Three days after having my baby my mouth starting tingling. I really didn't think much about it until the next day when I drank some water and it fell out of my mouth. My husband looked at me and said " what's wrong with your mouth"? I had no idea, I just knew something wasn't right. I was scared, concerned, and exhausted all at the same time.
Within hours I got worse. My speech was becoming slurred and my face looked very funny. I went to the emergency room, they asked me lots and lots of questions. Having just had a baby they were concerned but I still wasn't sure why. After six long hours, pumping for my baby in the nurse's break room I decided to leave. It was 11 pm at night and I had a newborn to go home to. I was breathing fine and I wasn't getting treated for an emergency so the decision was easy.
The next morning I returned to the emergency room. With a new set of eyes and a few hours, we had a diagnosis. Bells Palsy! I had never heard of this or maybe I had but didn't know what it meant. I learned that this is not uncommon after just having a baby, although this was my seventh child, and never experienced this. The doctor explained that a nerve right behind your ear DIES. That's right dies. He made this sound so grim like my face was going to be crooked my whole life. He said your nerve may or may not grow back we just have to wait and see.
I cried the entire way home ( 45 minutes). I was scared and not sure what to do. Thankfully by the time I got home I was calm enough to remember I have nature's medicine in my cabinet. I have Essential Oils. So I started researching and found a lady that used oils on certain places of her body to help regrow her facial nerve. I also turned to acupuncture. Twice a week for six weeks, I saw the acupuncturist and used my oils.
These pictures are from day two on the left and about four weeks into my recovery on the right. I am happy to say I am fully recovered.
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