OUCH!!

So I had a birth that lasted 36 hours and when I left, she still hadn't had her baby. Whew. I was exhausted. Unfortunetly, that isn't why I left! After only the first 30 minutes of being at the birth, I managed to step wrong off the handicap ramp and seriously injured my ankle. Had I not been with a mom in labor, I would have passed out from the pain. I thought I would die. It was swelling badly and continued to hurt terribly as I hoped around the birth center all night. Tom brought me an ace bandage in the morning and insisted that I get an x-ray later. I said it was dumb! I didn't want to waste my time in the Er and have them say, "ice it." So around 11:30am, my client goes to see the acupuncturist to get her ctx stronger. He also happens to be a chiropractor. I had told Tom I would just call ours, but this one offered to look at my ankle. He had previously worked at a local hospitals injury clinic. He took one look and said, "OH! That is bad!" He felt around (ouch!) and said there was a good chance I fractured or broke something. He also suggested that even some sprains need special care and I should definetely get it x-rayed. Sigh. Fine.

So my client ended up going from the Birth center to the hospital. When we transported, I had the midwife drop me off in the ER and they headed to labor and delivery. I told them I would meet them up there. A few hours later, I did! No major breaks, but they could really tell if I had any small fractures from the x-ray. They molded a splint to my calf, ankle and foot and wrapped me all up. They said I needed to go see an orthopaedist asap to have it all checked out. Good grief. They also gave me crutches. Do you know what it is like using crutches 7 mths pregnant? IMPOSSIBLE!!! I have given up on them and am hobbling around. I was going to kill myself on them. I went home soon after as I was more hazard in the labor room then help with my big old self.

So want to see pictures? These are tonight, 48 hours after the initial injury. Swelling has gone down a TON! It was 3x this size yesterday. You can't see the bruising well in teh pics because of the light, but I pointed it out.

All bandaged up...

The good foot for comparison in swelling...

The bad foot...
Side view...
The inside of my foot. I couldn't believe it bruised on this side too! WOW!

Public Service Announcement: This is your foot. This is your foot on pregnancy hormones after falling. Any questions?