Ergo-MOM-ics, Part 3

For those with postpartum joint pain (especially in the hands like I had) these were some of the things that helped me heal:

1. I can't say this enough... try not to tote around the infant car seats. Those things are heavy and were killers for my wrists and finger joints. (but I know, it all seems worth it at the time if it keeps baby sleeping)

2. No pushing the umbrella stroller with one hand! While it's so tempting to do - if you need to hold/comfort a baby or talk on the phone while you're going down the street- I had some of my worst joint pain after trying to steer our double umbrella stroller one-handed.

3. And on the subject of strollers, I now am trying to push ours with the palms of my hands and keeping my fingers out straight. I found that I was really gripping the stroller handles hard which was not helping things.

4. Another thing I discovered while trying to give my hands a break... gmail has keyboard commands. If you have gmail and you enable that functionality then you can ease up on your mouse use, which I found helped a lot.

5. Comfy shoes. It's a real pain to lace up sneakers when you're trying to get out the door with two little ones, but fortunately there are some good for your foot/back slip on athletic shoes out there.

6. Ask for help carrying when possible. I know, yet another thing to ask for help with, but twin parents get a crash course in this kind of community building exercise the first year.

Ergo-MOM-ics, part 2

What could this image possibly have to do with... ?! Hang with me for a sec. An issue I've heard about from lots of new moms, especially twin moms, is joint pain. When my hands and wrists started aching, I tried to just suck it up for a while. But when I couldn't squeeze a tube of toothpaste I went to my doctor. That's because a friend of mine reminded me about that oxygen mask lecture on airplanes: "Parents should put theirs on first and then you can help your kids." I decided that was pretty smart and I should probably be taking better care of myself so that I could go on lifting and toting my babies, especially since they'll only get heavier.

After my doctor's visit and follow up research, I've basically concluded what this post below - from my favorite parent's listserve - says. So I'm just going to repost the info below. And tomorrow I'm going to try to blog about some of the little changes I made that seemed to help my joint pain a lot:

Most postpartum joint pain is caused by ligament laxity due to
the hormonal effects of pregnancy. Ligaments are responsible for
joint stability, and after pregnancy, do not adequately support
and stabilize your joints as you move.
Most postpartum women will feel this mostly through the hips and
pelvis, though it's not unusual for other weight bearing joints
to be affected.
The good news is that since you're already 6 mos. post
childbirth, you should begin to feel more knit together soon. In
the mean time, treat your joints with care. Avoid movements that
aggrevate your joints, don't try to stretch a joint to relieve
pain. Don't walk bearfooted, choose shoes with a conoured foot
bed. When getting in and out of bed, 'log roll' your body to one
side, then use your arms to help bring yoru body upright as your
swing your legs off the side of the bed.
When lifting your baby, squat, and brace your core muscles before
you lift. Nurse your baby in a supportive chair, with a neutral
spine, i.e., don't hunch over.
Take special care of your wrists. Avoid twisting movements, and
wear wrist braces if you experience pain or tingling at night. If
your wrist pain continues, or gets worse, get a referral to a PT
who specializes in repetitive stress injuries and/or postpartumissues. In some cases postpartum wrist pain can become chronic if
left untreated.
Helene Byrne, BeFit-Mom, author, ''Exercise After Pregnancy: How to Look and Feel Your Best''

Ergo-MOM-ics

Meet my ergonomic nemesis:
I was just tested for rheumatoid arthritis. It came back negative as I knew it would, but somehow my health care provider wouldn't listen to my plea to talk to a physical therapist about my hand pain until I ruled that out. I don't visit the doc lightly. It was only when I couldn't squeeze out a tube of toothpaste because of the pain that I decided to go in.

I'm not the only one out there with such complaints... in fact based on discussion on our local twin parents listserve it's quite common with twin parents. And as bad as it is for moms, I know it can be worse for dads who are the primary care giver because they don't have hips to use as backup for overtaxed arms and hands.

I just found this article about ergonomic tips for new moms. The only thing I can add is that I think in my case it would have helped if I'd stopped using the infant car seats earlier than I did (which was around 6 or 7 months). Lugging those around really did a job on the joints in my hands. And as much as I was dreading life without the snap n go feature, all is well (well, except for my aches and pains).