One of my good friends, in her third trimester of pregnancy, developed pregnancy carpal tunnel syndrome. It was so bad that she could barely hold ceramic mugs that had liquid in them and could only carry really light things up until the point she gave birth to her baby. Another friend told me she had milder carpal tunnel, then developed other muscular issues with her thumbs and index finger once the baby had arrived. “Don’t get rid of your wrist splints!” she warned me. “You’re going to need them again!”

Because of these stories, plus ones I’ve read, I have no doubt that I will have exacerbated carpal tunnel soon. It’s not that I WANT it — it’s more that I already know I have mild cubital tunnel and even milder carpal tunnel symptoms from my daily discomfort in my elbows, wrists, and hands (plus my nerve test that confirmed this), so why would it NOT get worse in the third trimester given all the information above with constricting blood flow? Today, I started noticing my palms under my thumbs on both sides were sore, and my elbows and fingers in general have just been feeling more awkward and stiff. It doesn’t seem to matter how much “nerve gliding” I do, but it still just feels uncomfortable. If this does end up happening to me, I hope my body will give me some grace and give me less third trimester symptoms of other sorts.