Brace yourself!

What's with the flurry of posting from me lately??!??  I actually do have an answer, but I'll leave that one to a later post.  I've had to start a list on those sweet little sticky notes that you can use on your desktop screen.  I'm rolling with ideas lately!  And I'm also enjoying just writing, taking some time to record some of my thoughts as of late.  I know that this isn't read a whole lot, and I'm okay with that.  This is more for me, an outlet to process what's happening with me.  And now on to the real purpose of this post (and enough of the schmaltzy-ness, eh?), so BRACE YOURSELF!

Except for me, it literally is BRACE myself lately.  Let's play 20 questions: what kind of brace am I referring to?  Here's my hint--it's one that I never thought I would need at 29 years of age.  I seem to be falling apart more rapidly than I anticipated.  The brace to which I am referring is ever so stylish, too.  Suffice it to say, you should all (all 2 of you) be jealous of me. 

When I was 19, I broke a tooth and ended up with a root canal.  Health issue #1 that happened far too early in my life.  That whole ordeal was way worse than the sum total of pain that I went through going through labor and delivery twice.  This new issue, thankfully, isn't on par with that level of pain.  If it was, I'd be in a sour mood for sure.  Instead, it's mostly noticed when I wake up: my hands are often numb.  At the beginning, I didn't think much of it; surely it's the type of thing that happens when you sleep in a funky position.  Except, I realized, I wasn't sleeping in any funky positions, nothing unusual at all in fact.  A few months later of me noticing this is happening, I mention it to Ben who flat out said--Get this checked out now.  You're not normal.  (I know, right...I totally set myself up for that on purpose because you all (again, all 2 of you) can't insert any snarky comments because you're reading this instead of listening to me drone on and on.)

So I did.  And 2 seconds into the conversation with the health professional, I was diagnosed: carpal tunnel syndrome.  Not cool, nurse-practitioner Whitney.  Not cool.  I'm (allow me to reiterate) only 29, which is still generally considered pretty young per society's standards.  And mine.  There has to be the proverbial mistake being made here.  Carpal Tunnel?  I don't type on a computer all day (ignore the length of this post). 

But I used to in the not-so-distant past between grad school and work.  And I mess around on an iPad way too much all day (check out the angle that you hold your wrist when you do this or I'll wager it's the same with a smart phone).  And I heft around 2 kids--16 lb. and 32 lb. respectively.  And I sometimes balance Audrey on my wrist/forearm so that she's "standing."  And as I've been paying attention these last few days, there are a whole bevy of things that I do throughout the day that probably aren't that healthy for the old nerves in the wrist. 

So I'm braced now, thankfully only at night because it's hard to even turn the lamp on/off with those on.  They're basically adjustable wrist casts.  It makes for some different sleeping positioning of my hands, but I'll take that over the next option. 

Surgery--psshhh no.  I'm way too young!