Notes From My Hospital Bed
So, here I sit/lie during an unexpected visit to the hospital. 13 weeks pregnant just needed to be welcomed I guess. Yesterday around noon, I suddenly became very sick – fever, chills, throwing up and some seriously major pain. I called my OBGYN, and they insisted it didn’t have to do with baby and to call my primary care doctor. Lucky for me, I have a private practice doctor (best investment ever!) which means if I needed to go to the emergency room, she would meet me there. And well, sure enough – that is where I ended up.
Blood pressure sky high from the pain, I waited patiently for a room after the nurse checked my vitals. Of course, the ER was slammed and I was by myself since my hubs needed to stay with the Littles. No fun since I was worried. I had to get to the hospital as fast I could, so there was no waiting for someone to watch them. I have a very high tolerance for pain (3 babies with no drugs under my belt) and well, this pain was unbearable. I literally wanted to rip my kidney out. Both of them!
After finally getting me settled in the ER, they did an ultrasound to make sure baby was okay, and sure enough, just perfect. And then, the sono tech says, “So, you know you have gallstones right? Quite a few large ones.” Um, no I wasn’t aware. Well, get this – that isn’t even what was causing the pain; it’s just something else to have to deal with down the line. What they were looking for was a lovely kidney stone. The best way to usually fine a stone is with a CT Scan or x-ray, but they weren’t doing that with me. Once my blood work and urine came back the prognosis was a seriously bad kidney infection and a lovely little kidney stone.
They decided, because of the pregnancy and high white blood cell count, they needed to admit me to continue round the clock IV fluids and antibiotics. They also needed to get my pain under control because my blood pressure was rising. I was beyond shocked to see them come in with 2 Morphine injections. I am not a fan of pain meds and was nervous to have that in my IV, especially being pregnant. I will have to say, a few minutes later - I was a happy camper.
And so now I sit, and sleep, and wait uncomfortably for my little friend to come on out and this infection to clear up. Hopefully, it doesn’t get stuck along the way as my unborn is sitting right on my urthera tube, causing some major back-up. I am seriously exhausted from the infection (which takes weeks to clear) and getting through this pain. My anemia is taking a plunge, as the IV fluids have now diluted my blood causing me to be even more anemic. The good news this week? My first trimester screening came back just peachy. At least something worked out in my favor!
Did you have a kidney stone? Did you even know you passed it? Any tips to get this sucker out?
Please, fill me in! And in the meantime, send some well wishes my way. I could really use them!
Read more from Casi & the cupcake team on cupcakeMAG. For more updates, follow Casi on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest!
See all of Casi’s Being Pregnant posts here and find her on The Party Dress. Want more? Get to know 25 things about Casi.
Image: Flickr
CASI,
Reading your post I could just feel how much pain you are in – and by yourself at the ER — no fun at all. You are one brave mama! I am so sorry to hear about this. Keep the morphine going so you can tolerate it and hopefully get some rest. So glad to hear the baby is doing great! My sister had gallbladder surgery and was in a TON of pain for a while and I saw how much it hurts. I wish I had more info on kidney stones. We are thinking of you and sending you lots of healing prayers!!!! Hang in there!!!!
Kidney stones are the worst. I had one when I was 30 weeks pregnant with my first and it was unbearable. I’m now 11 weeks pregnant with my second and am hoping I don’t end up in that situation again. All of the nurses told me that it was great practice for labour, and many mothers shared that they thought it was worse than child birth. I think I might agree … childbirth is pain with a wonderful purpose. Kidney stones are just awful pain for nothing. I hope you get some rest and this clears up soon. No fun at all! Take care!
I have totally been there! I am so sorry you are going through this. They should give you a strainer so you can tell if it passes. Morphine can be safe for pregnancy, depending on the person, it can also relax the ureter and help force the stone through..Iv fluids help a TON! They help you make more urine than you would normally & help the stone out. Once it gets to the bladder it will fly out b/c the urethra is like 2x as wide as the ureter. Email me if you gave any questions!! Good luck!
I have two kidney stones, but they don’t bother me at all. I’m 30 weeks pregnant now and have known about them for a few months now. Since they’re not bothering me or causing problems, my doctor’s approach is to wait until baby’s born, then revisit the urologist for further actions other than drinking lots of fluids.
Good luck & God bless!
they will only bother you if they are on the move. Otherwise, they do absolutely nothing to you. When they move, the ureter is so narrow that they move slowly & block the passage of urine above the stone & it hurts!!!!IWhen I have had them and not been pregnant, I get dilaudid & lots of IV fluids. The good news is once its out, everything heals and goes back to normal.
Unrelated to kidney infection, but it’s a good idea to take a lot of probiotics (can be done simply by eating lots of yogurt) after you finish the antibiotics. They’ll be killing the good bacteria too, and unless you replenish them, you might end up with an overabundance of yeast, and yeast infections (and thrush if you breastfeed) are no fun. So eat some yogurt
Hi! I wrote to you on email, but it sent me an out of office reply. I am here for ya! I have totally had them while pregnant! Pain meds should help relax the ureters, I hope they have given you something! Good luck!
This is just awful!! Such a miserable, painful thing to be going through on top of being 13 weeks pregnant!!!! I hope you start feeling better soon and I am SO happy to hear that your little baby in there is doing just fine in spite of all this!