My daughter turns twelve today, Twelve. Twelve years in the blink of an eye, and at the same time, it seems so long ago.
My daughter is my little blessing; my special gift from the Universe.
Except she's not so little anymore. At 12 years old, she's 5' 1”, her shoe size surpasses mine, and she is wearing junior size 1.
Without getting too detailed, we weren't sure if we would ever have kids. We were married for eight years before I got pregnant. When I did the first test, I didn't believe it, so I did another one. That one was positive, too (duh, of course it was), and I finally started to believe it. I was going to have a baby!
At the time I found out I was pregnant, I was working for a very family-friendly company. When I told the big boss I was going to have a baby, he was fantastic. He told me I would always have a place to work after I had the baby, and any time off I needed for doctor's appointments was fine, he was willing to work with me.
For a while, I was fine. Then, I started with the fatigue. Yes, I know all pregnant women are exhausted. This was my first pregnancy, and I didn't know I had MS yet. I went along, week after week. Then the headaches started. They weren't migraines, but they were just as debilitating. Being pregnant, I couldn't take much for the pain, and I went about a week with the same headache. I could barely see and think, it hurt so badly. I finally went for an acupuncture treatment because I was so desperate for relief.
Have you ever had an acupuncture treatment? I was totally unsure about what happens, and whether I'd feel any better. A woman I worked with recommended a place that her stepmother owned. I figured that I couldn't feel any worse, and it just might help. The place was like a Zen spa, immaculately clean, and I relaxed just walking in the door. The woman took me back to a treatment room, and I explained why I was there. Because I was pregnant, there were certain areas she wouldn't put a needle, one spot being the webbing between your thumb and forefinger. She explained that spot is the Great Eliminator, so she wouldn't be using needles or pressure there.
The needles were very. very tiny, about the thickness of a hair. I can't remember exactly how they felt going in, but it wasn't pain, or even discomfort. After the first few, I barely noticed them being inserted. After the needles were all in place, she left me for a while (10 minutes? 20 minutes? I don't remember), and I was laying there with all these needles stuck in my body. The strangest thing happened; I fell asleep. Yes, with all the needles stuck in me like a pincushion or life-sized voodoo doll, I fell asleep. I woke up to her telling me that she was going to start taking out the needles.
To this day, I'm not sure if it worked because it works, or if it worked because I was desperate for something to work, but by golly, I felt better. My headache was gone! After at least a week of battling this horrible headache, it was GONE!
Lately, I've been considering going for another treatment. I mean, it can't hurt, right?
But not today. Today I'm making a birthday cake for my lovely.
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