One of the greatest things about being pregnant (other than being pregnant, duh) was never having to worry about a period. And in my postpartum state, because I have been actively breastfeeding and pumping, unless I was one of those rare, unlucky mothers, I could count on keeping my period at bay for at least six months according to my OB-GYN, or eight to nine months according to my mom friends. Well, I was able to be period-free for even longer than any of them guessed: I lasted 44.5 weeks, or 10.5 months, before finally getting my period today. Well, I don’t know if it’s an official period, per se, but I guess I will count it as one since it’s the first time I’ve had any menstrual anything since before pre-pregnancy. That means that the last period I ever had was in March 2021 — that was INCREDIBLE!!! That’s 19.5 months being PERIOD FREE! Weeee!

I had a feeling I was ovulating because this and last month, I saw discharge that was egg-white in consistency, which is a sign that ovulation is near and approaching. And my period coming back is also an explanation for why the last few days, my milk supply has decreased quite a bit. I wonder if I will be one of those lucky moms who have a temporary decrease in milk supply at certain points of their cycle, and then it goes right back up!

I woke up this morning and for the very first time, I didn’t feel a need to loosen my right thumb. It actually felt… sort of normal?! It’s been so long since I haven’t had any hand, wrist, or elbow problems, so “normal” seems almost like a foreign feeling or thought to me. Four days after getting my first steroid shot in my right wrist, and I actually feel pretty good. I still feel a little tightness at the tendon area on the wrist with certain movements, but it actually feels like I can do everyday things without any sharp pains or snaps.

As I thought about this today, I really regretted waiting so long to see an orthopedic doctor. I guess I was so anti medical intervention, and the idea of a cortisone shot seemed so invasive. I also just didn’t want to deal with going to a doctor. But I wish I had gotten the referral sooner so I could have been free from pain sooner. I’ve already scheduled a second visit for a shot on my left wrist. As I’ve been overcompensating with my left since I can’t lift with my right this week, it unfortunately feels stiffer on my left side now. The orthopedic doctor I saw told me that between him and the other co-director of the hand and wrist center, they each get 2-3 people (usually postpartum or pregnant moms) every single DAY getting cortisone / steroid shots, so this is a very common condition, and a just as common procedure, and the vast majority of patients get relief that is permanent. With one couple, both the mom and dad had to get the shot in both wrists, and so they alternated weeks so the other could lift the baby!

So I’m hoping just one more shot on my left side will do the trick for me… I hope.

It’s been just over 24 hours since my cortisone shot. While I did wake up feeling like my right thumb is looser and more mobile, the pain point still seems to be there. I can even feel it when I’m fixing the bed and putting on the duvet cover after waking up. It’s so annoying. The doctor said I could experience relief within 24-48 hours, but it could take as long as two weeks for the inflammation to go away and to really heal. That makes me so sad and impatient. I just want immediate relief… like yesterday. The doctor did look at me and say that I probably shouldn’t have waited five months to see someone, as the more time elapses, the worse the condition could get, and the more likely surgery may be the only option for real relief.

But given my left hand is so much better than my right, I’m going to schedule a shot for my left hand in about two weeks, and hopefully, that will have a more immediate healing effect. At this point, I’m happy for all the drugs to feel better and like I have my hands fully back.

The last time I went to see an orthopedic doctor in spring 2021, it felt like a complete waste of time other than the exercise I got walking to and from the office. The staff seemed nonchalant. The doctor barely spent five minutes with me, nor did she seem to know anything about my cubital tunnel syndrome. They took an x-ray of my spine, but never bothered doing one of my hands or arms… you know, the area where I was actually having pain. I wondered in my head how orthopedic doctors got paid so much to do so little; is that what happens when you spend an insane amount on medical school tuition — you just get paid a lot to do absolutely nothing to genuinely care for patients…?! What a reward! That idiot doctor sent me to a neurologist to do some nerve testing to see if I had any nerve damage. I did not, and that neurologist sent my results to that doctor… And of course, she never followed up. I never even got a copy of my results.

This time, I got referred by my OB-GYN to an orthopedic doctor, specifically someone who specializes in hand and wrist, which makes sense given why I want to see this specialist at all. I quickly Googled the guy’s name, and not only is he apparently an award-winning physician, but he also seems to get good reviews from patients in terms of his bedside manner and general competence. So I went, and everything went really efficiently, from checking in, filling out paperwork, discussing my condition with the medical assistants, getting a (gasp) hand and arm x-ray, and the doctor came in pretty quickly. He asked me how I was feeling, discussed my condition as he examined me, tested some points for pain (well, pretty much everywhere), and then demonstrated how the tendons, ligaments, and bones are all connected and what had gone wrong with me. He also talked about how pregnancy and postpartum fluid retention makes pregnant and postpartum women more susceptible to de Quervain’s tenosynovitis. He said his wife had the same condition, albeit earlier than I did, in her third trimester of pregnancy, and how he administered the same shot for her. He discussed our options, mainly being the cortisone/steroid shot, potential risks (there are traces of this detected in breast milk, as he did ask if I was still breastfeeding). As suspected, my right side is far worse and stiffer than my left. He didn’t seem that concerned with my left side but did express he was worried about my right. He said we’d start with one cortisone shot today. In 6-8 weeks, if it’s still not 100 percent, we’d do another shot. And if that didn’t do the trick, surgery would be our last and most serious option. I really hope we don’t have to come to that.

So I got the shot in my right wrist, and yes, it hurt like hell for about 3 seconds, after the doctor gave me a cooling numbing spray. It immediately felt looser, which is what he said he expected, but he also said I may experience a flare up of pain after the numbing spray wears off after 2-3 hours. But in 24-48 hours, I should experience immediate relief. I had the option to do my left side, as well, but decided to hold off a week or two to see how my right side fared… plus, I don’t want to be incapacitated in BOTH hands — I’d feel totally useless. They told me not to do any heavy lifting for the next 2-4 days, but to try to lightly move my right thumb as much as possible to regain mobility in the tendon.

Fingers crossed that this all works, as who the heck wants to get surgery, even if it’s outpatient??

I was finally able to make an appointment to get my mommy thumb condition checked out this Tuesday. After over 5 months of dealing with pain in both my thumbs, oftentimes sharp and sudden, hopefully I’ll get some help with it all this week. Based on everything I’ve read, a cortisone/steroid shot seems to be the only path to any real reduction of pain, especially now that we’ve seen that ibuprofen does little to nothing for me. But I was told by the receptionist that I’d need to rest my thumbs for the next several days to allow the area to heal, assuming that is the chosen course of treatment. She said no heavy lifting — including of a baby. And my baby is not little anymore. She’s probably about 20 pounds now!

It makes me wonder… how the hell do mothers do this without any help at all – from a spouse, a mother, a friend, a nanny??