Running around after a tiny human is one of the many responsibilities you take on when you become a parent. And well, Kaia isn’t so tiny anymore and becoming bigger and bigger each day; she is a little human figuring out exactly how capable she is of everything, whether that is how fast her legs can take her, or how much she can manipulate her parents (usually me because I am the softie in this house). Yesterday morning when Chris took her to school, Kaia got envious when she saw several classmates be brought into the Chinese bakery next door to her school. She asked Chris if she could also have a bao; he immediately said no. And apparently, she immediately decided that she’d try to get her mama to take her after school when it was pickup time.

That is pretty much what played out: When I went to pick her up at 5pm, she asked if she could go to the bakery. I said I didn’t have any cash (half lie), so we couldn’t go. Kaia insisted that she “just wanted to take a look.” But then she started running around the place to stay out of my reach. And then we ran in a few circles… and then something happened that I did not quite predict. I got very unlucky and slipped on a part of the floor that was wet. And the fall was… quite memorable in that I got probably an inch away from doing the splits. To be fair, I am a pretty flexible person. In my natural state, I am approximately three inches away from truly, properly being able to do the splits. But, when this is pushed upon you because you have slipped or gotten into a compromised position– man, that hurt like crazy. As I tried to break the total split moment, I twisted my leg and banged my right knee pretty hard on the floor, so much to the point that I was limping the next block to the subway station.

Kaia had no idea what was wrong. She saw that I fell, but she had no idea what I was feeling. I told her that I hurt myself in the bakery, and it was because I was chasing her around. And I told her that my knee was hurt and I’d likely have a bruise on it today; so no more running in the bakery. She seemed a bit solemn and said nothing when I said this on the subway ride home yesterday.

This morning when I woke her up, she remembered. One of the first things she said to me after getting out of bed was, “Can I see your bruise?” while pointing at my right knee. Just so that everyone is aware, it’s actually not as ugly as I thought it would be: it’s a very faint green color.

So, yes. Pregnancy can be painful at times; I had really bad pregnancy sciatica for several very frustrating days around the 30-week mark. Childbirth, especially unmedicated as it was for me, was the most pain I’d ever experienced in my entire life. And well, apparently, the physical pain from having a child never quite goes away because it comes back in moments like these!