Removing Some Shackles...Putting on Others

"Being in jail, it's humbled me in a way I never imagined."
~ Foxy Brown

34 weeks and 2 days today.  This is my second day OFF Ibuprofen.  YEAH!!!  One set of shackles off...just a couple more to go.  It is amazing how much being on bed rest can make you feel like you are a prisoner in your own body.

As a parent, we teach our children skills to try to prevent them from going down the wrong path and being positive, contributing members of society, rather than a prisoner.  As a Chiropractor, I do the same for my patients and their health.  I teach them skills to implement into their lives that can help prevent them from becoming prisoners in their own bodies.  How many have seen shows like The Biggest Loser?  One of the things the contestants almost always say is that they once feel like they were "prisoners in their own body, but now they are free to live."  

I have mentioned before about my prior health issue from a couple summers ago.  This pregnancy is showing me even more.  What is expected of me on bed rest goes completely against all I promote in my pregnant patients.  I tell them to start moving early...establish a nice exercise routine...and to think of themselves as an athlete training for a marathon in approximately 40 weeks.  Certain muscles need to be toned, certain nutritional considerations must be made, and most importantly, Chiropractic visits need to be maintained to be sure biostructural and neurological integrity is maintained.  

Because of the bed rest, there has been muscle atrophy.  At this stage of the pregnancy, the hormone Relaxin is increasing in the body to prepare it for delivery.  That relaxes ligaments and the pubic symphysis, the cartilage joint in the front of the pelvis.  When I take care of my pregnant patients, this is the time visits are more frequent to make sure that biostructural integrity is there for delivery....having my "sentence", I haven't been able to get the care I recommend for my patients, and MY pubic symphysis has some dysfunction going on.  OUCH!!!  

Again, having to experience what happens when things are approached reactively rather than proactively has strengthened my purpose for what I do and WHY I do it.  Once I get into a comfortable position, I'm fine.  However, the moment I start moving my legs to shift or move...or those first steps after finally being able to stand....I'm brought to tears.  Off with the Ibuprofen shackles, on with the ball and chain of pain!!