Sunday, August 9, 2009

Spent the night and most of the day in the ER.....

Short story - Baby is FINE. I will be FINE

Long Story -
Last night my husband and I went to bed around 11pm. I could not sleep, I was just feeling off -- can't really explain it, but just did not feel well.

At around 12:30, I decided to go downstairs to maybe watch some TV and sleep down there. Never fell asleep, and was still feeling kinda off.

Well around 1:50, I started getting these intense pains. The pains started in my back and went around my side to my chest. At one point, it felt like I was pinned under a semi-truck. My chest hurt really bad. I tried to walk it off, rock (which helped). But the pain was getting worse and worse.

At the point that I woke my husband up at around 3 am, I was in severe pain and was very short of breath. The only thing that kinda helped was being on my hands and knees and rocking. But, even in that position, the pain was bad.

We called the doc, who asked to speak to me. He determined that because I could barely breathe, and the fact the hospital is about 1/2 hour away, that I needed to call 911 ASAP. We call, and they start o2 on me start taking vitals, etc. Again the pain was INTENSE.

I get taken to the hospital via ambulance and Frank follows behind with Lil J (trust me, we TRIED everything we could to NOT take him). It seems to be the longest ride ever.
In the ambulance, my pressures were all over the place. But they were able to at least start an IV (not a good job, but whatever)

When we get to the hospital, they thought at first that it was a blood clot in my lung. The combination of the area of pain and the fact that I had so many miscarriages last year, I guess that is what they thought.

They took blood when I first got there and there was "something" in the blood that was a "very high positive" that indicates the likihood of a blood clot in the lungs. Becasue of that - I had to have a lung scan. But had to wait for the tech to get to the hospital (live in a rural area).

Before we did the test, I threw up 3 times, they wanted to give me morphine for the pain, but had to give me Zofran first. Once the determined that I might not throw up, they gave the morphine. They had to give 3 shots before the pain was manageable.

Since it was a radiation dye test, they had to have me sign a waiver, but did us the lowest amount possible. It is pretty scary to think about the effects of any amount of radiation to the baby. But, when you are told that you might have a pulmonary embolism - you take that chance.

Then because of the radiation, the OB wanted a cath put in - yeah, so comfortable. I did not understand the actual reasoning behind it - but who am I to argue. The cath did not go in until after I used the bathroom several times.

After what seemed like forever, it was determined that the lung scan was normal, and no clots were found.

Since it was not the lung, they wanted to check out the gallbladder. According to bloodwork, my liver enzymes were high and off to u/s I went. The only thing they found was "sludge" in my gallbladder (according to u/s). Sludge is such a medical term lol.

They could not see any stones in the gallbladder - But can not say for sure that I did NOT pass a stone before the U/S. Plus, at that point, the cath had been in for a while, but like I said - I used the bathroom several times before the cath went in. There were no visible stones in the cath bag.

At this point, I had been monitored by L&D several different times. Each time the baby looked good and no contractions. They had a hard time getting a good position on the monitors because of the extra fluid that I have and the fact that the baby was so active. But, in the end, great heartrate. They even checked out the baby when I had the u/s for the gallbladder. Baby looked good.

At the point of that I was given the results of the gallbladder scan, it was determined that I could be discharged. Even though they did not know for SURE that it was my gallbladder, I guess they thought it was probable enough. I do have to follow-up with a GI and of course with my OB. I never even made it to L&D, only the ER.

What sucked the most is the fact that our "please call me in the middle of the night if you go into labor" person never answered her phone. So, my husband had to wake up Lil J and follow us to the hospital. He was kinda scared of all the wires and tubes, etc.

We called my mother around 7ish and my husband drove him home and my mom watched him.
I am still in a little bit of pain, but it is now bearable.

I know this turned out really long - anyone have gallbladder issues while pergnant?

4 comments:

Andrea said...

yikes! I am glad it wasn't something terrible, that you are feeling better and that the baby looked good:)

Leah said...

I had my gall bladder out 4 years ago (not of course during pregnancy). I can tell you that it is the most excruciating pain I have ever felt. I've been told that it ranks right up there with a heart attack and some say it's worse than giving birth. I had a sharp twisting stabbing burning pain under my right shoulder blade. Mine lasted for about 2 years off and then mainly on. The first scan showed no stones but I still had attacks. It got to the point where I was having 3-4 attacks a week. The surgeon didn't even scan me this time around. Just knew and took it out. It was horrible! The pain would start around 1-2 in the morning and last for several hours. Then it would just subside. My mom had issues with her gall bladder while pregnant with my sister, as did my best friend when she was pregnant. Just try to be really careful of what you eat...avoid fatty/fried foods as much as you can. What did you eat for dinner last night? I am so sorry you had to deal with that. Hopefully it's something as "simple" as a gall bladder! Once that baby comes you can get it taken out!!

Lana said...

Wow Amy!! Wat a night you had! I am glad that it wasn't anything life threatening in the end and the pain has subsided!! Glad that the baby is doing fine too

Dre said...

I just saw your post... I had a baby two months ago, and at 18 weeks I started getting those attacks. It was the worst pain I have ever felt, and I HAVE had blood clots in my lungs and two c-sections. What you are describing sounds just like it. I watched what I was eating for a bit, but the attacks still kept coming and were getting worse. I had big stones and some little ones, and because I was only halfway through my pregnancy and the risk of emergency surgery later on (which would be necessary if a stone escaped into various ducts) was far greater to me and the baby, I had my gallbladder removed. All went well and the attacks stopped immediately. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at andreaeadams@hotmail.com
Good luck!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...