Blood in my leukocytes? Normal?

[schoolmom07]

I had a urinalysis done the other day for sharp stabbing pain in my abdomen and was told I have blood in my leukocytes. Does anyone know what this is? I was told they will culture it to see if anything grows but I asked if I had a UTI and the lab tech said no. So what does this mean? I have also not been having what I would consider normal bleeding postpartum. I bled for two days and then would stop for a day, start back again and now, I am passing large clots. Not exactly the size of a lemon which is what they told me to look out for but I can most definitely say larger than a walnut. Is this right? I need someone who knows what is going on. My doctors have been less than helpful. Oh...and severe headache for 10 days out of the 15 that DD has been born.

[katelove]

Could they have said "blood and leukocytes"? "Blood in leukocytes doesn't make any sense as leukocytes are a component of blood. They are the white blood cells which fight infection.

Leukocytes and/or blood in the urine is a sign of a UTI however as you are still bleeding PP it could well be contamination from the pv bleeding. Doing a urine culture will grow any bacteria that may be in your urine sample but won't tell you if it originated in your urine or is contamination from another location.

Clots, abdo pain and headaches postpartum could be signs of a uterine infection as a result of retained placental fragments (I'm assuming you didn't have an epidural or that could explain the headaches). Is the pv loss unpleasant smelling at all? Have you been doing a lot of physical activity? This can sometimes cause an increase in loss. Do you feel generally well?

It certainly needs to be looked into though. If you are not getting any joy from your current doctor, is there someone else you can see for an opinion?

ETA - sorry, saw your thread in new posts and didn't realise until just now that I was DDC crashing. Oops!

[2boyzmama]

Hmm...yeah, "blood in leukocytes" doesn't make sense...it's probably "blood and leukocytes". The blood may just be your post partum bleeding, but leukocytes is a sign of infection. That's why they're growing the culture. I believe there's a threshold, and if you have leukocytes over a certain threshold, then they call it a UTI right away. If it's under the threshold, but still positive for leukocytes, then they grow the culture to see if it was just caught early.

The sharp pains in your abdomen could be any number of things. I have what I describe as the opposite of round ligament pain...as all my organs settle back into their proper positions, I sometimes get sharp pinching pains like what round ligament pains felt like. I also get a lot of muscular twinges, I assume it's my abs rejoining, it's disconcerting, though, because those muscular twinges feel just like early fetal movement!! Freaked me out the first time around

Definitely pay attention to odor...if you have any foul odor (after showering) then you may have an infection. Watch for a fever, too. Headaches don't necessarily mean anything...there are a TON of hormonal changes in your body right now, and a headache may be one sign of those changes. Plus you're tired, you're up all night, and you may be falling asleep nursing the baby giving yourself a crick in your neck. I had a pretty horrible post partum headache this time because of being severely anemic, but it's easing a lot now on day 8.

[schoolmom07]

I also thought that made no sense as I couldn't figure out how you could have blood in blood? Or blood cells to be exact. They are culturing it to see if it grows anything. I have had an intense headache for what is now 11-12 days. I have to take the Motrin 800 to get rid of it and at times, the Percoset with that to get rid of the really painful ones. But it keeps coming right back. I haven't contracted like I did with my first daughter and my contractions stopped after the 2-3 day. I had almost none when we got home which was two days after baby's birth. I mentioned this to the OB/PA who told me that this could be normal but I am thinking NOT! I contracted for many weeks after first daughter was born but had to be induced with this second daughter. I went in at 7, induction was started by 8 (I was only dilated 2-3, had been that for weeks), we had a baby by 12:43 which seemed awfully fast. Doctor told me he was pushing the pitocin faster than normal and pushed it 2X what the admitting doctor called for. Instead of 2ml per 1 hour, he doubled it every 30 minutes. Should I be worried? Has anyone else had this happen to them? I had so much pain that it literally took my breath away, I couldn't breathe between contractions, and almost missed my Epidural because I accelerated so quickly. For instance, I was at a 7 when they came in to do the Epi and 4 minutes later I was at a 10 and ready to push. I am not sure at all that my body is healing right and I also tore 2nd degree. Doctor told me that he only put two stiches in but again, PA looked and said that there were alot more than that. She said "He may have meant two on the outside but that is not what I see on the inside". I know he did not say 2 here and then so many there. He said "Only two" because I specifically asked. So he has already lied to me. I am worried because if he lied about that what else? He had also told me that he would have lied to me, too if he had been the U/S tech whom I had asked that previous Tuesday whether the baby's cord was around her neck. I was complaining because her cord was around her neck and they did not tell me that. The U/S tech told me "Oh, no...It is anterior and down her side". Not one word about "around her neck". So I have my hands full. Anxiety is high, overwhelmed feelings running rampant.

[2boyzmama]

Okay...first of all, try to let some of the anxiety go if you can, especially about the dr lying to you...you can't change it now, and it might only make your headaches worse. You can sort it all out at your 6 week post partum (ask to see your delivery records, you might need to request them a few days before your appt, then go through the records with your dr and ask whatever questions you want...like "why was the pitocin pushed so fast? how many stitches did I really have?" Remember that you had just delivered a baby, you might be remembering some things somewhat incorrectly)

If you had an epi, the headache may be normal. It sucks, I had it after my first birth when I had an epidural. Aside from motrin, try to do hot/cold compresses on your forehead/neck, try a warm bath. Be sure you're getting enough rest (even if it's not sleep).

Like I said in my previous post, I have had a horrible headache with this baby but I'm pretty sure it's from the anemia I have. Do you know if you're anemic? If you don't know, call and ask, they probably did post partum blood work on you. Focus on getting your iron levels up if you are even a little anemic, it might help.

Keep paying attention for things like odor, fever, chills, etc.

[acemama]

A severe headache is not normal, but can be the result of an epidural. After an epidural sometimes spinal fluid can leak into the epidural space. Is the headache worse when you have been standing? You should contact your Dr and tell them you have a severe headache and remind them that you had an epidural. You should not have to just deal with this. They can do a blood patch. Which is when they inject your own blood into your epidural space to patch or plug the leak. This should take care of your headache. Hope you feel better soon!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epidural_blood_patch