Guinevere
01-21-2006, 05:24 PM
Hi again,
Well, I've decided that I'm definitely all set for labor now; in fact, it will be a BREEZE compared to the agony I've endured in the last 8 hours! :eyesroll
You may remember that I saw my OB (finally) this past Tuesday and he gave me a script for abx b/c I had all the classic symptoms of a UTI, minus the bacteria. The blood in my urine cleared up almost immediately after I started on them, but I kept having this annoying, persistent diffuse lower back pain (NOT in the area of my kidneys, more at the small of my back.)
As the week progressed, I still didn't feel much "better" b/c of the back pain. I tried moist heat, yoga, stretching -- nothing made a difference. I felt tired and very "blah." Then, late yesterday (Friday), it turned into more of a left side pain, like when you've just run a sprint and get a stitch in your side. That sort of feeling. This came on around 7 pm last night, and I was immediately kicking myself mentally, b/c my OB had asked me to call back on Friday if I wasn't feeling better. Well, obviously I'd missed that boat! :(
I began to suspect that either I DID have a kidney stone or that something new and entirely different was wrong with me. Confused, tired, and sore, I went to bed.
At 6:30 am this morning, my bladder woke me up to pee. Immediately after I emptied my bladder, the niggling stitch in my left side blossomed into full-blown, excruciating, take-your-breath-entirely-away sort of pain. I tried to find a more comfortable position. There wasn't one; agony awaited me however I tried to move. :( I yelled for DH to bring me water, lots of water, as I finally realized, with that kind of fatalistic clarity you only get when it's too late, exactly what was going on.
The next 6 hours, I can honestly say, surpass any other discomfort or pain I have ever experienced (and I'm having my fifth baby, so that's saying something, lol!) I vomited literally countless times from the pain -- I've never done that before, ever! I tried every labor pain management technique I've ever read about or used myself, focusing mainly on the bathtub and shower (with HOT water, then COLD water when that eventually stopped working.) I breathed, I rocked, I groaned, I chanted, I sang, I changed position constantly, all the while drinking water (which would invariably come right back up again!) and trying to pee -- I was unable to, though, b/c the stone was completely blocking the ureter (and thereby causing great pain.)
You know, I tried to treat the pain like labor pain (the only thing I really had to relate it to), but it was entirely different! For one thing, it doesn't ebb and flow like a ctrx; it's unrelenting, so you never get a break. For another, when the pain gets the worst in labor, you know you're almost DONE, that your reward (your precious baby) is within your grasp -- in other words, your pain is PRODUCTIVE, it is a means to a wonderful end. THIS pain, however, served no purpose other than just to be cruel, and its intensity did NOT serve as an indicator as to how soon it would be over. It just plain didn't end!
Around 12:30 pm, I ended up falling asleep, cross-legged, sitting in the bathtub. It wasn't that the pain was any better, it was that my body couldn't take it anymore; I was so weak from fatigue, pain, and vomiting that I just couldn't maintain consciousness anymore. Now I finally understand how some women fall asleep during ctrx towards the end of labor, if they've been laboring a long time -- you just can't help yourself!
I woke up about a half hour later, and the storm had passed. The pain was gone completely, but again for that dull ache in my lower back. I could pee again. I dried off (boy, was I pruny by that time!), climbed into bed and LAY DOWN (first time I could even attempt that since I'd woken up that morning.) DH brought me juice and toast and I devoured it ravenously. Then, I slept.
I just woke up about a half hour ago, and am now reflecting on where I stand. While it's theoretically possible I passed the stone, I don't think I have yet. :( Either it moved away from the ureter and is still in my kidney, waiting to cause me untold pain in the next couple of days, or it's made it to my bladder (or is possibly stuck in the tube.) Only time will tell...boy, that's reassuring, huh? If I still have lower back pain by Monday, I'll be going in for a kidney u/s, hopefully to figure out WHERE this thing is and how large it is. But u/s's not a great way to find these, apparently, so I may not see anything.
Being pg, my only treatment option, if it's too large to pass, is to have a stent inserted in the ureter to help drain the kidney; then, essentially, I have to WAIT until after the baby's born to break up the stone. That's 4 months from now! Ack! Needless to say, I'm really, REALLY hoping it passes on its own! Oh, and the attacks can cause PTL (although this one didn't), so I'm worried about that, too.
I officially need a hug, mamas! This day has been uniquely horrible!
Guin
Well, I've decided that I'm definitely all set for labor now; in fact, it will be a BREEZE compared to the agony I've endured in the last 8 hours! :eyesroll
You may remember that I saw my OB (finally) this past Tuesday and he gave me a script for abx b/c I had all the classic symptoms of a UTI, minus the bacteria. The blood in my urine cleared up almost immediately after I started on them, but I kept having this annoying, persistent diffuse lower back pain (NOT in the area of my kidneys, more at the small of my back.)
As the week progressed, I still didn't feel much "better" b/c of the back pain. I tried moist heat, yoga, stretching -- nothing made a difference. I felt tired and very "blah." Then, late yesterday (Friday), it turned into more of a left side pain, like when you've just run a sprint and get a stitch in your side. That sort of feeling. This came on around 7 pm last night, and I was immediately kicking myself mentally, b/c my OB had asked me to call back on Friday if I wasn't feeling better. Well, obviously I'd missed that boat! :(
I began to suspect that either I DID have a kidney stone or that something new and entirely different was wrong with me. Confused, tired, and sore, I went to bed.
At 6:30 am this morning, my bladder woke me up to pee. Immediately after I emptied my bladder, the niggling stitch in my left side blossomed into full-blown, excruciating, take-your-breath-entirely-away sort of pain. I tried to find a more comfortable position. There wasn't one; agony awaited me however I tried to move. :( I yelled for DH to bring me water, lots of water, as I finally realized, with that kind of fatalistic clarity you only get when it's too late, exactly what was going on.
The next 6 hours, I can honestly say, surpass any other discomfort or pain I have ever experienced (and I'm having my fifth baby, so that's saying something, lol!) I vomited literally countless times from the pain -- I've never done that before, ever! I tried every labor pain management technique I've ever read about or used myself, focusing mainly on the bathtub and shower (with HOT water, then COLD water when that eventually stopped working.) I breathed, I rocked, I groaned, I chanted, I sang, I changed position constantly, all the while drinking water (which would invariably come right back up again!) and trying to pee -- I was unable to, though, b/c the stone was completely blocking the ureter (and thereby causing great pain.)
You know, I tried to treat the pain like labor pain (the only thing I really had to relate it to), but it was entirely different! For one thing, it doesn't ebb and flow like a ctrx; it's unrelenting, so you never get a break. For another, when the pain gets the worst in labor, you know you're almost DONE, that your reward (your precious baby) is within your grasp -- in other words, your pain is PRODUCTIVE, it is a means to a wonderful end. THIS pain, however, served no purpose other than just to be cruel, and its intensity did NOT serve as an indicator as to how soon it would be over. It just plain didn't end!
Around 12:30 pm, I ended up falling asleep, cross-legged, sitting in the bathtub. It wasn't that the pain was any better, it was that my body couldn't take it anymore; I was so weak from fatigue, pain, and vomiting that I just couldn't maintain consciousness anymore. Now I finally understand how some women fall asleep during ctrx towards the end of labor, if they've been laboring a long time -- you just can't help yourself!
I woke up about a half hour later, and the storm had passed. The pain was gone completely, but again for that dull ache in my lower back. I could pee again. I dried off (boy, was I pruny by that time!), climbed into bed and LAY DOWN (first time I could even attempt that since I'd woken up that morning.) DH brought me juice and toast and I devoured it ravenously. Then, I slept.
I just woke up about a half hour ago, and am now reflecting on where I stand. While it's theoretically possible I passed the stone, I don't think I have yet. :( Either it moved away from the ureter and is still in my kidney, waiting to cause me untold pain in the next couple of days, or it's made it to my bladder (or is possibly stuck in the tube.) Only time will tell...boy, that's reassuring, huh? If I still have lower back pain by Monday, I'll be going in for a kidney u/s, hopefully to figure out WHERE this thing is and how large it is. But u/s's not a great way to find these, apparently, so I may not see anything.
Being pg, my only treatment option, if it's too large to pass, is to have a stent inserted in the ureter to help drain the kidney; then, essentially, I have to WAIT until after the baby's born to break up the stone. That's 4 months from now! Ack! Needless to say, I'm really, REALLY hoping it passes on its own! Oh, and the attacks can cause PTL (although this one didn't), so I'm worried about that, too.
I officially need a hug, mamas! This day has been uniquely horrible!
Guin