First of all, I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas, a very Happy Hanukkah, and, in general, a wonderful and relaxing holiday season. Check out the present I got this year - the beginning of my baby bump!! ~:o)
Today I went back to pilates for the first time in about a month. I stopped going several weeks ago to make time in my schedule (and in my limited energy) to go to physical therapy multiple times a week to attempt to fix the problem with my SI joint. Unfortunately, as I explained in my last post, that physical therapy experience didn't turn out to be successful. At all. And, as expected, the increased dose of Tylenol my rheumatologist put me on isn't helping significantly either. So I sent a message to my rheumatologist to find out what options I have for the next step, because the pain isn't really getting any better - but my belly is getting bigger! - and I'm worried about the pain increasing as my pregnancy progresses.
In the meantime, I went back to pilates. I am so very happy that I went. My pilates instructor totally wins today's award for best person on the planet! For one thing, after an hour stretching and bending and moving under the careful direction of my pilates instructor, I think my back is actually feeling a tiny bit better. And that is seriously awesome.
But, even more important than that, is how my pilates instructor makes me feel about my body. No matter what kind of crazy combination of problems I bring her, she always manages to find something that I actually can do. And it's never something simple - it's always a challenge. I find myself thinking and breathing hard and actually exercising, but all without much pain because of how precise she is with the movements she asks me to make and how much she thinks about it before she asks me to do it. Instead of giving up on me, my pilates instructor seems to deal with the complicated set of issues I bring to the table as a challenge that she is excited to face and figure out. Granted, she has had a year and a half to get to know the crazy that is my body, but she has been up to the challenge since day one. She makes me feel empowered that I can actually take control and do something about the issues my body throws at me - and that is worth more than anything else.
And I am so, so, so grateful.