Love Hurts

My blog is going to start sounding like Scarlet's.

I had my first regular PT session today. I got the good ol' e-stim, learned some new exercises, then massage, and ultrasound. I was feeling pretty good about all that, until I realized what time it was and that she'd gone an hour past the time I told Ouiser (who was keeping the Papoosekin) I was sure we'd be done by. Nuts (excuse the kindergarten-speak, we're trying to cut the foul language around here as Baby S is coming up with about 17,000 new words per day, and we all know how malleable children's language is. Just ask Toddler Tamer--sorry again, TT! The Husband's a little out of control. Holy tangent.). So I owe Ouiser. I'm actually going to owe her a whole bunch because she's keeping the Papoosekin twice a week for a while so I can go to PT sessions. We don't really know how long "a while" is because I don't know how long the PT will go on for. No one really knows because it depends how my body progresses. I know my insurance only covers 30 visits, but I'd be shocked if I had to go that many times. Well, if it started to look like that may happen, I'd certainly look into day care. Of the non-taking-advantage-of-my-friends kind. Ouiser and I are tight, but I fear her southern hospitality may not extend to three months worth of free babysitting!

Anyway, today I learned all about my transverse abdominal muscles. Well, that's not true. I learned all about all the abdominal muscles during my first semester of graduate school, but I learned to isolate these particular muscles today. These are the very muscles that Pilates focuses on, which is why I suspect I'm heading into Scarlet territory. These are muscles that we all apparently should be engaging at almost all times for postural support, but many of us don't use at all. In fact, my therapist told me about a study where they did EMG on 40 NFL players with back problems and found that only 2 of them used these particular muscles during any given activity under which they were tested. The rest relied on their power muscles but completely ignored these. These transverse muscles are the ones that run laterally across your abdomen. They're the deepest of the abdominal muscles and can be tough to isolate. They're also almost non-existent after having a baby. Thank goodness for my athletic background because they are tough suckers to isolate.

In Babyland, gates are up, which means Baby S can finally play at our house without being subjected to innumerable death traps. We still have more to put up on the stairs, both indoors and on the deck, but we at least have the living room and dining room quartered off from the rest of the house as baby-safe zones.

Ouiser and I are trying to get all our ducks in a row before heading off to NY for Scarlet's shower and bachelorette party this weekend. Our little ones will be with their papas all weekend. Should be interesting for all involved. I'm trying to make peace with the fact that I'm convinced the Papoosekin will start crawling while I'm gone. Sad for me, if she does, but it may be the only "first" her papa would be around for because he works, so it's only fair. It's going to be so weird being away from her. I'm torn between being really, really excited to have time to myself to do something fun and really anxious about being away from her. It will be good for me, but it's going to hurt, too.