Jess & Electric Stim
Jessica’s due date has come & gone, like most new moms, she is late. Or maybe the baby is already taking after the procrastinating dad.
Jess is standing in the middle of a particularly fertile Zucchini plant that has taken over our garden. She is at that final, waddling stage, where she is just ready for it to be over.
I keep trying to write a letter to my kid before they are here. There is so much to say while the slate is still blank. But I start & stall, overwhelmed.
Skating is simpler, and physical therapy is even simpler.
Here is my new best friend, the electric stim machine. The two cords are going to patches on my back, sending electrical impulses clawing their way into my muscles. If you have ever experienced electric stim, what do you think it feels like?
My thought was millions of espresso fed aphids wearing tiny demolition charges wriggling joyously through muscle fibers.
There is a switch on the machine that says “Biphasic Russian.” Having suffered greatly and improved greatly under Russian designed dryland programs, I was both sad & relieved when I found that we were not using this setting.
Also, here I am on a fascinating bit of WWI German technology, A Pilates reformer. The board I am sitting on has springs in it, Except for the arm swing, they wanted me to do what I am doing here. It made me really sore. Kevin Semans & his whole staff at the Sports Medicine Center of Utah are awesome. Thanks guys!
The first couple of days with this injury were quite painful. But it has gotten dramatically better, faster than I hoped it would. So I should be back to full power more quickly than expected. I did not hurt any nerves or joints. It’s just a flesh wound.
In the physical therapy room, I saw many people who were coming back from truly horrific injuries & surgeries. I feel blessed & thankful for my health and durable nature, or is that durable nurture? or both?
Filed under: baby stuff
Good fortune in (and?) health for the three of you the upcoming times!
Yes, when I first started skating, my neck was good friends with the electric stim…
Once, when my muscles felt unbelievably tense, I was hooked up and left in the room, alone, with the machine on a relatively low setting. About two minutes later, my neck started to spasm, to the point where I was in severe, severe pain. I tried to take the pads off, but it completely numbed by right hand when I touched them. I was yelling as loud as I could, and since I had my cell phone in my pocket, I called my mom like 7 or 8 times, but she didn’t answer. Finally, I somehow yanked the machine’s power chord out of the wall and shut it off. I later asked them to teach me how to use the machine as to not repeat the situation.
But I hope recovery is going well for you…and that Jess is doing well too!
Oy — “due dates” were the bane of our existence, twice. We should have learned our lesson: You are no longer in control.
I never got why doctor’s swear that there is no such thing as a specific due date, then they go ahead and give you one.
Maybe the electric stim machine can be set to send specific “It’s time!” messages to the new little Love.
Love to all 3 of you!
Susan, Evan, Ben & Ellie
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Doctors give you due dates because people insist on it - they give everyone a brief moment of illusion that this isn’t entirely a wild, biological process. I keep checking your blog to see if the big announcement is there yet
I also keep watching my Blog Reader to see the headline bring news….
Waiting in Vermont!
Miss you guys!
Still waiting on the news. Wishing you and Jess the very best.
Any news yet?