Bell's Whatie?

Mid February I spent a good deal of time cleaning, organizing and preparing.  Everyone kept asking me if I had everything ready for the baby.  I hadn't even started.  The baby showers helped catapult me into action.  I cleaned out the baby's room that still had boxes of stuff from when we moved in.  A lot of stuff ended up in the office so I then had to try and figure out what to do with all of it.  We found a car seat, stroller, crib, bedding, etc.  I'm really lucky the baby didn't come early because we REALLY didn't have anything ready.  Brandon painted a rocking chair and dresser that belonged to his mother.  Nena helped me paint one of the walls in the baby room.  I use the word "paint" loosely.  She basically duplicated the design of the bedding onto the wall.  I would have never attempted it on my own.  It turned out really cute.

 The second weekend of February we drove to Twin Falls to attend the temple.  Chase Frogley was receiving his endowment as he will be serving a mission in Peru.  We went down early enough to get dinner at a delicious Thai place.  Crystal Frogley was married the next day so we also attended her reception that weekend.  She looked beautiful.  I think I get a lot of extra points in heaven for attending the temple at 37 weeks pregnant.  It was a lot of sitting (with the drive there and back) and my ankles were huge.  But Chase seem genuinely pleased that we were there.

We had dinner "in" for Valentine's Day.  We had fresh fish for dinner which is a rare treat for us.  I told Brandon to surprise me with a movie to watch.  You know you have a good husband when he brings home a movie that he absolutely has no interest in knowing you want to see it.  We watched Breaking Dawn.

Myca and I went to a Italian restaurant downtown for my birthday.  We were going to go to the Old Spaghetti but they weren't open for lunch so we went to Flatbread.  We have since introduced this restaurant to our parents and it is one of their new favorites.  Myc and I talked like crazy and even got a little emotional.  Brandon told me we would make me dinner for my birthday.  We ended up having carne asada tacos at Myca's and watching a movie.

Doug, Connie, Grandma Jones, and Grandma Earl were driving through Boise to Salt Lake.  They stayed the night.  It was so much fun having time just to sit and talk with them.  Myca, Jared and the boys came by to visit.  Later Ryan, Nena, and the kids came by to visit.

The next morning things got a little weird.  The left side of my face didn't feel right.  It felt kind of numb or something.  Nena was over helping with the baby's room.  I kept asking her if my face looked weird because it felt different.  It was bothering me all day and my eye kept watering.  She didn't think it looked

bad.  That night I mentioned it to Brandon too.  The next morning I took Jack for a walk and stopped by Myca's house.  I told her my face felt weird.  I could tell by her expression that my face was weird.  She told me I needed to go see a doctor right away.  I went to the urgent care clinic.  The physician's assistant told me that I had Bell's Palsy.  Then she told me that I would be given a prescription for a steroid and an anti-viral.  I had not taken one pill my entire pregnancy, not even Tylenol.  She said that the anti-viral was safe but that not a lot of testing had been done with steroids.  I thought to myself that I would just wait and take the medication after the baby was born (I was due in 4 days.)  She must have read my mind because she told me I had to take it within the next 24 hours or it wouldn't be effective.  She gave me a brochure from the Mayo Clinic on Bell's Palsy.  I really didn't have much knowledge of the diagnosis.  The brochure said "Bell's palsy causes sudden weakness in your facial muscles. This makes half of your face appear to droop. Your smile is one-sided, and your eye on that side resists closing. Bell's palsy, also known as facial palsy, can occur at any age. The exact cause is unknown, but it's believed to be the result of swelling and inflammation of the nerve that controls the muscles on one side of your face. It may be a reaction that occurs after a viral infection. For most people, Bell's palsy is temporary. Symptoms usually start to improve within a few weeks, with complete recovery in about six months. A small number of people continue to have some Bell's palsy symptoms for life. Rarely, Bell's palsy can recur.  Bell's palsy occurs more often in people who:

Are pregnant, especially during the third trimester, or who are in the first week after giving birth.
Have an upper respiratory infection, such as the flu or a cold."  I myself have never met any pregnant woman with Bell's Palsy.  I was definitely a mess that day.  I was in tears trying to decide whether to take the meds or not.  I talked with Brandon, called Mindy, my sister-in-law who is a nurse and she made a few phone calls on my behalf.  I didn't want to take anything that would harm the baby but I also didn't want my face to be frozen forever.  I was also disappointed thinking about having a new baby and having my face look scary in all the pictures.  I decided to fill the prescriptions and had drive to 3 different pharmacies to get it done.

My parents moved their stuff in that weekend too.  I wish I would have taken a picture of all the stuff in our living room and dining room.  It was crazy.  It felt really chaotic.  My mom also watched Myca's kids the beginning of that week and Ryan's kids at the end of the week.  It's probably good that the baby came a little late to give us time to get things situated.

A few days later I developed a severe sinus infection.  My eyes were gooped closed when I woke up in the mornings.  I went several days trying to rinse with the Nettie pot and steam my face or use hot rags on my eyes.  Nothing worked so I had to go on an antibiotic.  It felt like I was falling apart there at the end.  I was concerned I would go into labor with this sinus infection and not be able to breath (kind of important while you are laboring.)

I was 40 weeks around this time.  My midwife started talking about inductions.  I wanted no part of that so I decided to see an acupuncturist to help induce labor.  I had never been to one before.   I had to fill out a form with my medical information.  I included the sinus infection and Bell's Palsy.  To my surprise, in China they treat Bell's Palsy.  She put needles in my face and sent me home with a moxa stick to help with the treatment at home.  Within a few days, my face started tingling.  Within a week or so, I had almost full movement back in my face.  I'm not completely sure what I think about acupuncture.  It worked to help my Bell's Palsy but it definitely did NOT help to induce me.

Last but not least, Our dog had to have surgery at the beginning of March.  He jumped up to try and get the cat.  He must have landed on it funny because he started wincing right away.  We took him to the emergency dog clinic that night, Monday the 5th.  He had surgery Wednesday the 7th.  I went into the hospital on the 8th.  He had to stay in a cast for several weeks.  He recovered for 8 weeks total.  It was difficult on everyone!