Kidney stones: waaaay worse than labor!!!
Well, as promised, here is the post about our eventful week last week. I decided to do it in a time line - much easier to explain.
Saturday, June 26 - I woke up about 11:30 p.m. with extremely sharp pain in my lower left back. I thought it was the onset of labor. I was up pretty much all night off and on with a horrible shooting pain in my left side.
Sunday, June 27 - I started throwing up in the morning and continued throughout the day. I couldn't keep anything down. I started to think it was a virus and not back labor. I was feverish and I could hardly stand I was in so much pain. When Joel got home from work around 5:30, we headed to the hospital. The nurses had a difficult time putting an IV in because I was so dehydrated. Once in, they gave me some wonderful pain medicine called Delotid. One of my nurses said it's better than Morphine. I wouldn't really know because I'm allergic to Morphine, but I'll take her word for it - it was amazing stuff! But, I digress...
Once the meds started to work, they did a sonogram on my left kidney. They found two small kidney stones, which seemed to be the cause of my misery. I was only dilated to 3 cm, so they determined they would send me home with oral pain meds and lots of fluids to try to get me to pass the stones. I was dismissed at 2:00 a.m. on Monday, June 28. We arrived home shortly after 3:00 a.m. (we stopped at a 24-hour pharmacy to get my meds).
Monday, June 28 - At 5:30 a.m., I was vomiting again and doubled over in pain. The oral meds weren't working. So............ trip #2 to the hospital. This time, the nurses decided to continue the oral meds - they tried different combinations of things to get the pain to subside, and it eventually did. They also gave me some nausea medicine so I would stop throwing up. I was still only dilated to 3 cm, so once I was stabalized, they again sent me home. We arrived around 4:00 p.m.
At 6:00 p.m., I was crying and screaming I was in so much pain. I couldn't stand. I was still vomiting............ trip #3 to the hospital (did I mention we live 30 minutes from the hospital, so the drives there were excruciating).
Once we arrived (and the admin nurse now knew us by name), I told the staff this was our third trip in, so I wasn't leaving again until I either passed the stones or had my baby! I was seriously annoyed. And to top it off, we found out that my OB hadn't even been called until earlier that afternoon, so she didn't even know what was going on with me until I had already been in twice!
We were admitted for the third time, they hooked me back up to an IV, started the pain meds, and ran some blood tests. They determined that my kidneys were in distress, I was severely dehydrated (duh) and my blood pressure was way above the tolerated threshold. I hadn't eaten anything since dinner Saturday, and my pain was not getting any better. If anything, it was getting worse.
At 10:00 p.m., my OB decided to go ahead and induce me. They started a light Pitocin drip to see how much my system could handle. I was having some mild contractions, but nothing compared to the pain of the kidney stones. I received an epidural around 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 29th. I have never had one before (my other two births were natural), but the kidney pain was so bad that I elected to try and get some rest before having to push Maddie out! A nurse anesthetist put it in. He kind of sucked. My labor didn't actually start until 5:45 a.m., when the on-call resident broke my water.
Tuesday, June 29 - My water was broken at 5:45 a.m. The contractions picked up. They also started putting a lot of pressure on my kidney/bladder and the stones. The epidural numbed my contractions, but my stones were being squeezed, and I seriously thought I was going to die. The pain was so excruciating. I had to be put on oxygen so Maddie wouldn't go into distress. An actual anesthesiologist was called in. His name was Dr. Dae, and I will never forget him. I received a second epidural lower in my back. Once this took affect, I felt so much better. I told the nurses that I wanted to send Dr. Dae a thank-you note because he was magic. He came back to check on me a little while later and I told him I loved him. He just grinned and told me he was glad to see I was feeling better.
After all of that, labor went pretty fast. Maddie was born at 9:08 a.m. after only 1 push!!! I thought I was in the clear with the kidney stones, too. Once the epidural wore off, I didn't have anymore pain............ until about 10:30 that night. Then came more excruciating pain and vomiting. I was hooked back up to an IV and given more Delotid (the only thing that seemed to take the pain away).
Wednesday, June 30 - A CT scan was ordered to see what was going on. It was discovered that I had a third kidney stone that they couldn't see on the sonogram. It was about 1 1/2 cm in diameter, and it was blocking my ureter (the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder). It was lodged in the ureter. The doctors thought it was "bobbing" in and out, and when it was "engaged" I was having all my pain, and when it was dislodged, I felt fine. Well, according to the doctors, the biggest stone people really are able to pass is around 4 millimeters, or about 1/3 the size of the stone I had. So, it was determined that I would need surgery to break up the larger stone and flush all 3 of them out.
Thursday, July 1 - I had surgery late in the afternoon - they had to put me completely under. The large kidney stone was broken up and everything was flushed out. A stint was also placed in my ureter to keep it open so other contaminants could pass through and I wouldn't get an infection.
Friday, July 2 - We FINALLY got to go home after 6 days in the hospital! I was sent home with lots of pain meds and some antibiotics. I was just glad the whole ordeal was over.
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Today, I'm feeling better, but still not 100%. I still have discomfort when I go to the bathroom, especially when I don't get enough water to drink. But, it's nothing like the pain I had with the stones. I have never had kidney stones before, and I hope I never have them again. It was the worst pain I've ever felt - seriously worse than labor!!! I would choose to have 100 more kids naturally than to ever have another kidney stone!!!
I go back to the urologist on July 15 to have the stint removed. It's supposed to be just an outpatient procedure - I have to get some x-rays, too, to make sure everything is OK. Then, hopefully, I can put this all behind me and never have to deal with it again!!!
I thank all of my friends and family who were praying for me (and who continue to pray for me) throughout this ordeal. Thanks for your love and support, and your well-wishes for me, Maddie, and our entire family. :-)
~A
Saturday, June 26 - I woke up about 11:30 p.m. with extremely sharp pain in my lower left back. I thought it was the onset of labor. I was up pretty much all night off and on with a horrible shooting pain in my left side.
Sunday, June 27 - I started throwing up in the morning and continued throughout the day. I couldn't keep anything down. I started to think it was a virus and not back labor. I was feverish and I could hardly stand I was in so much pain. When Joel got home from work around 5:30, we headed to the hospital. The nurses had a difficult time putting an IV in because I was so dehydrated. Once in, they gave me some wonderful pain medicine called Delotid. One of my nurses said it's better than Morphine. I wouldn't really know because I'm allergic to Morphine, but I'll take her word for it - it was amazing stuff! But, I digress...
Once the meds started to work, they did a sonogram on my left kidney. They found two small kidney stones, which seemed to be the cause of my misery. I was only dilated to 3 cm, so they determined they would send me home with oral pain meds and lots of fluids to try to get me to pass the stones. I was dismissed at 2:00 a.m. on Monday, June 28. We arrived home shortly after 3:00 a.m. (we stopped at a 24-hour pharmacy to get my meds).
Monday, June 28 - At 5:30 a.m., I was vomiting again and doubled over in pain. The oral meds weren't working. So............ trip #2 to the hospital. This time, the nurses decided to continue the oral meds - they tried different combinations of things to get the pain to subside, and it eventually did. They also gave me some nausea medicine so I would stop throwing up. I was still only dilated to 3 cm, so once I was stabalized, they again sent me home. We arrived around 4:00 p.m.
At 6:00 p.m., I was crying and screaming I was in so much pain. I couldn't stand. I was still vomiting............ trip #3 to the hospital (did I mention we live 30 minutes from the hospital, so the drives there were excruciating).
Once we arrived (and the admin nurse now knew us by name), I told the staff this was our third trip in, so I wasn't leaving again until I either passed the stones or had my baby! I was seriously annoyed. And to top it off, we found out that my OB hadn't even been called until earlier that afternoon, so she didn't even know what was going on with me until I had already been in twice!
We were admitted for the third time, they hooked me back up to an IV, started the pain meds, and ran some blood tests. They determined that my kidneys were in distress, I was severely dehydrated (duh) and my blood pressure was way above the tolerated threshold. I hadn't eaten anything since dinner Saturday, and my pain was not getting any better. If anything, it was getting worse.
At 10:00 p.m., my OB decided to go ahead and induce me. They started a light Pitocin drip to see how much my system could handle. I was having some mild contractions, but nothing compared to the pain of the kidney stones. I received an epidural around 4:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 29th. I have never had one before (my other two births were natural), but the kidney pain was so bad that I elected to try and get some rest before having to push Maddie out! A nurse anesthetist put it in. He kind of sucked. My labor didn't actually start until 5:45 a.m., when the on-call resident broke my water.
Tuesday, June 29 - My water was broken at 5:45 a.m. The contractions picked up. They also started putting a lot of pressure on my kidney/bladder and the stones. The epidural numbed my contractions, but my stones were being squeezed, and I seriously thought I was going to die. The pain was so excruciating. I had to be put on oxygen so Maddie wouldn't go into distress. An actual anesthesiologist was called in. His name was Dr. Dae, and I will never forget him. I received a second epidural lower in my back. Once this took affect, I felt so much better. I told the nurses that I wanted to send Dr. Dae a thank-you note because he was magic. He came back to check on me a little while later and I told him I loved him. He just grinned and told me he was glad to see I was feeling better.
After all of that, labor went pretty fast. Maddie was born at 9:08 a.m. after only 1 push!!! I thought I was in the clear with the kidney stones, too. Once the epidural wore off, I didn't have anymore pain............ until about 10:30 that night. Then came more excruciating pain and vomiting. I was hooked back up to an IV and given more Delotid (the only thing that seemed to take the pain away).
Wednesday, June 30 - A CT scan was ordered to see what was going on. It was discovered that I had a third kidney stone that they couldn't see on the sonogram. It was about 1 1/2 cm in diameter, and it was blocking my ureter (the tube that connects the kidney to the bladder). It was lodged in the ureter. The doctors thought it was "bobbing" in and out, and when it was "engaged" I was having all my pain, and when it was dislodged, I felt fine. Well, according to the doctors, the biggest stone people really are able to pass is around 4 millimeters, or about 1/3 the size of the stone I had. So, it was determined that I would need surgery to break up the larger stone and flush all 3 of them out.
Thursday, July 1 - I had surgery late in the afternoon - they had to put me completely under. The large kidney stone was broken up and everything was flushed out. A stint was also placed in my ureter to keep it open so other contaminants could pass through and I wouldn't get an infection.
Friday, July 2 - We FINALLY got to go home after 6 days in the hospital! I was sent home with lots of pain meds and some antibiotics. I was just glad the whole ordeal was over.
------------------------------------------
Today, I'm feeling better, but still not 100%. I still have discomfort when I go to the bathroom, especially when I don't get enough water to drink. But, it's nothing like the pain I had with the stones. I have never had kidney stones before, and I hope I never have them again. It was the worst pain I've ever felt - seriously worse than labor!!! I would choose to have 100 more kids naturally than to ever have another kidney stone!!!
I go back to the urologist on July 15 to have the stint removed. It's supposed to be just an outpatient procedure - I have to get some x-rays, too, to make sure everything is OK. Then, hopefully, I can put this all behind me and never have to deal with it again!!!
I thank all of my friends and family who were praying for me (and who continue to pray for me) throughout this ordeal. Thanks for your love and support, and your well-wishes for me, Maddie, and our entire family. :-)
~A
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