Ow.

I had thought, after six pregnancies (five to get this far), that I pretty much had a handle on how my body reacted to the whole thing.  I figured there wasn't anything new left to be found.

Foolish me.

Didja know that being pregnant increases your chances of developing carpal tunnel?  I did not, until about two weeks ago.

It started out innocuously enough...The thumb & forefinger on my left hand tingled when I first worked on a crochet or knit project.  It was easy enough to dismiss this as having slept wrong.

And then I woke up Wednesday before last with my right wrist and left thumb aching.

Well, shit.

I have been on a making things spree this pregnancy.  I could seriously dress this child for a month or two without ever putting anything on it I haven't made myself.  I'm kinda proud of that, and had no real plans of slacking off.  My body, however, apparently disagrees.

I haven't taken acetaminophen because it never does anything for me.  I'm not supposed to take ibuprofen in the last trimester.  I have wrapped my wrist a few times and it helps some.  I've even taken several days off crafting of any sort, and when I do work, it's short bouts with long breaks.

I'm told it should resolve itself after I give birth.  I sure hope so.  There have been nights I had difficulty falling asleep because of the pain, and others I have woken up because of it.

I'm no stranger to chronic pain.  I have scoliosis, and while I guess it's technically mild it's severe enough that I cannot evenly distribute my weight on both legs, and so standing very long at a time is pretty painful, and of course sometimes I just wake up in pain and spend the day like that. I spent much of my adolescence with chronic headaches.  All that I roll with.

This...this is something completely different.  You wouldn't think I'd be such a wuss, but I am.  I hate it.  It impacts pretty much everything I do negatively--I can't use the can opener, I am actually having to limit how much typing I do, I can't sleep certain ways, I have a hard time picking up Marie, or even playing with her.

I hate it. The back problems I learned how to account for long ago.  Finger, wrist, forearm and occasional elbow pain?  Not so much.

November cannot get here fast enough.