A little practice for my labor pains...

Here are some pics we took last night of my belly. I am now 28 weeks (7 mos) and this week is the start of my third trimester. Look how much bigger my belly has gotten since the last pics!


We had a change in plans for the day. Sometimes things just happen and there's nothing you can do about it. Like say... a kidney stone! Last night I was beginning to fear that I might have a bladder infection. This morning I realized it was something much more fun. I woke up to some intense lower back pain and I knew right away what it was. I honestly couldn't tell you how many kidney stones I have had in the past, but let's just say I am very familiar with the pain and had very little doubt as to what was going on. I was quite a bit more worried then usual, because when you are pregnant, there is alot less they can do to help you. They can't do a CT scan, and they can't go in and break it up. The can give you some pain medicine, but not that much and there are always risks associated with that as well.

I tried to endure it, hoping it might just pass at home and I could get through the pain, but around 6:30am , the pain became so unbearable I had to wake up Joe to take me to the emergency room. The ride there was the worst, the pain was becoming off the charts and I kept telling myself to try to stay calm. I didn't want to cause any additional problems with the baby or cause myself to start any contractions or anything. Joe dropped me off right at the entrance and as soon as I walked in, the nurse took one look at me and immediately thought I was in labor... "Are you going into labor?", she asked, "No I have a kidney stone!", I replied. "Uh oh", was all she replied.

She rushed me right back to a room. I was so lucky they weren't busy at all this morning and could get things going pretty quickly. They took my blood, a urine sample and hooked me up to an IV. The pain in my lower back was getting so bad and there were sharp, burning, stabbing pains going on down near my vajayjay. Then I felt the pain in my lower back subside and one HUGE shot of sharp burning pain shot through me. I wasn't sure if the stone had dropped into my bladder or if it had just stopped moving for a minute. The nurse came in to give me my pain meds. All they gave me was 50 mg of Demerol, but within minutes I felt a million times better. Ten minutes after that I had to go to the bathroom... bad. So took my IV and went. And I couldn't have been more excited too see that damn kidney stone come out when I peed.

I brought it out to the nurse to show it off. And it was HUGE! I mean as far as kidney stones go, it was one of my biggest ones yet. I was so happy to have it out of me, I was giddy. I know how these things can drag on and cause pain for weeks. I once spent 2 weeks in and out of the hospital dealing with one and had to have surgery to remove it. I had to walk around with a stent before. They can cause your life to be hell. So, all things considering, I was extremely lucky that the pain was here and everything gone all in one morning. I am left with an infection, and was given a prescription for some antibiotics, but other then that... the worst is definitely over.

Ofcourse I had to take my kidney stone home with me. How can such a little thing cause so much pain?

I did get an extra bonus though when they wheeled in a monitor and gave me an ultrasound. They wanted to check the baby and make sure everything was okay. It was exciting to be able to see her unexpectedly today and everything looked good. She's laying sideways now with her head on my right side. Her heartbeat looked great and she seemed to have weathered the storm just fine.

We left the hospital, dropped off my prescription and picked up some breakfast. We then went home, ate our food and went straight to bed. We slept for about 6 hours. I was exhausted! I had some things to do today, and ofcourse, I didn't get anything done. We planned on going to a bbq for a friends 30th birthday, but that didn't happen either.

I am wore out and all I want to do is rest. Tonight we are going to watch Grand Torino and lay around. Sounds perfect to me. And if what everyone tells me is true, how a kidney stone is worse then labor, then I should have nothing to worry about. I have a feeling that won't be the case though.