Oh my aching back...

About a month ago I turned 39. Now 39 doesn't sound old to me at all and I'm not the kind of person to get all worked up about almost being 40, because 40 doesn't sound all that old to me either. In fact, 75 doesn't even sound old to me and I am always shocked when reading the obituaries, because unless the folks were closing in on 100, I am always surprised at their young demise. Seriously.

But now I threw out my back.

Well, I threw it out about 2 weeks ago, but I haven't really been able to move right since.

The first day that I really threw it out, I went to lift my 2 year old into her highchair and wham! I couldn't move. Thank Heaven for my 9 year old! He was able to lift her up, give her breakfast, get her back out of the chair, put her shoes on and get her into her car seat for me (up in my Yukon no less!) or I would never have been able to get him and his brother to school on time. During the time he was doing all of this, I crawled over to the medicine cabinet, pulled myself up and took 800 mg of Ibuprofen. So by the time I dropped them off at school, the pain was manageable and I was able to get her back out of the car and into the house.

Since then I have been taking Ibuprofen on and off for pain that comes and goes. Along with my back pain is hip pain, that in reality I have had for several years, but could ignore a lot more when I didn't have the back pain. I also have shoulder pain, but have had that all along, so that's a different story altogether. There is nothing that makes you start to feel old like the break down of your body!

I'm pretty sure that all of this is the result of years and years of being pregnant, hunched over nursing, carrying an infant and a toddler up and down the stairs, at the same time no less(!), and carrying those ridiculous infant car seats around. Also, I am all for slings and wraps, etc., I could not get anything done without them, but I don't think they are helping my back either. Or my shoulder for that matter.

My mom sent me an article a few months ago (how do moms know these things before they happen?!) that talked about all of the bad habits moms have and how these habits can hurt their bodies. I was completely offended by this article. I felt particularly affronted by the suggestion that the only proper way to carry an infant car seat is with both hands on the handle and holding it directly in front of you, not hanging it over your arm like a picnic basket. Well, obviously these moronic authors aren't ushering 5 kids, including an infant, a 2 year old and a 5 year old, across a busy parking lot twice a day!! I need my hands free while I am holding that carrier! Of course I'm going to hang it on my arm like a basket! And now I have the hip and back injuries to prove it! This is why I canceled all of my parenting magazine subscriptions only one year into motherhood. I never found them to be useful to real life. Plus they pretty much just made me anxious that I was doing everything wrong. It's especially daunting when you read an article about an age group your child is past - say an article about 3 month-olds and yours is now 1 - and you realize you did not do any of the things they suggest, and actually did two of the top five things they say parents shouldn't do. Well, now you're convinced that your child is going to grow up to be a convicted felon and there is nothing you can do about it because your moment has past! That is why I don't read those magazines.

So, now, I don't really know how to stop doing the things I am doing that are hurting my back. Tell me a way to cook dinner without my fussy 2 year old on my hip and my fussy 6 month old strapped to my back? I wouldn't get anything done! I have no idea how to hold hands with a 2 year old without bending down low, walking around hunched over. And my baby is only 6 months old! I have years of this stuff ahead of me!

For now the Ibuprofen is helping, but I know I can't keep taking it forever. I need to get to a chiropractor or maybe even a physical therapist. Hey, there is nothing like walking around hunched over like Quasimodo to make you feel like maybe one year off of 40 is just a little bit old after all. I'm just glad I have all these great kids to keep me young in my heart, even as they are killing my back!