Getting Diagnosed with Bell's Palsy Two Weeks Before My Due Date

Getting diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy was not on my bingo card, especially two weeks before my due date…

I noticed something was off about my smile for a couple of days, and after consulting Dr. Google (which is always a bad idea… but why do I still do it?!), I assumed it maybe could’ve been Bell’s Palsy since it sounded like those who are in the their third trimester of pregnancy are at a higher risk of getting it. I knew I’d feel better getting an opinion from my own medical professional, so I decided to message my OB about it. I had a feeling it was a bad sign when my nurse called me within five minutes of sending the message. She ruled out that my symptoms weren’t pregnancy related, but most likely a neurological issue, and told me to go to the emergency room to get it checked out ASAP. Of course, that sent me into a panic.

Kev rushed home early from work to drive me, and we waited for about an hour and a half before we were finally seen by a physician’s assistant. The PA asked me a few questions and asked me to smile, raise my eyebrows, and shut my eyes tightly, and could see I was having trouble making full facial movements on the left side of my face. He believed I had a mild case of Bell’s Palsy before calling in a doctor for a second opinion. Both the PA and doctor didn’t seem too concerned, and prescribed me some medication that is also safe for me to take at this point in my pregnancy. We still don’t know what caused it, but thankfully, they told me the symptoms should go away on its own within a week to a month.

The shallow and vain part of me is sad knowing that I might be meeting my daughter for the first time with a crooked smile, but the anxious part of me is grateful that my diagnosis isn’t more serious than I was originally made to believe.

At this point, the countdown is on… and we’re just rolling with things over here!

xo,
Keshia