Well, my pregnancy finally hit a snag. And what a snag it was! First the good news. The apartment that we live in has agreed to keep our rent the same for 18 more months! Hurray! So that means we don't have to move. Lovely. Then the bad news. On Friday night, I was feeling pretty rough at bedtime, but I figured it was heartburn. I took some zantac, then some tums, and went to bed at 9:30. I woke up around 1:00 am with gall bladder colic pain, which I have had in the past. I walked around, ate more tums, and rocked. Usually it goes away in a few hours. I took 2 tylenol, and they did nothing. I realized how much worse it was getting, so then I called my OB on call. He said to go to the ER now, since it sounded like it was more serious. I got Jason up then, threw up in the toilet, and got dressed. We had a rough drive there, since the road was bumpy. I had my little puke bowl though, so we were safe. We got to the ER and they were really quiet, thank God. I was brought back in about 30 min, in the meantime I was pacing, moaning, and crying. Then they brought us to a room, and we were left there for what seemed like 2 hours, but I think it was less than an hour. I was in so much pain at this point that I was literally ready to leave my body, however I now feel completely prepared for labor. I did my breathing through all of it, and it didn't seem to help reduce the pain, but it kept me from screaming. The nurse finally came in, attempted to put an IV in twice, failing twice, and took my urine sample. I threw up once more somewhere in there. They sent in another nurse, who got the IV into my elbow. They started IV fluids, antinausea meds, and morphine. They ordered a abdominal ultrasound, and a doppler to check the baby. I hadn't felt the baby move all night, so I was concerned. They used a weird,old fetal doppler so they were unable to find the heartrate. So I then convinced them to check it via ultrasound since they were going to do the gall bladder any way. We then went upstairs to wait for the US. They checked and found swelling and gallstones, which we already knew were there. I was unable to see the screen but Jason got to see the baby, and he said it was much bigger now, the hands and facial features were more prominent, and it seems to be running out of room. The heartrate was 150 still. We were eventually taken back to the ER, and waited for results, I asked for stronger pain meds, since the morphine wasn't cutting it. They gave me dilaudid, which is a stronger, synthetic morphine. It was great, I was finally able to get to sleep. I was still very nauseas though. Jason took me to the bathroom, and I was dizzy, and felt like throwing up. When I got back to the room I leaned over the guerney, and was going to get up on it, and then proceeded to throw up a ton of bile all over it. I felt very bad, and the nurses had to come in and clean it all up. They came in and talked about surgery, which I was very hesitant, because of the baby, my job, money, etc. They decided to wait, and keep me till morning, to see if the pain went away. They eventually took me upstairs to a room. Jason stayed all night in a straight chair, sleeping with his head against the wall on a pillow. I periodically threw up, sucked ice chips, and went to the bathroom. The pain would come back full force every 3 hours, and I could have the pain meds every 4. The OB came in to see me, and reccomended that I do the surgery, she said it was the perfect time to do it, since the baby was so low still, under my belly button. The risk to the fetus was low, and it could be worse for the baby to do it later.
I was convinced then to go ahead. The pain was so bad, even on the meds that I was willing to do anything to be rid of it. They brought me for surgery at 11:00 and I was under by 12:00. I was awake at about 2pm. They checked the baby carefully, making sure that everything was fine, the heartrate was still in the 140's. They made me get up and walk to the bathroom soon after going back to my room, I was very sore. I was also quite nauseas still, throwing up occasionally. I was allowed nothing but ice chips, which even those were limited. The pain was already much better. They had me on heavy duty antibiotics for all 3 days, the surgeon said that the gallbladder was quite infected, and scarred from years of these attacks. I developed a fever that night, but it never got very high. Jason and I slept poorly again that night, making trips to the bathroom, dealing with IV's, and vitals. They kept tabs on the baby every 4 hours, which made Jason and I feel better. The next morning they wanted me to eat, so I ordered a cherry popsicle, and pineapple juice. I kept those down, thankfully. They came in and checked me and said I could go home that afternoon. We were both ready for that. At noon I tried mashed potatoes, but that didn't sit well, so I ate another cherry popsicle. We went home at 3 pm, sat in traffic for an hour, and then arrived and slowly climbed the stairs. I got settled in the recliner and have been there since. The pain is tolerable, I am slowly eating some soft foods, and am trying to reduce my pain meds. The baby is moving, and reminding me that it is still here. All in all, a really wild week.
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