By Amy Joles
Posted June 16, 2008

Pregnancy.

It has ups and downs.

Swollen feet and aches and pains - I’ve been able to deal with it with a small amount of complaining. I do enjoy commiserating with a fellow pregnant co-worker from time to time, but overall, I feel like my pregnancy really hasn’t been too bad.

Bronchitis - dealt with it.

Swollen ankles - dealing with it.

Fatigue - isn’t everyone tired?

But Tuesday is when I realized I am ready to be done with pregnancy.

I cannot and will not say that my latest health debacle is due to my pregnancy, but it could be in some ways .... kind of... sort of related.

I have come down with a classic case of Bell’s Palsy, which is temporary nerve damage on one side of my face. It could be from fluid retention pinching a nerve or it could be something else.

Who knows?

Either way, half of my face is paralyzed - my left side, in fact. It sort of looks like I had a minor stroke.

It’s miserable. It’s humiliating and quite frankly, it’s nearly robbed me of all of my pregnancy bliss.

I have no ability to smile. I cannot blink on my own (yes, that means I have to manually blink my eye from time to time). I can’t even eat without getting food all over my face.

From Tuesday to Thursday, my symptoms only became worse - almost to the point where I could not even stand the thought of leaving the house - and so I didn’t.

I spent nearly the entire weekend, scouring the Internet, looking for a miracle cure.

The answer?

Time.

Only time and maybe a few doses of steroids can clear up idiopathic Bell’s Palsy.

And so I wait.

For 2-3 weeks, I will be waiting for my face to “liven up.” I’ll be spitting toothpaste crooked and wearing the biggest sunglasses I own (I can’t squint, ya know?). I’ll be wiping tears from an eye that waters nearly non-stop and lamenting over how I can’t fully taste my food - well, what little actually makes it into my mouth.

And so yes, I’m miserable, but it’s not due to pregnancy.

It’s due to the fact that right now, I literally can’t even smile about by my little bundle of joy - well, not completely, just on one side.