, Kai needed a diaper change, and as I was changing it, I could feel my back twinging more. I got on my knees and finished the diaper. When I did the slight bend to open the diaper genie, my back fully gave out and I was on the floor.
Luckily, I had my phone on me, and I called J. After getting off the phone, I managed to make it to the couch, then up the stairs. Just as I was passing the front door, it opened, and my neighbor came in, scaring me. I said some choice words (not a proud moment) when the door unexpectedly opened next to me. J knew that I wouldn't call anyone else to come help me until he could get home, so he called the neighbor to come over (he knows me too well).
My wonderful neighbor took care of me, and helped me with River and Kai for a couple hours until the nurse came in (thank goodness one was available). Friday morning I couldn't even get out of bed, so J took me in to the instacare, where the doctor gave me a cursory examination and prescribed some muscle relaxants. That was it. Wanting to get to the root of the issue, I went to a chiropractor, who told me my L5 was out. She said that it was quite common for women 3-6 months after birth, because all our ligaments are tightening back up and with all the bending and lifting we do with the baby (and Kai in my case), so it is easy for the L5 to slip out. Well, shoot. At least we know what the problem is, and although I am still a little sore in the mornings, once I get up and moving, I am back to normal, but it did take about a week before I stopped shuffling around like an old lady.
Needless to say, posing for pictures in that condition was a little tricky, but we made it work. I even managed to get from a kneeling position back to standing that day.
Zuri and River entertaining each other while we were waiting for the photographer to finish up with J's siblings.
At Palisades, the water was too cold to really do any swimming, but it didn't stop the kids from splashing around.
Zuri's Easter basket, and the eggs for the egg hunt.
Suzanne taking Kai for a walk. He was quite fussy while we were there. I think both he and River were just tired, because they crashed on the way home.
J and his dad
Kai had a major spit-up during his feeding, getting everywhere, including his trach gauze and ties, so J stripped him down and did his cares on a bench. Oh the fun.
Zuri kicking the ball around with J.
;I love the follow through! :-)
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