I had worked so hard to get the podcast and website up and running. My goal was to have it up at the beginning of August. The Sunday I wanted to launch the website and the podcast, the world had other plans.
I was carrying my son downstairs to our finished basement and four steps to the bottom I must have slipped. It took all my focus to protect my son and I did! He did not have a bump or scratch on him. Me on the other hand, I broke my left tibia in two spots, my ankle, and some ribs. And I have never been so happy to break something. I was so grateful my son was fine. That’s all that mattered.
However, the pain of a broken bone was the worst pain I have ever experienced. And I should qualify this. Three months ago, I had an unmedicated birth and delivery. Yes, labor and delivery pain was bad, but you have breaks in between contractions and they were only really bad the last two hours of labor (13 hours of labor total – yes I know lucky). Meanwhile, with a broken bone, the pain is constant and in my experience, it got worse before it got better – and lasted for days before feeling any relief. And you don’t get a baby after all the pain! However, all the pain I went through and will go through, I am grateful that my son was fine and not hurt.
I am also so grateful that I have my husband, mother, mother-in-law, friends and co-workers have all offered to help. I’m so lucky that my family has come to help me and that my son is so loved that everyone wants to watch him!
This week I also get a wheelchair to start moving around in. I am excited to be a little more mobility around the first floor in the common areas and not have to rely on everyone to bring me everything. Of course through all of this, I think about the mothers that are permanently in wheelchairs and how they manage every day. Or even mothers that have illnesses that keep them from their children. I am very lucky that my time is only for a few weeks or months and is not permanent.
How about you? Have you ever struggled with an injury/illness while having an infant/child? How did you get through it? Leave comments below. And if you want to hear about the whole story go listen to the podcast Episode #4.