I had mild CTS before getting pregnant but when I got pg the first time, it got worse. Then with each pregnancy it got worse and worse (never got better). I opted not to get surgery as it's still not as bad as some and my dr said in my case, it was 50/50 whether it would help. I have very skinny wrists, thus a narrow carpal tunnel, which is why the median nerve is so easily compressed for me. I've had some bad flareups where I couldn't use my hand at all for a few days but not for years now. I had one once where I just reached for something at a store and had horrible shooting pain all the way up past my elbow. I couldn't even hold my hand in any position where it wasn't super painful. My kids were small at the time and it really scared them-we were at a store and I had to drive home one-handed. For about 4 or 5 days my hand hurt which made it very painful to change diapers, cook, etc. Now, if I do something like hold a book, mouse (I use my left hand a lot for that), ride a bike, drive etc, I get very numb and then it hurts. I wear a brace every night and take motrin if it's hurting enough. If I don't wear the brace I will wake up during the night in intense pain.