I'm such a private person and I usually don't get so personal on my blog. I've had some crazy stuff happen lately and I want to remember it so this is the only place I can think to put it. Since only a few people can see my blog I decided to go ahead and post it.
I'm the 2nd Counselor in the Relief Society presidency in our ward. I got called in Sept. 2010. So my whole pregnancy I have had this busy calling. I'm in charge of planning the RS activities. On Wednesday, July 27th I planned a giant swap. It was soooooo much work. I'm a major perfectionist and I pushed myself way too hard that day. That night I came home and my urine was pink and I was having major back pain that felt like back labor. I thought I just over did it so the next day I stayed in bed.
The pain got worse so the next day I called my doctor and they told me they thought I had a kidney infection and to come right in to give a urine sample for a culture. I did and my urine looked horrible so they put me right on an antibiotic without even waiting for the results of the culture. The antibiotic was for 7 days. I was in so much pain. They told be the back pain was most likely kidney stones. I would get attacks where the pain was so intense and that would last for a couple of hours. I was literally in bed for 10 days straight and in constant pain that whole time. My urine seriously looked like ice tea this whole time. It just wasn't right! The doctors were so horrible and basically told me there was nothing they could do for me. I am such an easy going person and try so hard to be tough and I'm never a difficult patient whenever I go to the doctor but this was ridiculous. Everyone in my family wanted answers and we just weren't getting any help.
Finally after 10 days of constant pain they sent me to a urologist. It was nice to meet with someone and finally have them explain what was happening to my body since I had no clue! He decided to schedule a CT scan at the hospital for the next day. Travis had researched Kidney stones on line and found a 1/4 cup lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil tonic that was supposed to help people break down their kidney stones and make them easier to pass. I think it worked. That night I had the most insane attack in the world. I've never been it that much pain in my life. The other attacks were like after I have been in 6 hours of labor and I just cant take it anymore so I get an epidural. This one was like an out of body experience. I was seriously going crazy shaking, moaning, nauseated, drooling, sweating. It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I've never had a baby natural so I can't say for sure but Kidney stones are definitely more painful than child labor when you get an epidural!! After that was over I all the sudden felt fine and had no more pain. That morning I went into the hospital and didn't feel good about doing a CT scan since the pain was gone and it's not 100% safe when you are pregnant. We thought maybe the kidney stone passed even though there was no rock to show for it!
Then two days later the pain was back. I had an attack that lasted for 9 hours straight. I get so sick from any major pain meds like lortab or perkiset so Tylenol was all I took. Which helped with the constant pain but didn't touch the attacks. I was having at least 2 attacks every day this whole time. So now we are 16 days into this and on Aug 12th I start to feel great. Saturday night I start to research about appendicitis. I read that when you are pregnant things are pushed around so the pain changes to be in your back by your right kidney and that pregnant women often get diagnosed with having a kidney infection. Because the pain hadn't gone away all the way and I still had no stone to show for it I thought it could be my appendix. So I just thought I'd keep it in the back of my mind until the spirit prompted me what I needed to do. That night I caught myself throwing up in my sleep all night. Ever since I had the tonic I have been full of acid. Major heartburn because I don't dare take tums anymore because I think they'll cause more stones. I kept burping up yucky egg smelling acid. I never burp so I knew something was up. Sunday morning I woke up and felt so sick. I was so nauseated. I went to church for sacrament and 10 minutes into Sunday school Travis looked at me and knew I was sick. He took me home. I told him I'd text him if I needed him. Five minutes later I was so sick with diarrhea and nausea and fever. Those 3 symptoms were part of the appendix and it freaked me out so text him that we needed to go the the ER. You don't mess around with appendix. It's life or death for mother and baby. Luckily my mom had taken my kids for the weekend so we were able to deal with this without worrying what to do with the kids.
After a 7 hour hospital stay this is what we found out. Baby was fine. Dilated to a one (a month before my due date, which is insane for me. I don't dilate!!). Ultra sound told them I had Hydronephrosis (an inflamed right kidney) which is what caused the constant pain. Blood in urine tells them I have more kidney stones to pass. I was dehydrated so they gave me 2 bags in an IV. My blood work said that I had a bacteria but it wasn't in my urine and my white blood cell count was high so they ended up thinking that the 3 symptoms that brought me in were totally secondary to everything else and they think I just got a random stomach bug on top of everything else. They ruled out appendicitis. They gave me a IBS tonic that was supposed to make all of the heartburn stuff go away but it immediately make the bug symptoms worse so I had to keep rushing to the bathroom. It was a nightmare!! They checked my pancreas because the area of the bug pain made them suspicious. That test all came out fine. So they sent me home and told me to take prilosec for the heart burn and there was nothing they could do for the other stuff until after I have the baby.
The next few days I thought I was coming down with an infection from the pain I was having in my bladder from the catheter they gave me. I seriously felt so worked!!! But at least I had some answers which was so comforting. I knew the kidney stones will probably come back. which gave me strength and prepared me to face them again. Instead of not having a clue what was happening to my body!!
The rest of the week I felt fine and then the very next Sunday I had the exact same stomach flu symptoms. CRAZY!!! I thought it for sure had to be that the damn tonic burned a hole in my intestine!!!!! But it seriously went away again after a few days!!! So now I sit here on the 26th of August and I'm dilated to a 2 (19 days before my due date) with a sore throat and a head cold and Cooper woke up with a fever of 102.5 and hand, foot and mouth virus!!!! Can you just say It's been a crazy 31 days!!!!! Not to mention school and soccer started. I feel so bad but I had to make my kids drop soccer. I just can't handle it all right now!! I'm scheduled to be induced on the 9th but we will see if i make it that long. I already feel like I've given birth a dozen times this pregnancy though!!! This little baby is a tough dude to have to go through all of this craziness with me!! Now that the kidney pain has been gone for almost 2 weeks now I have seriously felt so good in this final stage of pregnancy. It's like my pain tolerance is so high that the normal annoying symptoms at this stage of pregnancy aren't keeping me down like my other 3 pregnancy's did so that's been good. I really do feel great right now.
I just want to tell my mom and my mother in law that I don't know what I would have done without all of their help. They came and took the kids and brought me dinner and cleaned my house. They are angels and I love them so much and am so grateful for all they do for me and my family! Also to my sister who called me every day to let me vent! She definitely knows the real me, good and bad! And to my amazing kids that were so patient and loving with their boring momma who laid in bed all day. They were so big and took care of each other the best that they could when I couldn't help them do everything. Especially my Brighten, what a great helper. She's a great big sister! But most of all to my amazing husband who loved me through it all and took on the mom and dad role for way too long! Thanks babe, you are amazing and a day never goes by without me realizing how lucky I am to have you! I'm so grateful for the amazing friends and family I have in my life that kept checking on me. I feel so blessed and I'm so grateful it's over for now.
3 days ago
