My gall stones

Tuesday evening I started to feel the pressure I feel in my abdomen right before I throw up while I was doing my pregnancy yoga DVD. So I rested and then went to bed around 9pm. As soon as I layed down, I jumped back up and ran to the bathroom to puke. Fun. Then I tried to go back to bed, but I was still in pain and still felt sick. Usually this subsides about 20-30 minutes after I get sick, but it wouldn't go away. So I layed there for a while, and then got up and went searching for a position that felt more comfortable - sitting on the chaise, sitting on the sofa, laying on the sofa, laying on the floor. I ended up laying on the floor on my right side for a few hours, in pain, but resting. Finally I yelled for K to wake up and she started reviewing the pregnancy books trying to figure out what was wrong with me. Then I threw up again.

By now it was 2am and I thought we should call the midwife. She said to eat and drink nothing for 2 hours (I had been trying crackers and ginger ale) and see if my stomach calms down. In the next two hours, I threw up 5 times. So we called her again, and she said 'Let's try 2 more hours and if you're still getting sick, you should go to the emergency room.' Okay, we'll try again. But about a half hour later I threw up again and K said 'Why are we waiting? Let's just go to the emergency room.' By now it was about 5am.

So we called the midwife and told her we were headed out. Our midwives only work with Shady Grove Hospital, which is 12 miles away, but Holy Cross Hospital is only a few miles away. We were all assuming I had a stomach flu at this point, so she said I could just go to my closest hospital, I didn't need to go to Shady Grove.

We were at Holy Cross in no time and they checked us into Labor and Delivery (which I guess is where pregnant women go even if they aren't there for something related to their pregnancy). After seeing Holy Cross, we are very happy to be delivering at Shady Grove. The rooms are small and dank, the nurses and doctors were rushed and didn't even introduce themselves. It was crowded and loud. And it's super Catholic - crosses in every room, a prayer over the intercom at 6am. Not somewhere I want to spend three days. But they did give me a blanket right out of the dryer which was super warm - I really liked that.

They hooked me up to an IV to rehydrate me and gave me some medicine to keep me from throwing up more, and then did a series of blood and urine tests. Then the doctor tells me there is something wrong with my liver - possibly chronic liver disease but he couldn't tell without further tests. That was scary and coming out of nowhere. He said that I needed to get a lot of tests done, but that they should be ordered by my midwife so that my insurance would pay for them. That meant we had to go to Shady Grove. By now it was around 10am.

Off we go to Shady Grove, hospital #2 in just one day. Shady Grove is so much nicer. Large rooms with bathrooms, lots of lights with big windows, friendly staff. Definitely the place I want to give birth.

The midwife met us there and we did more blood and urine tests and an ultrasound checking out my liver and other related organs. In the ultrasound they found multiple gall stones, which cause pain and upset stomachs. I asked if this was common for someone my age because I always thought it was something women in their fifties got. But she assured me that it's common for pregnant women because of all of the hormonal changes. So we made an appointment with a surgeon on Friday, and at that point I'll find out more. We went home around 2:30.

She also started me on a soft foods diet until Friday. At the hospital they gave me jello and juice and that went down okay, so we stopped at Whole Foods on the way home and got soup, jello, yogurt, juice. I yesterday I had jello, juice, yogurt, and soup, and so far so good. No puking yet. This morning I've had jello, yogurt, and juice and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I also got prescriptions for a medicine to take before each meal to coat my stomach and a medicine to take if I start getting sick, but I haven't picked either of these up yet.

I had a good night's sleep, so I'm back at work today. Since I seem to feel okay, I'm saving up my sick leave as much as I can. So now we wait until tomorrow to find out more. I was really hoping for a uncomplicated pregnancy!