Bell’s Palsy and my Pregnancy

 

"Holy crap, I'm having a stroke!"

"What you mean? Stop the foolishness!" Shouted my girlfriend anxiously over the phone.

It was approximately three weeks before my due date, and it was now routine for her to check in on me. I was brushing my teeth and about to hang up the phone to finish getting ready for work when I noticed that something was wrong.

"The left side of my face just went limp. I soon call you back."

I hung up the phone but could barely rinse my mouth. I couldn't seem to control my facial muscles or close my mouth.

What the hell is happening to me?

I called Garfield, "I'm having a stroke!"

"What?! Can you move your arms or your legs."

"Y-e-s," pausing as I moved my arms and legs to confirm, "But the left side of my face is limp. I can't move it!"

"That doesn't sound like a stroke," said Garfield matter-of-factly.  "Call Ryan." Ryan was my doctor.

I'm not sure why, but I didn't call Ryan. Instead, I got dressed and headed to work. I was already running late for a meeting which I had decided I would not miss. By the time I got to the office, I realised that I couldn’t control the tears streaming down my face and my face was obviously crooked.

I attended the meeting, tried to participate but as soon as it was finished I ran to the bathroom.

It was only while staring in the mirror as I tried to manipulate my unresponsive facial muscles that the thought struck. Wait a minute. If this is happening to my face, what is happening with the baby? I panicked and called Ryan. He listened carefully, asked a few questions, then stated calmly that it sounded a lot like Bell’s Palsy, but I needed to come in to be sure.

“Bell’s Palsy? Wah dat?”

He patiently explained that Bell’s Palsy is temporary facial paralysis resulting from damage or trauma to the facial nerves. Basically, a condition which causes the muscles, most commonly on one side of your face to become weak.

I got off the phone and did what every well thinking person does after being diagnosed with an ailment. I googled.

I discovered among other things that Bell’s Palsy was very common in pregnant women, especially in the third trimester (as I was) or immediately after giving birth. The exact cause is unknown though it's most often related to exposure to a viral infection save that I didn't have the flu, herpes, mumps nor any of the common infections listed. I dug further and found that it was also associated with stress and high blood pressure.

When I attended my doctor’s office, he confirmed for sure it was Bell’s Palsy. Importantly, however, he assured me it would not affect the baby. Once I learned that Jordan was safe, I decided to just roll with the punches.

The warning signs...

As is usually the case, it is only with hindsight we can see things for what they are.

Rewind to a week earlier, to the day of my maternity photo shoot to be exact. A photo shoot, I only agreed to because my husband prodded me to enter a social media competition by Yummy Tummy Mommy Boutique to win a maternity shoot with an awesome photographer, Kahlil Francis.

"Just enter man! You must win, and the photographer is good, so you must get a few great shots."

“Ugh, but you know how I feel about maternity shoots!” I protested.

Even though by then I’d come to accept that being pregnant wasn’t as horrible as I’d imagine, one thing was still true, I hated maternity shoots.  Yes, creating a human being is awe inspiring, downright miraculous even. But let's be honest, it's not our most attractive days. I mean, pregnancy can unleash some pretty horrific features and I wondered why on earth would I want to immortalize my oily face (you call it glow), dark neck, spreading nose, bulging eyes and swollen feet. Count me out.

Unfazed by my protest, my “picture tete” husband prodded, “Just enter the competition man. If it turns out that you hate the photos, you still wouldn't have paid for it!”

Pregnancy must have sapped my usual spirit of defiance, because I relented, entered and won.

On the morning of the photo shoot, we took a few shots after doing my makeup. I didn't take note of it then, but as you can see my smile was slightly crooked.

On the shoot, Khalil was patient and wonderful and would often encourage me to rest. "You're tired" he would say. "I feel fine!" I'd protest.  I didn't feel tired, but my face told a different story. My eyes were twitching and drooping, and my crooked smile was becoming even more evident.

A day or two after the shoot, he sent us the photos for review. As we went through them I wondered, what was up with my face.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

“Boy, it looks like I was really tired.” I admitted to Garfield.

Chalking it up to pregnancy woes, I just kept going, completely oblivious to what was about to happen.

A week later while on the phone with my girlfriend, things fell apart or more accurately, my face fell limp…

Back in the doctor’s office, we learnt, there wasn't much to do. Ryan prescribed one set of very low dose steroids; anything stronger was a potential risk to the baby. I watched YouTube and did a few of the facial exercises, but really, all I could do was wait.

Garfield did his best to support me, but true to form, he didn’t pass on the opportunity to make jokes about me. He called me everything from “leany” to “two-face”. Just about every day he would find a new meme. Truthfully, his making light of the situation kept me in good spirits.

 

He was also very sweet too. He had my girlfriend take me to lunch and for our anniversary, he sent five dozen amazing white roses to work all in a bid to cheer me up. He then went on to plan and execute The. Most. Amazing. Shower. Ever!

Baby Shower (wedding anniversary and pre-birthday celebration)

To be honest, the only time I truly resented Bell’s Palsy was during my baby shower. I was really excited about this event especially since I didn't have a bridal shower, so it was a big deal.  In fact, knowing how important it was to me, hubby took full control of the planning process to ensure it was well executed.

I requested that it was less of a shower and more of a celebration of our wedding anniversary (June 30), my birthday to come (July 20, which was 2 days from my then projected due date). So, I was really looking forward to having a fantastic party with lots of photos. I  was not happy about the droopy face at all. In fact, I was a lot depressed. My girl, Terri skillfully applied my makeup, all the while enduring my whining about how horrible I looked. I was so miserable, but thankfully, my friends and family were super supportive throughout the night, even making funny faces with me so the photos wouldn't turn out so bad.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Who am I kidding? The Bell's Palsy is so evident in these pics, but now I don't mind as it chronicles an important event in my life.

Plus, when Miss Jordan gets bigger and starts to get out of line, I will show her these photos and say,

"Little gal, mi no only carry you fi 9 months, but you lean up mi face like duppy box mi and now you want to come feisty yuself with me?! I will pop you neck!!!"

Fun and jokes aside, looking back, I can now attribute my Bell’s Palsy primarily to stress. I didn't feel stressed, but I was pushing myself too hard trying to be a "superwoman" of sorts. At 7 months pregnant, I'd started a new job and I was pushing myself despite repeated warnings from my GM, HR manager and Garfield. In those last weeks, my pressure had started to climb, but I was still hell bent on showing that I could work up to the 11^th hour.  I was still  exercising and attending events. Channeling my inner Queen Bey, I wanted to show that I was "strong enough to have [my baby], then get back to business." Basically, I was an idiot, thinking I could do it all. My body could not keep up and so it did exactly what it needed to do to slow me down.

Today, my face is 90% back. I still feel twitching in my face, especially when I'm tired or a bit stressed. My left eyes still tear up uncontrollably and you can still see a slight droop if you look carefully at my face in my photos and especially in videos. However, for the most part all is well and most importantly, I have the most perfect princess to show for all the trouble!