Saturday 13 September 2014

When the bough breaks

Rock-a-bye baby, in the treetop
When the wind blows, the cradle will rock
When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall
And down will come baby, cradle and all


My co-teacher at work calls this "a horrifying lullaby" and I have to agree....Who came up with this and WHY??

My day yesterday was a little too much like this lullaby.  First of all, there are a lot of broken boughs around the city after last week's snowstorms.  Since trees had not yet dropped their leaves, many suffered broken branches and in a few cases whole trees came down. There are fallen branches blocking sidewalks in many areas, and people have had tree branches fall on homes and cars. Apart from the property damage and inconvenience, it's sad that so many trees have been broken. And it does make walking a bit more dangerous.


However, my mishap occurred while crossing a road that was not blocked. I was walking to work. My right ankle rolled, I staggered forward a few steps, and when I was unable to regain my balance I went down. Aie! It wasn't too bad of a fall as I was able to break the impact with my arms and my knees. I don't exactly remember doing so, but I have scrapes on my palms, big bruises and scrapes on my knees and today my arm muscles hurt like hell, so I know I used them to break my fall. I landed on my left side. There was no direct impact on my belly as far as I can tell. However, I did call my doctor and they said "if you are worried come in." Of course I took a cab directly there. Baby had good heart rate, was moving around a lot and I had no pain or unusual discharge or symptoms. The doctor said "she doesn't seem fazed by what happened at all." Well, that was good; I was quite a bit more shaken up.


I ended up going home and not going in to work, in large part because the ankle I rolled started to hurt quite a bit after the initial shock and adrenaline wore off. I didn't want to rise injuring it further, or heaven forbid, rolling it and falling again. If I wasn't pregnant, I wouldn't worry, but if I wasn't pregnant I probably wouldn't have fallen in the first place.


Since I walk a lot, this experience has been quite upsetting to me, though since there was no harm done I'm doing my best to let it go. But it has made me think. My ankles roll quite easily for whatever reason. This is true even when not pregnant. When I take ballet and stepdance classes, it really helps with the problem because the exercise strengthens them. But I haven't taken those classes in months. Also, I feel bad about this because I do feel like it was probably preventable. I had noticed that I was rolling my ankles more when I wore shoes that have a heel. Now, I almost never wear "high heels" and certainly I have never worn them since becoming pregnant.  But several of my regular shoes have heels of about 2 inches on a comfortable, full support shoe. I put away all my heeled shoes when I realized that they were causing me problems, buuuuuuuut.....when the weather suddenly got cold I took out my boots with heels. I thought that boots would be OK because they have more support than shoes. Well, I was wrong.


These are the boots I was wearing when I fell. Usually I can live in these boots. They are ridiculously comfortable, practical and they look awesome. I have the same footbed in a different style because I like them so much. But I wish I had realized that even the small heel could make me roll my ankle. I feel like my vanity / desire to wear my awesome boots won out over what I knew about safety.


If you are pregnant and have a tendency to roll your ankles, DON'T WEAR HEELS! Any heels! I will just put that out there. It freaks me out when I see pregnant people wearing heels (some far higher and less practical than mine) but I suppose not everybody has my foot issues and perhaps they can do it safely. I will not be wearing any heeled shoes or boots until I am able to go back to my dance classes. I assume my sense of balance should improve after baby is born, of course, but then I thought....what if I'm carrying baby and fall?! that could be much worse even than falling while pregnant.


In other news, today I've been distracting myself by researching more baby stuff online.  Mr. Turtle is quite tired after his week and hasn't been up to hitting any stores so far, but I'm busy learning about things from home. I have added a few things to the page on baby items.  I even started a baby registry though I don't know if I will share it with anyone as currently there are no plans for a shower or similar event. Most notably I finally found a traditional stroller that seems to have all the features I want. It comes with a big price tag, but we could save on not having to buy a bunch of add-ons. Also, it's not a travel system. I really don't want a travel system.  I haven't make any decisions on a baby carrier yet, but there is a store in my city that specializes in babywearing / cloth diapering, so we plan to visit soon to learn more about those options.


(I've only spent a little bit of time looking at new boots.)

12 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you're ok! I used to wear heels when preggo and people at my work used to tell me not to... I suppose they aren't very practical...

    I hope the weather warms up soon! It's been chilly here too :(

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    1. I usually find a medium heel more comfortable than a flat shoe, so it came as kind of a surprise when they were causing issues. I am glad your heels never caused any problems! Pregnancy affects everyone's bodies differently. We are supposed to get warmer weather here next week - hoping that the past week was fluke and I won't need boots again for a few weeks LOL!

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  2. I'm so glad you and Ember are ok!
    On the stroller system, I'd definitely recommend going to a local store to try things out. It was very helpful for us (we had had our eyes set on a completely different model than what we'll now most likely buy). For babywearing... I bought an Ergo carrier, a friend gave us a K'Tan as a gift, and then I asked for a wrap for my birthday... but of course I have no idea how well we'll get along with any of those. I've heard the little ones can have their own preferences, too ;) Depending on Mr. T's opinions on the topic, it may be worth trying to find something that he can use, too - H is taller and bigger than me, but he can wear the Ergo, too. Probably not the K'Tan though, and I don't see him bother with wrapping techniques...
    Good luck! You must be almost there!

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    1. thanks! yes we plan to go to the store to see the stroller. I just hope they have a model on the floor. Thanks for the input on carriers. I've heard lots of people recommend the Ergo, and yes good point that Mr. T should be able to wear it too (or have his own). Makes sense that babies will have their own preferences. The store I want to visit lets people rent carriers, so if we are really undecided we can also take that route before buying.

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  3. You poor thing!! I've rolled my ankle and sprained or strained it a few times, but usually in flats, not heels. I plan on getting some good lace-up boots for the winter with some excellent traction. Matt may have to tie them for me but the ankle support will be worth it. I'm so scared of falling on the ice. I haven't actually used one, but my favorite carrier I've tried is the mei tai. It's cheaper than a lot of the structures ones, holds babies in the M shape good for their hips, and will fit both Matt and I. Plus it's really easy to put on. Just in case you wanted some unsolicited advice!

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    1. Always like the thoughts and advice! I will try to try out a Mei Tai. Funny that you roll your ankle in flats. Everybody is different! yes, definitely invest in a pair of supportive boots with grips. Feet are so important; I didn't realize that until broke a metatarsal some years ago. I have good, flat boots for deep winter, but may need "transitional" pair for fall (shopping therapy doesn't come into it, at all!) ;-)

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  4. Oh wow--I'm glad that Ember is OK, and I'm worry that you were shaken up, although I know I would have been too. I hope that your weather warms up and you have no more incidents the rest of the pregnancy.

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    1. Thanks, me too! falling is not fun at all, that's for sure! I'm hoping that the weather stays warm too! I'm not too fond of heat but it's a bit to early for snow!

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  5. I was thinking of you when watching the news and seeing all the snow out west! It's crazy! I'm glad that you guys are both ok. I took a spill down our front stairs after a night of sleet and ice last winter, and it was jarring and I wasn't even pregnant. Take care of yourselves!

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    1. Thanks, you bet I'll be extra careful now! 3rd trimester has been really good overall but it's true as baby gets bigger and heavier navigating the world takes extra time and thought.

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  6. Oh my! So glad that you are are ok! Get some rest this week!! xoxo

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