** This thread discusses the Content article: Beware The BRIs **




They never tell you about the pain associated with having a child. I'm not talking about the actual labour - that pain is well documented, it's just that you never really appreciate the intensity of it until you're in the midst of those contractions. I'm not even talking about postnatal tenderness in your nether regions or your breasts. No, I'm talking about the baby-related injuries (BRIs) you can sustain after your bundle of joy comes home and which can continue well past their first year.



My personal BRI list began just a few days after bringing Thomas home. During my pregnancy I'd made a point of not lifting anything too heavy. As a result my biceps and triceps were about the size of small peas. So after a few days of lifting a 3.4 kg baby around, my arms felt like jelly and were more painful than my caesarean stitches and cracked nipples combined. Fortunately that pain only lasted about a week and I'm now proud to say my arm muscles could rival Madonna's (that may be a slight exaggeration) thanks to the 13kg baby barbell I still lift many times a day.



But when Thomas moved from the bassinette to his cot at around six months I sustained another injury. As I'd reach down to put him back in his bed after a night feed, a shooting pain would sear through my shoulder like a red-hot poker. It was sheer agony but it's amazing how easy it is to stifle a cry when the alternative is waking a sleeping bub (in the nursery, no-one can hear you scream...)



Thankfully, the shoulder also seemed to fix itself once Thomas could sit up and I was able to raise his mattress. However, this was soon followed by a new impairment - a curious condition called 'trigger finger', or in my case, trigger thumb.



At this stage Thomas was still crawling but steadily gaining weight - a situation that combined to put more and more pressure on my hands as I was constantly picking him up (I know what they say but sometimes it's not possible to 'bend the knees'). It got to the stage that the thumb on my right hand was always stiff and sore in the mornings and would suddenly become 'locked' for no apparent reason (that's the trigger bit) - a problem that was both painful and debilitating.



I tried physiotherapy but it didn't seem to work so my GP sent me to a hand surgeon who diagnosed my trigger-happy digit straight away. He gave me a cortisone injection that alleviated it for a few months but now it's back, though not quite as bad as last time. I'm told the only treatment is another injection and if that doesn't work I'll need surgery, so for now I'm just hoping it goes away of its own accord (an unlikely scenario but with a busy toddler I need all the hands I can get right now!).



Other BRIs incurred in the 20 months since Thomas was born include several head traumas (due to banging my noggin on the car door while getting Thomas in and out of his car seat), a few nasty blood blisters (caused by the vicious clips on our high-chair harness), plus the odd bad back (yes, yes, I know, bend at the knees). I've also had a few scalds when boiling the dummies and even suffered smoke inhalation one night when I forgot to turn them off, which filled the house with the acrid aroma of burnt rubber (a nice man at the Poisons Information Centre assured my husband that I'd be fine and that we weren't the first to do it).



Of course, my husband has not been immune from injury either. By far his most impressive ailment to date was the 'stomach caught in pram' incident in a city car park. Wrestling to get our cumbersome three-wheeler open he somehow managed to pinch the skin of his stomach in the handle. I didn't notice his DIY tummy tuck because I was getting Thomas out of his car seat, so hubby had to extricate himself from the jaws of our predatory pram. To his credit, he didn't even swear (I think he was in shock) but it resulted in a rather nasty bruise and a distrust of infant equipment that continues to this day.



Of course, I'd cut off my right arm for Thomas for all the love and joy he's brought to our lives... but let's hope this trigger thumb gets better so I don't have to!



What unusual injuries have you sustained since having a child?