My kidney and I have been fighting

Hmmm so this week has not been the best week. Here's what happened:

Monday around 4pm I started having mild pain in my right side between my lowest rib and my hip. At first I thought it was the little peanut just scooting on over and making me uncomfortable but later on that night it started getting really bad. I now wasn't sure if he was just stuck over there or if something else was going on so we called one of our midwives. She said that it sounded like a gallbladder problem, to lay off fats and dairy and to call in the morning if it wasn't feeling better. I popped a few Tylenol, received a blessing and was able to get some sleep.

The next morning I still was feeling pretty sore so I called back and an ultrasound was scheduled. Peter had to go to school so I took Quinn down to play at his friend little B's house. I went to the ultrasound appointment in the afternoon and by this point was in a LOT of pain. I was in tears by the time they called me in for the ultrasound. The ultrasound tech was soooo nice! He took a look at everything and ruled out the possibility of any gallbladder problems but did notice some fluid build up and swelling in my right kidney. He also noticed that when he rolled me onto my left side that the fluid drained a little better. The doctor came in and agreed with his findings it was proposed that the baby was probably lying against one of my ureters, causing the fluid not to drain as it should and therefore backing up into my kidney. They said that they would send the results to my midwife and so I set up a follow up appointment for the next day. (The bright side to this was that I got to see James in the ultrasound again. He was even cuter than last time).

Going home was scary. I was still in a ton of pain and was praying so hard that I would be able to make it home safely. I also started shaking. I got home, grabbed some more Tylenol and climbed into bed. Then the chills started. These were pretty intense but after about 20 minutes they calmed down and I started a cycle of chills/fever and sweats. The Tylenol seemed to keep things under control and I drank a bunch of orange juice hoping to make the little guy move on over. I started to feel him moving on the opposite side but the pain was still there but still hoped that it would eventually go away.

Peter took me to my Dr's appointment the next day. They determined that since the pain had spread into my low back and that there was a little bit of blood in my urine that I either had an infection or a kidney stone and were leaning towards the fact it was a stone. They gave me a prescription for an antibiotic and said to call if the pain got worse. We went promptly to the pharmacist to fill the prescription but were told that they were unable to fill the prescription as I was not allowed to take it when I was pregnant. We asked them to talk with the midwife and to call us when they had a prescription I could take.

Around 4:30 I started getting chills again. But these were bad! I couldn't stop shaking and my whole body was seizing up to the point I couldn't swallow. Down went some more Tylenol and I asked for another blessing. The chills lasted for almost an hour but finally passed. I was getting scared so we called the midwife again and she told us we needed to go to the emergency room. Most likely I needed some IV hydration and to get started on antibiotics.

We made it to the emergency room around 7:30 and got checked in. After a few tests it looked like I definitely had a kidney infection and that it had spread slightly to my left kidney too(Apparently pregnant women are at a larger risk for these types of infections and it is quite common) but they couldn't rule out a kidney stone or appendicitis as the ultrasound had been indefinite on these points. The best way to check those diagnosis are through a cat scan but as I was pregnant they wanted to avoid any radiation as best they could. So they decided to admit me. The next 24 hours were filled with chills and fever but finally the chills started to get less intense and frequent and the fever followed suit. And thanks to some nice painkillers the pain has been kept in control. They had me on a clear fluid diet which means I hadn't eaten anything solid in three days but I was moved back onto solid foods today which was heavenly!

I am starting to feel a lot better though still not great, but it looks like I will be able to go home sometime tomorrow! Yay!

Thank you! To everyone that has helped us, especially with watching Quinn. What a huge blessing and weight off of our minds to know he was in good hands.

Even though I have been sick I feel so grateful. I have a wonderful loving husband who has dropped everything to take care of me, even though I know he has a ton on his plate right now. A loving son whose hugs have been the best medicine. Loving and caring friends and family, great medical care and the comfort of my Heavenly Father to help me get through this.