The week before my youngest brother’s wedding I threw out my back. It was an injury that had been a long time in the making what with my recent c-section, a big move, and countless hours of tandem feeding my newborn twins—hours made longer by their four hour a night cluster feeds due to undiagnosed lip and tongue ties. On the night that I should have been helping my future sister-in-law celebrate at her bachelorette party, I could barely get out of bed. I missed dropping my older two kids at their first day at their new school because it hurt to even sit up in bed. In a season that was already riddled with the difficultly of transitions, the pain of severe birth trauma, and just the general life difficulties of life with twins plus older three kids—I was now contending with severe physical pain and limitations. It became deeply obvious to me that though I had been pushing aside my own needs out of a desire to be a good wife and mom in the midst of a crazy busy season, doing so was now hurting more than just myself. I had failed to prioritize my health, and I was now unable to be there for the people I loved, in ways that I could have been if I had only taken a little more care of myself. I realized then that I now had no choice; I needed to either get better, or else I was going to have to keep sitting on the sidelines of my own life.
When my twins had their tongue and lip ties revised, the wonderful team at Colorado Tongue Tie encouraged me to find a chiropractor who would be able to help them acclimate their little bodies to these adjustments post surgery. And that’s when I first saw the card for Treehive Chiropractic. I had been on the lookout for a new chiropractor for myself, having regularly gone all throughout my twin pregnancy and before that at a wonderful practice in Fort Collins, and so I decided to make an appointment for all three of us.
Upon our first visit, I was immediately greeted by the welcome sign with our names on it. I could tell that this was going to be our kind of place. Dr. Tim, Kristine, and the rest of the wonderful staff evaluated us with the kind of compassionate care that made me okay with the 50 minute commute from our small rural community in Elbert County. Over the first three months of treatment, my more difficult symptoms of neck and shoulder pain immediately began to improve, so I was delighted to see at that second evaluation that my neck, which had been plagued with more serious reverse curvature, was now beginning to curve back the right direction. My babies also recovered well from their tongue and lip tie procedures, and began feeding better too which really helped us as we sat and nursed dozens of times each day.
Treehive became an anticipated outing, a safe haven of friendship and community, as well as a place where I began to heal. Though I still had what felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders, I felt like I could bear it more easily with a team on my side, cheering me on as I tried to prioritize both my mental and physical health in the midst of a difficult season with two tiny babies who needed everything from me. Every checkin we talked about my goals for being more present with my kids, and I was encouraged and affirmed as I continued to improve.
Now, a year since that terrible time of throwing out my back the week of my brother’s wedding, I can hardly remember what it feels like to live in the kind of pain I had been dealing with daily. I am able to be active and play with my kids, as well as work in our large family market garden without it being too strenuous for me to handle. My twins have celebrated their first birthday and they are growing and thriving, and I am so grateful that I am physically well enough now to keep up with all the craziness that is life with two little walking people who get into everything!
It turns out, that prioritizing my own health in a season where it felt nearly impossible to do so, was actually the best thing I could do to serve my family better—and Treehive Chiropractic was such an integral part of that journey for me. I’m sure it will be for you too.
