I'm almost embarrassed to tell you this story, but without the story, there is no follow up.

The Monday morning our chicks arrived, it was raining. Despite our best efforts, water was tracked into our house and onto the tile floor.  And then to get the chicks all set up, we were running back and forth upstairs and down. 

On one of my treks upstairs, I was heading purposefully into my kitchen, just about to get to our baby gate which keeps Singer from roaming the house when it's rainy (and her paws are muddy), when my rubber-soled tennis shoe hit a wet slick and my feet literally FLEW out from under me. I went from vertical to horizontal in approximately one second. My feet actually hit and knocked out our baby gate and my lower back/tailbone smashed into the ground without any time for my hands or arms to fly back for support.  I didn't hit my head on the floor but I did hit the floor so hard I thought I was going to be sick. In addition to my normal level of nausea, I really thought I was going to throw up and then black out. I got super hot and ripped off my sweatshirt. Then I put my head between my knees and evaluated just how hurt I was.

My first thought was, "Oh my gosh, I hope the baby's ok!" 

My second thought was, "I think I just broke my tailbone."

I texted my midwife who assured me my baby was well insulated in the womb and was more concerned about my back.  I was in excruciating pain, especially if I bent over or tried to pick up something or move something...all things I was attempting to do and nearly crying with pain.

Long story short, I ended up visiting a chiropractor for the first time in my life! 

He wasn't able to do an x-ray to see if anything was broken, but since I had no real trouble sitting, I figured it probably wasn't actually my tailbone, but some other part of my pelvic bones. Or maybe just a really badly bruised muscle. He was able to perform 2 tests on my back to check functionality of the spine: the first test looked at the temperature up and down and on either side of my spine; the second test evaluated muscle tightness up and down and on either side of my spine. 

The result showed that my lower back and my neck had serious issues.  I sort of knew this, as my neck and shoulders always hold all the tension I carry and I tend to get odd cricks in my neck. And my lower back has been irking me in the past few months.

With those as starting points, he further evaluated my spine and alignment and we talked about ways to support my spine with this particular injury and throughout my pregnancy, if I so desired.

After thinking about it, that seemed like a really good idea. I had horrible back pain throughout much of my pregnancy with Dorien and I was willing to try to alleviate that via proper alignment of my spine.  And he could feel that my pelvic bones (from the back, anyway) were skewed. One side jutted out, when they should be level. I should also FYI here that this particular doc specializes in pregnant women, which made me feel like I was in good hands.

Which brings me to the back cracking.

Having never been adjusted, I was totally unaware of what was coming when he had me lie down on the little table.  He moved my legs in different directions, had me cross my arms and then leaned over me and KER-CHUNK! Things cracked and crunched sickeningly. Yet I felt no pain, and in fact, it felt instantly better!

He did this several ways and each time, there was crunching and popping and relief! Then he moved to my neck and I swear he broke my neck twice and it didn't hurt at all. It was THE craziest thing I have ever experienced in my life.  It is bizarre that I was able to get up and walk away unscathed after such crackings and crunchings and poppings emanated from my precious spine!

The caveat to my even seriously considering a treatment plan with a chiropractor was payment. If this was something that wasn't covered by insurance, we were a no-go.  I hated the pain I experienced during Dorien's pregnancy, but I coped. And I could again, if necessary.  I wasn't willing to fork over lots of money for this, since I wasn't currently having any problems (other than my big fall).

I was delighted to discover that insurance covers it all, minus a co-pay! So, I'm officially now seeing a chiropractor a few times a week which will then become every few weeks and then once a month till this baby is born.  Hopefully we'll get my spine in alignment and able to adapt painlessly to the changes pregnancy brings to muscles, bones, etc.

Meanwhile, I continue to boggle at the sounds my spine makes. And this past Monday, as my kids watched, it was plain to see their minds were also boggled. They couldn't wait to tell Daddy how they'd seen Mommy's neck get broken TWICE by this doctor! And how I didn't even cry! It was awesome!

As a sidenote to my story, I referred my brother, Josh, to this same guy. Josh has had back issues for years. Two years ago he had back surgery and seemed to be fine, until a few weeks ago when his nerves began twanging in pain.  He's been seeing the chiropractor for just a few visits, but has already experienced huge relief in his pain level and increased mobility overall. He is so excited, and I am too! 

There may be more to this back-cracking than meets the eye....