Funny face

Well, we had an eventful day yesterday! I woke up, and while I was making my breakfast I noticed that my face felt kind of funny. Specifically, when I licked my lips I couldn't move them properly, nor could I blink my left eye independently from my right. Nick was at work, so I was left with my mind racing as to what the heck was wrong with me. I tried to ignore it, just figuring my face was a little "sleepy." I tried a few more "tests" like raising my eyebrows, and my left one didn't move much, nor did I have much of a wrinkle in the left forehead. The first thing that came to mind, frighteningly, was the beginning signs of a stroke (I had no knowledge of anything else that could suddenly cause paralysis to one side of the face.) Still trying to not freak out, I sat down to eat my cereal, and as I took the first bite, milk ran out the left side of my mouth. Well, that was the last straw and I just broke down. Being 27 weeks pregnant makes and weirdness that goes on with your body a bit more troubling. All the "what ifs" were too much for me. I called Nick at work, and he, so wonderfully calmly (which was so comforting to me), told me to call our ER doc friend and get a preliminary opinion from him, while Nick would work on getting out of work to go to the ER with me. Stella was still sleeping, thankfully!

I called our friend Mike, and felt a little bad as he had been on the night shift and I woke him up, and he said I should go on to the ER to get checked out, but thought it was most likely something called Bell's Palsy, which I had never heard of. I then called our friends to see if they could take Stella, and Ben came to pick us up and go get Nick. I must say, it is so comforting to have such a great group of friends and community at our church who truly drop everything at a moment's notice to help when needed. Nick and I made our way to the ER, Nick very calm and cool, me still quite shaky. One of the oral surgeons at the clinic also told Nick he would suspect Bell's Palsy, as well, so I think that was comforting to him. I still didn't know what it was.

Thankfully, we were in and out of the ER within 1.5 hours. Our pastor, his wife, and assistant pastor, all came to visit while I was there, to pray and comfort us. I am so grateful for them! The doc confirmed Bell's Palsy. It's paralysis of usually one side of the face, caused by inflammation of or around the cranial/facial nerve. The pressure on the nerve causes malfunction and makes your muscles not work. It's usually caused by a virus in the ear or that area, and will start getting better once the virus runs its course. They prescribed an antiviral, which may or may not help, and sent me home. The whole time we were there, Nick couldn't stop giggling, which made me smile and laugh, made him laugh harder because of how silly I look. We are very relieved to have such a relatively minor diagnosis, however annoying it may be to me! The baby is perfectly fine, and this should not affect him at all.

This is me smiling:


What I have learned thus far is that this typically resolves itself sometime within a couple weeks to a few months. Basically, once the virus is gone, the inflammation reduces, and allows the nerve to repair itself. It really all depends on how much damage was sustained. Most people have complete recovery, which is good to know.

Some funny things--I look ridiculous, for one, when I smile or laugh because half of my face does nothing! I can't blink my left eye, which is actually the biggest concern because it won't stay properly moist. They did give me eye drops to help with that. Also, tears tend to pool which cause some blurry vision. AND, I have to tape (yes, tape!) my eye shut when I sleep so it is protected from scratches and such. Nick thought that was particularly funny. Now all I need is an eye patch. AArrrr.

This is me "closing" my eyes:


Some annoying things--I have to be really careful when I eat or drink, so I don't chew my cheek up, or spill food out of my mouth. I can't sniffle or blow my nose correctly. Brushing my teeth is kind of weird, since I can't spit right either. Washing my face--I had to hold my eye shut with a finger so no soap would get in. It's really amazing all the fine detail little things your facial muscles do that you just don't think about.

Really, we are very thankful that it's not anything super serious, and there's a couple other ladies I know of who have had this before (one while she was pregnant as well). Hopefully it will run its course soon and we'll just be laughing about it. It really is quite funny. So that's my story! Quite a little adventure...

So funny, I have to laugh (plus Nick keeps making me laugh, then he laughs because I look funny, then I laugh more...)