A Scary Misstep

As I was walking through the parking lot on my way to observe James' flight as they worked through the Project X obstacle course, I was confronted with the full reality of my new, terrible, pregnancy-induced balance. Lately we've noticed that I am no longer aware of my feet. I keep tripping over shoes and things on the floor in our hotel room because I'm not watching where I'm going. (In all fairness, it's hard to be aware of your feet when you can't see them anymore.) This silly pregnancy trait became a big problem last Wednesday when I was scanning the field for my hubby instead of watching the ground in front of me and did not see the 2 inch rise in the pavement before me. I tripped, and teetered back and forth for a few scary seconds, trying to regain my balance. But it was no use. I went down - hard - in the parking lot. Thank God I was able to land on my knees and elbows and protected the baby from harm. But I seriously bruised both knees and got a nasty gash on my left arm.

Thankfully some other wives with small kids were walking through the parking lot at the time and had first aid supplies that they used to patch up my arm. Also, one of the women in James' flight is a labor and delivery nurse and gave me some peace of mind about the baby. (I did call my OBGYN here in Montgomery afterward to let them know and ask their opinion, but they confirmed what James' classmate said. Since the baby was moving normally and I wasn't bleeding, they thought he was fine.) Understandably, I was pretty shaken up afterward, but I stayed for a while to watch the group complete some of the obstacles. After all, we cleaned and patched up my arm and the baby was going to be OK, so why not?

Turns out we did not clean my wound thoroughly enough and it got infected. I could barely sleep that night due to the constant, burning pain and discomfort in my arm. In the morning when I removed the bandaids to change the dressing my eyes bugged out of my head. The whole elbow was swollen to the point that I couldn't really bend it, and the wound was oozing pus, warm to the touch, and surrounded with angry red skin which all pointed to a textbook case of infection. I called a friend to drive me to an Urgent Care clinic off base where they cleaned me up and gave me some pregnancy-safe antibiotics.

It's been an uncomfortable week as the pain and swelling have slowly decreased and the wound has healed. It was a scary close call, to be sure. But perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. First of all, it forced me to be much more cautious while walking around. Second, the nurses at the Urgent Care clinic taught me a lot about proper wound care. I was one of those kids who intentionally avoided risky situations and rarely got hurt, so I honestly don't know much about how to handle bumps, bruises and cuts. It's very important for me to know this stuff before we have a busy little boy!

It's been over a week, and my arm is doing much better. The baby is growing and kicking like crazy and I'm finally able to drive, type, and style my hair again. I'd take any amount of pain or injury if it meant keeping our little man safe. But here's hoping this pregnancy will be smooth sailing from here on out.