The DRAMA

So, Wednesday after a nap, I got up and something ran down my leg. It was thin and liquidy.

I thought perhaps it was my water breaking.

I wasn't sure but I knew that if it was my water, contractions would come.

So, I went shopping with my mother. And as we walked I had back pain. Like no other. But low back pain. Then I started having contractions but they were irregular. So we decided to just keep an eye on them and timed them.

Then my mom brought me home and I had to get George up for work. I tried laying down and the back pain kept coming and getting worse and the contractions were still irregular but still kept coming. I stayed pretty moist but it wasn't enough to leak down my leg.

George was afraid to go to work until I had at least spoke to my doctor. So I called and the midwife said that with the low back pain, she wanted me to go to the hospital and get checked out.

So my mom, George and I went to the hospital I plan to deliver at.

They confirmed that what I was leaking was not amniotic fluid, and suggested that it would have been my mucous plug, that often times it is thinner for some women. I brought up the low back pain, and said "It kind of feels like kidney stone pain but it's so low, where would my kidney be this far in pregnancy?" They assured me that it would be higher than where my pain was and that this was normal pregnancy pain. They ran my urine and before we left they said "The urine looks good, no issues." I asked "So, no blood in the urine?" and they said "No."

We went home. I suffered all night and tried to sleep. Finally, right after George went to bed early Thursday morning I got up because I just couldn't take the pain anymore. I tried reading blogs, watching Weeds, talking to friends, anything to distract myself. A friend of mine confirmed that she had similar pain, and it was just normal pregnancy pain and I was just being a wuss.

So, I climbed into the tub and I cried. This pain was not going away, nothing, not even the bath, was helping and everyone said I would feel this "normal pregnancy pain" until my pregnancy was over. So I cried. It hurt too much.

I really did think it was kidney stones but apparently, according to the nurse, it was too low, and with no blood in my urine, there was no reason to suspect that.

I broke down and called my Aunt. She told me that even if it wasn't kidney stone pain, it sounded like it was just as bad and I needed to get it checked out again because she was pretty damn sure (she has had over 20 stones and has actually lost part of her kidney due to kidney stones) that it was kidney stones.

But George was sleeping. And I had already deprived him of a night of work and plenty of sleep to take me to the hospital for nothing. So, I drove myself to my mom's and she met me (after stopping to get mcdonalds of course) there and drove me the rest of the way to the nearest hospital (the one we had also considered delivering at).

When we arrived they said "Sounds like you're in labor. Hang on." and then they brought the dreaded wheel chair and wheeled me to labor and delivery while I complained that I didn't need that, they said it wasn't labor the night before, I really think it has to be kidney stones JUST TAKE ME TO THE ER! They ignored me and wouldn't let me out of that damn chair because apparently they have had women give birth right in the entrance even after they insisted it couldn't be labor. Damn women.

So, when we got to labor and delivery I got in my gown, stored my stuff, and went to shared room to listen to my roomies baby's heartbeat. Which was great! We never spoke and kept the curtain pulled. I doubt either of us wanted to make friends at that point. Plus her husband looked like a jerkface.

They hooked me up to monitors for Huddy and contractions. Then left us. Finally a midwife came in and I assured her it was kidney stones. By this point the pain was worse and I KNEW it was kidney stones. She said that I was having some contractions but I assured, her I COULDN'T FEEL THEM over the kidney stone pain, and she said they were irregular and took a urine sample and called for the urine test results from the night before at the other hospital.

She came back in and said there was blood in my urine the night before and more today. She even showed me the results from the night before that stated I had a "moderate" amount of blood the night before. Yeah, and they told me my urine was fine and this was "NORMAL PREGNANCY PAIN"!

Then she said they would start an IV (which scare me and irritate my "I hate needles" thing) of fluids and nubaine before they sent me for an ultrasound so that I could get a break from the pain. Then I lost it. Nubaine? Narcotic? They gave me vicodin before. It worked. Why not that? They never explained they just let me freak out. Vicodin isn't as powerful and is worse for Huddy, the only reason they gave me that before was so they could send me home. (I asked about this today)

So, my nurse, who I HAD liked came in to start my IV. She explained the entire process while I shut my eyes and my mom looked away (she hates the site of skin being punctured and blood). She went in and I sucked in my breath. Then she pushed in more. And more. And more. Then Sighed. Then pushed in once more and all of a sudden a shooting pain that made me kick my legs up and scream "Oh! HELL! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?" then she began to say "I am so sorry. I don't know what happened" over and over and I kept my eyes squeezed shut as my mother made her "Oh GOD THIS IS BAD" sound that she makes in gory movies and CSI shows when they show a gruesome scene. I knew better than to look.

I cried. Like a baby. A big, pregnant, baby! Then I looked. I had 2 holes. But she only went in once? Blood at one hole and a lot more blood at the other. I shouted I was going to puke and my mom had to leave the room.

Finally the pain subsided and the nurse went to go get some help. I examined my arm. She had gone in, got in my vein, tried to push the needle the rest of the way in and came out my vein and out my arm. Like sewing, only she went into my vein and out my vein. Coming out is a lot worse than going in. I seriously thought she was cutting my arm off.

Then nurse 2 came in. Nurse 1 tried to say "Maybe the needle was bent" and held it up. Nope. Straight. Straight as A NEEDLE! Then she went back to "I don't know what happened". I do. YOU TRIED TO SEW IN MY VEIN!

Nurse 2 hit a nerve. Also painful. Then finally got it in correctly. So 4 holes, 2 failed attempts, and lots of pain. Oh, and I was still feeling my kidney stones. And towards the end my Grandma showed up and cheered me on. In her 80's, in a wheelchair and a total cheerleader.

Finally, the IV was started and they brought in Nubaine. They said that since it was going in my IV, it'd be fast. I don't think they had even walked away from my IV when I suddenly (while answering medical questions) said "Oh. My head's heavy" and they assured me that it was normal and to just lay it back.

Then they took me for my ultrasound. Without the pain, I realized many things. I drove George's car. In 4 hours, he would be leaving for work. They weren't sending me home anytime soon. I had George's debit card along with mine and he needed lunch and gas. I dictated my orders. My mom would take care of it all if I wasn't out by then.

Then we got put in a room. A fancy (but smaller than average) maternity room that, during our tour, they informed me was for admitted patients who would not be delivering soon. So I looked at the nurse and said "I will be here awhile huh?" and she said "They're admitting you, they'll be in soon."

The midwife came in and said I had a VERY large kidney stone that had no way of getting out unless it broke down. A lot. She said that at that size, chances were slim that it would break down. The urologist would be by sometime, but until then, no eating or drinking because they may need to put a stint in or do surgery.

I took this time to consult Dr. Google. If they did surgery, they would either remove Huddy first, via C-Section. Or do the surgery and hope Huddy remained calm, but often times after a mother undergoes surgery in her late 3rd trimester, the baby will come as a reaction to the pain (I was already having a contraction everytime my kidney spasmed(meaning the stone attempted to get out the hole)) but the mother, fresh from surgery, can't go through labor and they end up doing a c-section anyway. CRAP! Not really a good option there.

Then they came in for my 2nd dose of nubaine. No one warned me that the second sucks. Barely any relief! But some. Just enough to "take the edge off".

Then I realized I was dying of thirst. DYING! And she said I couldn't drink. Major dry mouth. I was able to get swabs of lemon fresh dish soap smelling stuff and swab some liquid around my mouth. BLECH!

Finally the midwife came back and said the urologist had left, so I could drink again, that he doesn't like to jump into surgery too soon for pregnant women and had requested we try getting the stone to pass through the night.

I had mixed feelings. I wanted this stone GONE, but Huddy is only 36 weeks and should cook a bit longer, so I thought waiting was fine. They promised good pain meds. And Huddy was doing great. No harm in waiting.

My mother and Grandma left and promised to have George call me when he woke up (his phone was on silent so they were using my mom's emergency key to get in and wake him early. I figured it wasn't like I needed him at that moment, I was just going to be writhing in agony awhile and he would have enough time to leave work and get to the hospital if they decided surgery was unavoidable.

Then I got demerol. That nubaine just wouldn't work anymore. So, in goes the injection. OUCH! Then she rubbedit around to get it to go through the muscle. OUCH! I counted down the minutes. She said 15-30 minutes and it would kick in. At 45 minutes I called for her, no relief. But I can't have more. I just get to SUFFER! This was the worst part. The demerol made me sleepy, but I HURT! I also hadn't ate in 24 hours (unless you count 5 french fries and a string cheese), had fluids being pumped into me, and dry mouth. So I chugged water and peed every 20 minutes. Plus I had a Huddy monitor that was super loud and made that super loud "whoosh" sound everytime he moved. And demerol must have been like caffeine to this kid, he didn't stop moving!

But they told me to sleep. So I tried. Off and on. 2 minutes-5 minutes at the most. I was having kidney spasms to frequently that my contractions were getting pretty good looking on that monitor. Really good looking and after each one, as if to say "Hey, stop squeezing me lady!", Huddy would stretch out with all his mite and throw what I am sure if a temper tantrum. He hates contractions. Especially as they got more powerful. Don't squeeze my baby!

Then George called and said that yes, he would go to work but to call him if I needed him. He seemed really confused on wha had happened and why they didn't just send me home like when I had kidney stones at 13 weeks.

Then my Aunt and Uncle arrived. My Aunt was awesome. Queen Boss! She informed my nurse, who until now had figured my contractions were just my uterus spasming, that my entire stomach was rock hard when I contracted, they were regular, and Huddy was reacting to them. She rocked. Sadly, there wasn't anything to be done, and I couldn't even feel the contractions over the kidney pain, but she was awesome. She did some labor breathing with me for the spasms and helped remind me to breath through them. And she didn't laugh (like everyone else) when I just wiggled a little jig in reaction to the pain.

Then I got sleepy and they left. I was told at 9:15 I could have something else for the pain. Noe clue what. But I remember it hitting 9 and then I was out. I woke up around 10:30 and evaluated myself.

• Hardly any kidney pain. Just an ache.


• Stomach muscles are exhausted!


• Gotta pee!


• Not tired.


• Very hungry.

I had passed my stone! It had broken up during those spasms and was out. SEND ME HOME.

Nope. Didn't happen. It could have just moved or something and I needed to stay to be monitored and ther weren't any doctors there to discharge me anyway.

So I waited. George realized what was going on finally, after he had woken up for a few hours, and left work to be with me. We waited. I wanted food.

Urologist snuck in when George left the room, before the crack of dawn, all dressed in a light grey suit and stood at the end of my bed to wake me. HELLO! CREEPY! I thought I died and he was taking me away! And Married With Children was playing in the background. Great, I died and they'll find my body while Married with Children is on! GREAT!

Then he introduced himself and I realized I wasn't dying. He agreed, I had passed the stone, I could go home. And eat.

Once my own midwife discharged me.

Crap.

At least I could eat.

I had corn flakes, not the frosted kind, and toast. IT WAS HEAVEN. Then my real breakfast came and I had frosted corn flakes, half a muffin, some eggs that were obviously egg powder, milk, and George ate the yucky hash browns. Oh, and I had orange juice. HEAVEN!

By then it had been 36 hours. I would have ate anything.

Finally George fell asleep and I started to. Then my midwife came. I was free to go! Since the pain had stopped (almost 12 hours before this now) I had only had 3 mild contractions and was good to go!

We booked it out of there so fast!

I will update on my weekend soon. This was the longest post of my life! But I want to remember every second of it so that I can use it against Huddy someday when he says I don't love him, or I am ruining his life. Or when he breaks a leg and thinks he is dying. Or when I decide I want baby number 2 and get all jealous of pregnant women again.