Oh, what a day!

This was one of those days that happen and if you are a journal writer it is one for the books! I don't have a journal so it is one for the blog. This is a VERY long post, I wanted to remember the WHOLE day! Seriously, don't even try to read this unless you have a free hour or so!

The day started out well enough, I woke up rested and migraine free after a major migraine complete with nausea and severe pain behind my left eye (luckily it went away so no CT needed...lol). Anywho, the kids ate well, watched a little Arthur and we were out the door to the Rec center for our thrice weekly visit. Once there I was in such a good mood that I had a great work out! I was so proud, I burnt 300 calories and did upper arm weights. Felt GOOD! The only downside was that Brady likes to have his smelliest. diapers. EVER. at the rec center, so that is always nice!

Then we headed off to Sarah's for a dip in the pool. The weather was nice, the kids were enthusiastic and I was hoping this would be a nice smooth day...oh was I wrong! I should have gotten the clue when Natalie started acting as if she had lost her best friend. Complete with sad face, not playing and splashing, and just generally not acting like herself. So we headed in for a bite to eat, and of course she didn't eat anything! A quarter of a PB & Honey sammie and a bite of a cheese stick. Not a good sign. And she said she had to go potty but didn't. Hmmm... So after cleaning up Brady's 4th MESSY diaper of the day (what the heck?!?) we were heading out and I bent over or something and felt a strain in my back. It hurt! I wasn't sure what it was, but it wasn't too horribly painful (yet) so I wasn't too worried. Well, so out the door we went and on our way to the wonderful Wal Mart (insert sarcasm here).

The whole ride over there Natalie was complaining of being hungry, and I knew something was up and they didn't fell well, so I splurged and let them get happy meals to eat in the cart. Did they eat them? NO! Of course not, Natalie had half her apples, one bite of her cheeseburger (no onions, no pickles), and a few gulps of milk. Brady ate most of his apples, 3/4 of his apple juice and didn't touch his burger! Oh well! I knew Keith would eat the burgers, so no real money lost. Anywho, so we start shopping and Natalie is riding in the back because she is tired and doesn't want to walk, Brady is clinging to my chest and forcing me to basically hug the cart because he wants me to hold him which I obviously can't! So here I am leaning against the cart trying to console my two tired children and shoving the necessities in the cart as fast as I can! Oh! and I forgot the MOST important part! By this time, my lower back and right flank is KILLING me, I felt like I strained it trying to get Brady out of the car, and at this point I can barely lean against the cart without grimacing in pain. So, this was a pretty fun trip I must say! LOL. Finally our mad dash through the store is over, I pay for our crap, load our reusable WM bags (thank goodness I remembered them this day!) and head to the car. By this point I am in some SERIOUS pain, I don't get in actual pain very often, never, that I can think of other than my C sections, so this was NOT COOL for me. I am cringing bending over to buckle the kids and luckily Nat was a big helper. It was pretty comical actually, something I can't describe, but I don't think I will forget! We were all jammed into the car, 2 kids, one aching Mommy, 1 swimming inner tube, 2 huge bags of groceries, 1 purse, 1 beach bag and I think that about covers it! We were tight, but I didn't want to risk putting the stuff in the trunk because I knew I wouldn't be able to get it out! Anywho, we were on our way! Only one last obstacle before we could all get cleaned up and lay down for naps...

...the stairs! Oh my heavens! This is why I am glad I had my WM bags, because they fit SO MUCH that I was able to get all the groceries into 2 bags, so that meant I only had to haul 2 bursting grocery bags, 1 bursting beach bag and my purse as well as 2 very tired kids up the stairs to the house. Piece. of. cake. Hahaha hehe hoho hmm. Yeah, not so much. As soon as I maneuvered the kids out of the car (remember at this point I can't bend over AT ALL), and somehow got all the bags on my arms I told Brady that, "Yay!" he can go up the stairs by himself, which normally he LOVES to do. Not today. Oh, no, not today. And then? The bliss of knowing my neighbors came to fruition! Our downstairs neighbor happened out at just the right time and he took all my bags for me so I could carry Brady up the stairs. That one last bright light got us all in the house safely and we were THIS CLOSE to naps!

By this time I had called Keith and told him of my pain (and I am not exaggerating, surprisingly), it was SO bad, I just can't handle pain, especially since I rarely ever am actually in PAIN. So he had called his brother Ryan to see if I had pinched a nerve or something, and he said probably not because no real numbness or anything, so we were still stumped. So with no relief in sight for my pain I put the cold things in the fridge (and left the rest haphazard all over the counters and floor for poor Keith), got the kids washed, changed and in bed (we even skipped brushing teeth, lol) by this time we were all so tired! No one cared! Brady went right to sleep in his bed and Natalie and I were off to cuddle in mine. The worst was over! It was a crazy, crazy morning! But my kids were such troopers! They knew when Mommy needed help, and they did it. Natalie was so awesome to help me get Brady's shoes off (since I couldn't bend over, did I mention that??), and she just really showed how grown up she has gotten. The worst was over and we all made it in one piece with NO YELLING!!! Hurrah for me!

Anywho, the end of the story goes like this (did any of you figure out my pain yet?)...at work that night Dr. Sarah suggested my sciatic nerve. Ding ding ding ding! We have a winner! That is totally what it was/is! She found me all these super great websites with tips on how to ease the strain. And it all worked. That is what I get for exercising without stretching, and that is how I have really realized that my body isn't healthy! I need to take better care of myself! So luckily I know what is wrong with me (thanks again Sarah) and though it still hurt pretty bad for a bit this morning, I am pretty able to keep it under control with heat and ice and lots of laying down and stretching. I can NOT imagine having this pain while pregnant. I am such a wuss no one would be able to be around me for all the moaning and groaning I would be doing!

Whew! So what a day! My first foray into sciatic pain and on a day when my monkeys weren't well either. Not likely to forget , but at least now I have all the details written down!