So...................................
I went to the hospial AGAIN yesterday, thinking that I had some sort of bladder infection or something. I've gotten them before, and for those of us who have, it's an UNMISTAKABLE feeling. You KNOW when you have one. And, I thought I did. So, I called my doctor and asked if I could please come in and give a urine sample, etc. My doctor and all others in the office were ALL out of the office. So, the nurse told me that I should (once again) go to the emergency room because it "may not be a bladder infection but have something to do with preterm labor" because I was feeling a lot of pressure and burning. I didn't anticipate being in "labor" at all... I know what labor is and I was just NOT in it!
So, with the nurses advice I went to Clovis Community Hospital and asked to be seen as a "labor check". This allows me to bipass the ER process and get up to a room quickly. So, after checking in and taking a seat to be called, my old/origional doctor, Renee Halstead, walked by. She said, "Nikki, what are you doing here?" I proceeded to tell her what was going on... that I felt like I had some sort of bladder infection or something. She told me that I should've gone to Fresno Community Hospital, instead of where I was... Clovis Community. She said that when she transferred my care to my new doctor at Fresno, she transfered all my records, kidney ultrasounds, etc... Clovis was going to have no way of knowing about all of my recent problems and, therefor, probably wouldn't be able to help me out as well.
She then asked if she could use my cell phone to call a friend at Fresno Community. She called and told her friend that she was sending me over and that I needed a "STAT labor check". Even though she believed me that I KNEW I was NOT in labor, she still said this so that I would have no wait! It was very cool of her! I thanked her and headed to Fresno Comm.
Upon my arrival, I was placed in a room immediately, hooked up to heart monitors to listen to Chase's heart, an IV was started and I was given pain killer... all within about 20 minutes.
After receiving blood tests, urine tests and a new kidney ultrasound, the doctor came in and said that there was no sign of any type of infection, but that she thought that I was probably FINALLY passing my kidney stone. She said that this feels very similar to a bladder infection because it's all the same tubes. Which, makes sense. So, she sent me to ultrasound to make sure that the stone had, in fact, LEFT my kidney and was headed OUT of my body. Nate was able to go in to the ultrasound with me and when the tech started looking at my left kidney, Nate said, "Oh my gosh, Nikki... I can SEE the stone in there." So, Nate, with NO ultrasound training, saw the stone!? Seriously. It was significant enough for the untrained eye to point out. He asked the tech, "Is that the stone?" and she said, "Um, I'm not allowed to tell you what I 'think' something is because that's 'diagnosing'.. I CAN tell you that THAT'S what they saw before... if that answers your question."
I was so bummed. I really thought that the stone was passing and that the end was in sight... but, I guess not.
They had been pushing fluids since I arrived, and I think by this time I was probably on my 2nd or 3rd bag of saline, so I had been getting up and going to the bathroom a lot. TWICE of which, I had found teeny little stones (like grains of sand) in my urine! I thought that this was FINALLY the visit where they were getting this thing OUT OF ME! But, no. WHen the doctor reviewed my ultrasound and compared it to my first one from April 3rd, she said that the stone was in the same place and that it was pretty much the same size, but that it looked like a little piece had chipped off the corner.
So, 11 hours after arriving, they were sending me home with MORE Vicodin prescriptions and told me to drink water. This is when my night got REALLY ugly, as if it could get worse, right?
I asked the doctor if there was any type of medication I could take for the pain that wasn't SO powerful... that I was starting to worry about being on Vicodin for so long and worried about how it was effecting the baby. She said that Tylenol would not hurt him AT ALL, but that it just wasn't powerful enough to take my pain away, which is EXTREMELY important. As I mentioned recently, when I'm feeling pain, my blood sugar rises to dangerous numbers, so keeping my pain under control not only takes care of me physically, but also keeps my blood numbers down to the "safe zone" for Chase. She then proceeded to tell me something that she should have kept in HER brain and not let come out of her mouth... she said, "I do have to warn you though that your baby will probably be born addicted to Vicodin and go through some withdrawls when he's born, but that can be easily treated." I'm like... SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You just told me that, basically, the health of my child depends on me TAKING the Vicodin, but then you tell me that by taking it, I could cause him many troubles after he's born!?!?! I just couldn't believe that she'd say that... the effects of Vicodin on babies hasn't been PROVED to do ANYTHING, I was just trying to be cautious... there was no need for her to tell me that. Then, after I burst into tears, she lectured me on how I shouldn't feel guilty. Seriously, lady.
After walking out in the middle of her lecture (which was rude, but I was so upset I just wanted to find Nate, who had gone down to get the car pulled around front) I honestly thought about ripping up my prescription. I honestly did. I thought, "sure this pain is horrible, but I can handle it... and if I just up my insulin and eat less (which isn't a good idea, but sounded good at the time) then my blood will start off so low, that it won't raise extremely high!" Great idea, Nikki! (sarcasm)
Nate drove me home, ran me a hot bath surrounded by candles. It would have been totally relaxing if I hadn't been in so much pain... but I still hadn't decided if I was feeling okay with taking any more pain killer or not, so I had nothing in my system.
Nate sat up and talked me through the tears until around 2am. He pulled up about 30 stories off the internet that were similar to mine, to show me how other women had said that the Vicodin they were forced to take didn't hurt their babies at all. This was comforting, and after hearing what Nate had said and the pain getting worse, I took my pain killer.
I woke up several times during the night to go to the restroom (typical of me right now, at almost 6 months pregnant, but also NEEDED because of the 4 bags of water they put in my system!!)... each time was painful, even on pain killer. I woke up this morning after my 4 hour "take-another-pill" cut off had passed with extreme pain, and took another. So far today, I've had to take them like clockwork because my pain is so bad.
I'm honestly, SO READY for this kidney stone to be OUT OF ME, but, at the same time, I am SOOOOO thankful that God has protected this sweet baby through all of it.
While I laid there yesterday, getting pumped with fluids, I couldn't help but overhear my nurse talking to the woman in the curtain next to me, explaining her that her baby's heart was no longer beating... that they couldn't find it on the monitor. She was 22 weeks pregnant, just a week behind me. Through the tears I shed for her in that moment, I realized that I could handle this. That I would lose an arm for Chase and his health! I would and will and AM doing everything I can for him. From the 5 shots of insulin a day, the kidney stone from hell that won't LEAVE me alone, my hips popping out of place, the headaches... I mean, I haven't exactly had a "smooth pregnancy" this time around... but I don't care. He's healthy. His little heart is beating. He's got all of his fingers and toes (we counted during our last ultrasound :) )... He's fine!... and I'll keep doing whatever I can to make sure he stays that way.
I went to the hospial AGAIN yesterday, thinking that I had some sort of bladder infection or something. I've gotten them before, and for those of us who have, it's an UNMISTAKABLE feeling. You KNOW when you have one. And, I thought I did. So, I called my doctor and asked if I could please come in and give a urine sample, etc. My doctor and all others in the office were ALL out of the office. So, the nurse told me that I should (once again) go to the emergency room because it "may not be a bladder infection but have something to do with preterm labor" because I was feeling a lot of pressure and burning. I didn't anticipate being in "labor" at all... I know what labor is and I was just NOT in it!
So, with the nurses advice I went to Clovis Community Hospital and asked to be seen as a "labor check". This allows me to bipass the ER process and get up to a room quickly. So, after checking in and taking a seat to be called, my old/origional doctor, Renee Halstead, walked by. She said, "Nikki, what are you doing here?" I proceeded to tell her what was going on... that I felt like I had some sort of bladder infection or something. She told me that I should've gone to Fresno Community Hospital, instead of where I was... Clovis Community. She said that when she transferred my care to my new doctor at Fresno, she transfered all my records, kidney ultrasounds, etc... Clovis was going to have no way of knowing about all of my recent problems and, therefor, probably wouldn't be able to help me out as well.
She then asked if she could use my cell phone to call a friend at Fresno Community. She called and told her friend that she was sending me over and that I needed a "STAT labor check". Even though she believed me that I KNEW I was NOT in labor, she still said this so that I would have no wait! It was very cool of her! I thanked her and headed to Fresno Comm.
Upon my arrival, I was placed in a room immediately, hooked up to heart monitors to listen to Chase's heart, an IV was started and I was given pain killer... all within about 20 minutes.
After receiving blood tests, urine tests and a new kidney ultrasound, the doctor came in and said that there was no sign of any type of infection, but that she thought that I was probably FINALLY passing my kidney stone. She said that this feels very similar to a bladder infection because it's all the same tubes. Which, makes sense. So, she sent me to ultrasound to make sure that the stone had, in fact, LEFT my kidney and was headed OUT of my body. Nate was able to go in to the ultrasound with me and when the tech started looking at my left kidney, Nate said, "Oh my gosh, Nikki... I can SEE the stone in there." So, Nate, with NO ultrasound training, saw the stone!? Seriously. It was significant enough for the untrained eye to point out. He asked the tech, "Is that the stone?" and she said, "Um, I'm not allowed to tell you what I 'think' something is because that's 'diagnosing'.. I CAN tell you that THAT'S what they saw before... if that answers your question."
I was so bummed. I really thought that the stone was passing and that the end was in sight... but, I guess not.
They had been pushing fluids since I arrived, and I think by this time I was probably on my 2nd or 3rd bag of saline, so I had been getting up and going to the bathroom a lot. TWICE of which, I had found teeny little stones (like grains of sand) in my urine! I thought that this was FINALLY the visit where they were getting this thing OUT OF ME! But, no. WHen the doctor reviewed my ultrasound and compared it to my first one from April 3rd, she said that the stone was in the same place and that it was pretty much the same size, but that it looked like a little piece had chipped off the corner.
So, 11 hours after arriving, they were sending me home with MORE Vicodin prescriptions and told me to drink water. This is when my night got REALLY ugly, as if it could get worse, right?
I asked the doctor if there was any type of medication I could take for the pain that wasn't SO powerful... that I was starting to worry about being on Vicodin for so long and worried about how it was effecting the baby. She said that Tylenol would not hurt him AT ALL, but that it just wasn't powerful enough to take my pain away, which is EXTREMELY important. As I mentioned recently, when I'm feeling pain, my blood sugar rises to dangerous numbers, so keeping my pain under control not only takes care of me physically, but also keeps my blood numbers down to the "safe zone" for Chase. She then proceeded to tell me something that she should have kept in HER brain and not let come out of her mouth... she said, "I do have to warn you though that your baby will probably be born addicted to Vicodin and go through some withdrawls when he's born, but that can be easily treated." I'm like... SERIOUSLY? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? You just told me that, basically, the health of my child depends on me TAKING the Vicodin, but then you tell me that by taking it, I could cause him many troubles after he's born!?!?! I just couldn't believe that she'd say that... the effects of Vicodin on babies hasn't been PROVED to do ANYTHING, I was just trying to be cautious... there was no need for her to tell me that. Then, after I burst into tears, she lectured me on how I shouldn't feel guilty. Seriously, lady.
After walking out in the middle of her lecture (which was rude, but I was so upset I just wanted to find Nate, who had gone down to get the car pulled around front) I honestly thought about ripping up my prescription. I honestly did. I thought, "sure this pain is horrible, but I can handle it... and if I just up my insulin and eat less (which isn't a good idea, but sounded good at the time) then my blood will start off so low, that it won't raise extremely high!" Great idea, Nikki! (sarcasm)
Nate drove me home, ran me a hot bath surrounded by candles. It would have been totally relaxing if I hadn't been in so much pain... but I still hadn't decided if I was feeling okay with taking any more pain killer or not, so I had nothing in my system.
Nate sat up and talked me through the tears until around 2am. He pulled up about 30 stories off the internet that were similar to mine, to show me how other women had said that the Vicodin they were forced to take didn't hurt their babies at all. This was comforting, and after hearing what Nate had said and the pain getting worse, I took my pain killer.
I woke up several times during the night to go to the restroom (typical of me right now, at almost 6 months pregnant, but also NEEDED because of the 4 bags of water they put in my system!!)... each time was painful, even on pain killer. I woke up this morning after my 4 hour "take-another-pill" cut off had passed with extreme pain, and took another. So far today, I've had to take them like clockwork because my pain is so bad.
I'm honestly, SO READY for this kidney stone to be OUT OF ME, but, at the same time, I am SOOOOO thankful that God has protected this sweet baby through all of it.
While I laid there yesterday, getting pumped with fluids, I couldn't help but overhear my nurse talking to the woman in the curtain next to me, explaining her that her baby's heart was no longer beating... that they couldn't find it on the monitor. She was 22 weeks pregnant, just a week behind me. Through the tears I shed for her in that moment, I realized that I could handle this. That I would lose an arm for Chase and his health! I would and will and AM doing everything I can for him. From the 5 shots of insulin a day, the kidney stone from hell that won't LEAVE me alone, my hips popping out of place, the headaches... I mean, I haven't exactly had a "smooth pregnancy" this time around... but I don't care. He's healthy. His little heart is beating. He's got all of his fingers and toes (we counted during our last ultrasound :) )... He's fine!... and I'll keep doing whatever I can to make sure he stays that way.
