So, instead of recounting last week I'm going to share one experience and highlights on George. George does this crawl thing where he is on one knee and one foot and he can go a few inches forward and kind of crawl, but he doesn't think he can, so if he looks up and sees me he gives up and starts crying. He is also gaining a LOT more balance as far as walking goes. He has stood by himself (for a very short amount of time) with no help from Jon or I or furniture. He can also walk along the edge of the couch and can sometimes walk with only holding onto one hand of ours for help. He may have a breakthrough with walking and crawling on the same day! We'll see though. He can also get from his tummy to a sitting position- and from a sitting position he can pull up on things- so we had to lower the mattress in his crib so he doesn't tumble out. (When I went to get him one morning he was sitting up- facing the wall luckily, but that was the day we lowered the mattress).
Experience: I woke up Friday morning with extreme back pain. I've never struggled with back pain until I was pregnant and this was different. It was more painful than gall stones and recovery and C-section recovery. It was the worst pain I've experienced and it was hard to move. It hurt to breathe, it hurt to stretch, I don't think I could lift above chest height and it was extremely painful lifting anything. I nursed George lying down and then when he was awake I kinda helped him drop to the ground. I let him play right next to me on the ground and I tried using these tennis balls that I have to stretch and possibly crack my back. It didn't help much but I knew I had to do something. I felt like if I moved too quick that I would end up paralyzed (which is a foolish explanation, because obviously I have no idea what kind of pain may lead up to being paralyzed). I had Jon crack my back twice and I tried multiple stretches. We went to Sam's Club and the car ride hurt. Normal turns, small rocks/pebbles/bumps hurt. Everything hurt. My laptop is very lightweight and it hurt to carry that and nothing else. I think George knew something was up because he was a little cranky. I still held him a lot, which hurt, but I needed help to pick him up if I was going to walk with him. The walking hurt too, but I can't just ignore George. So I put up with more pain than I would've normally but still wasn't functioning very well. After trying various stretches and trying to crack my back I told Jon I needed a blessing and then if things didn't start improving I didn't think I'd be able to make the 2 hr drive to the temple. So I got a blessing. It told me that I would receive immediate relief from my temple service and was blessed that I would be able to do the necessary things in my life. Well, from that, I felt like the pain would not go away UNTIL I either reached the temple, sometime in the temple or shortly after but that I would notice the immediate relief. And by relief I felt impressed that it was not a fix but just that the pain would be lessened.
Well, we drove to the temple and we hit an awful bump in the road. The bump would've hurt just by itself but I rammed my head into the ceiling of the car (and yes my seat belt was on) and I was in extreme pain for the next half hour. It was hard to feed George (I was spoon feeding him yogurt). Anyways, we got to the temple and dropped George off (babysitting was being provided for the 10 o'clock session). I grabbed a family name for Bishop's family and then went in. Since the temple is far away and we have George now, I have not been often enough to see all the new videos. I think I've seen one of them 3 times and then I saw a new one on Saturday which I really liked. It was a good experience and I felt like I received insights for myself. I was one of the slower people dressing with my back and there wasn't any relief yet. I got to the Celestial room and I felt relief. There was still a pain. It still hurt to move, but it didn't hurt to breathe. It didn't hurt to stay still. And the moving pain was lessened. When I went to pick up George it didn't hurt nearly as much and I carried the diaper bag (Jon carried George out) with very little pain. It still hurts now as I'm typing this but I can't tell you how much of a difference I noticed. It's hard to turn at night and I feel pains here and there, but more just like a backache or like it's recovering from being pulled. And, most importantly, I can pick up and lay George down in his crib.
I also want to quickly say Happy Mother's Day to Mom! I am very glad for her example and for her selfless service to us. I know she loves us and would do anything for us.