Living with Migraines

This migraine was bound and determined to hit me, no matter what.  I did go get a massage Saturday morning, and managed to take DD to a  friend’s house and then to a play at school, but by Saturday night I was miserable.  I laid down on the couch that evening and didn’t get up again until early in the morning when the nausea hit me.  I eventually moved tot he guest room to be closer to a bathroom and stayed there until about 6:30 this morning.  I feel better now, relatively speaking, but still feel pretty yuck.  I don’t start work today until 10:15, so I’m going in a little later than usual.  I already called DD’s teacher to let her know that DD would be there but would be late.

At various points during the worst of the worst different things seem to happen.  For one, I drift into very light sleep and have the most bizarre, tension-filled dreams.  It’s as if the very worst of my subconscious decides to come out and play.   The other thing that inevitably happens is I start running through the previous days and week, recounting everything I did or didn’t do that might have led to the current episode.  Thi, of course, feeds the guilt that I suspect many of us go through.   I have to remind myself that this is not all under my control.  I can do what I can, but if my body chemistry is such that I am more prone to migraine attacks then other people, then I also have to accept that.  It is not my fault that I was born this way.

While I don’t feel good today and would love to be homeschooling and a SAHM right now, I am grateful to be feeling better.  I am grateful to be able to take an extra 30 minutes and crawl into bed with DD this morning, to try and make up for the lost time this weekend.

For some reason, my muscles in my neck, shoulders and back have been exceptionally tight the past couple of days.  I woke up in minor pain from it this morning (what a great way to face the day).    I keep trying to roll my shoulders around, stretch out gently, but it really isn’t helping.  I need someone to get in there and really loosen everything up.  Wish I could do that tomorrow instead of working. ;)  Wouldn’t that be nice?

Last weekend was fun, celebrating DD’s birthday.  Monday, however, she stayed home from school, sick, and I stayed home with her.  She’s feeling better now, thankfully.  Sometimes just taking one day to rest and recuperate goes a long way towards healing.

I got up early today, for some reason.  Normally I get up between 6:15 and 6:30, but today I was awake and ready to get up at 5:40 when DH’s alarm went off.  This almost never happens to me - I’m the kind of person who rolls over and goes right back to sleep, hitting the snooze once or twice.   But for whatever reason, my body was ready to be awake and out of bed, so I listened to it.  It was nice to have a less hectic morning, I must admit.

I finished Eat, Pray, Love and need to write up my review of it.  By and large, I’m glad I read it and found it to be mostly inspiring and thought-provoking.  I still found it hard to get past the fact that she was basically paid to go off for a year and do exactly as she pleased, but I also need to remind myself that she wasn’t writing a how-to book for finding God or pleasure.  She was merely recounting her own life experiences and weaving them into a tale for others to read and do wiht as they please.

Today is my daughter’s 7th birthday!  We’re having a  small party in a couple of hours.  Nearly everything is ready, aside from frosting the cupcakes and slicing some cheese for sandwiches.  We’ve got half chocolate cupcakes that we’ll frost with homemade chocolate buttercream frosting and half confetti cupcakes (white with sprinkles) that we’ll frost with regular buttercream frosting tinted pink.  Yummy!

DD crawled into bed with us at some point last night, so I was able to say happy birthday to her immediately upon waking. 

Been feeling mildly achy for going on three days now but am enjoying this time of the year regardless.   Celebrating my daughter’s existence does that for me.