My pregnancy with Sister didn't do great things for my body. I somehow escaped major stretch marks with the boys, but after Sister, I have quite a few on my belly and more of a muffin top than before. I don't mind too much--those things are physical evidence that I've lived and sacrificed for my babies--but I was feeling less charitable about the varicose veins in my legs that didn't go away. This was the status of my lower legs in early spring 2015:
Besides looking bad, the veins made my legs feel heavy and tired after short periods of standing, and they were sometimes crazy itchy after exercising. Since my mom and grandma have them, I thought I'd have to resign myself to dealing with these annoyances, but my husband encouraged me to look into treatment options through Kaiser, our medical insurance. I found out I was a good candidate for sclerotherapy, and went in for a 30-minute office procedure where the veins were injected with a solution that made them collapse and disintegrate. It was a little painful, and I had to wear compression stockings during the day for 6 weeks. I was so amused at the way I looked in them that I texted this picture to my mom and sisters after my appointment:
Here are my legs 2 months after the procedure:
Some bruising remains, but they look better, and I felt relief from the heaviness and aching almost immediately. It was considered a cosmetic procedure and cost $600 out of pocket, but that's well worth it, and I'll do it again if/when I have problems in the future.
