An Unexpected Hospital Visit

I like to think that I have been extremely blessed with this pregnancy so far. I should have known that sometime in the nine months I'm pregnant that I would have some sort of trial! Sunday morning as I was getting ready for church, I felt like I had pulled a muscle in my back. It continued to get worse sitting in those hard chairs at church, and was on and off pain the next couple of days. All day Tuesday I was totally fine and relieved to think things were getting better, but by bed time it was back to that horrible pain. Needless to say I was up all night, and by morning I couldn't handle it anymore. That had to be some of the worse pain I have ever experienced. I called the doctor, and left a message because we were starting to think this might be sometime more than just a pulled muscle. When the nurse called back an hour later she told me to come in, and they would test for a UTI which isn't uncommon for pregnant women to get.

Well the doctor checked everything out, and all seemed normal with me and the baby. He did want me to go over to the hospital, and just get an ultrasound of my right kidney just to make sure I didn't have kidney stones, or possibly hydronephrosis. That is basically when the baby puts pressure on your ureter causing things to back up into your kidney, and cause major swelling or other problems. When we went to the hospital they ended up checking us into the labor and delivery triage. They started monitoring the babies heart beat, my uterus and checking my urine. Turns out I was having some contractions because I was really dehydrated. They immediately wanted to get the contractions down, and started me on an IV. I think I was most nervous to get the IV because I've never had one before, and I've heard they hurt. It actually wasn't bad at all.

A little while later the ultrasound tech came in to look at my kidney. She was really nice, and let us see our little guy too. I've only ever seen his profile, but this time we saw his face straight on. It was so freaking cute!! You could see him swallow a couple of time, and stick his tongue out. Plus Austin said he looks like he has my nose :) For such a crappy day, that certainly made up for it! The doctor finally came in and told me I had a lot of things going on... I did indeed have hydronephrosis, some small kidney stones, and the start of a UTI. All of this was being made worse by the fact that I was so dehydrated. From then on out I was suppose to drink a gallon of water a day, start laying on my left side to get our little guy to move, and no more working. The nurse came back to give me some antibiotics, and a shot to stop my contractions. Austin was so surprised to see me taking all of this like a champ! The nurse said it was because I'm a mother haha. Her saying that made me feel better, and gave me the confidence I need to know that when it is time to deliver this baby I will be able to do it! I am starting to realize what is means to be a mother, and even though our little boy isn't here yet I'm already sacrificing for him.

It was a relief to finally figure out what was going on, and to get some medicine to treat all my issues, but since then I have basically been on mild bed rest. I don't know how people handle full bed rest because I am going crazy just knowing I can't be out too long before my back starts hurting. It is quite the roller coaster of emotions right now, but hopefully I will be back to normal soon. It is crazy to think that in a short three months we will be back at that hospital doing things all over again, but by then it will come with a sweet reward :)