My 'Stent' in the Hospital

For those of you who like a good story and for my own memories, here are the details of my past week:

On Sunday morning I woke up around 4am in pain. I realized that I had been waking up during the night thinking that I just needed to go to the bathroom and once I finally woke up realized that something was wrong. I went into the living so that I didn't bother Josh. Laying down wasn't much of an option. I started having flashbacks to when I was 14 weeks pregnant. My back was killing me! I tried to stay calm, drinking lots of water and walking around the living room, hoping that this was not what I thought it was. Occasionally I would lay down and rest, but couldn't stay down for long. Josh got up to check on me and I filled him in. At this point I wasn't quite sure that I wanted to admit it could be a kidney stone and I didn't want to bother the Midwife yet. I paced somemore and tried to relax as everyone in the house started getting up. Josh thought it would be a good idea to call the midwife at this point, so I did. Being a midwife she wanted me to try somemore natural, less harmful things before assuming I needed to be in the hospital. So I turned on the heating pad, Josh gracefully went to the store and got me some Tylenol PM and I tried my best to rest while he and the girls went to Bible class. That didn't help. Around 10am I called the midwife back and told her it wasn't working. She decided to call their referring physician at UNC to get her opinion. It seemed like hours waiting for her to call back! And of course, she said I needed to go to the hospital, my choice, Rex or UNC. Since Rex already had my health history and it was closer, at the time that seemed like the best choice. Josh was on his way home by this point so he stopped and got some essential last minute items for the girls to be dropped off at my moms for the day. A little after noon we reached the ER and passed the girls off. I went in and was prepared to wait. My last visit to the ER I had to wait 4 hours to get a bed. The midwive told us that since I was 30 weeks pregnant I would be taken to the OB triage, well, apparently Rex doesn't work that way. I saw the triage nurse, who was EXTREMELY compassionate and put in as much information to push me to the top of the list. She sent me to the waiting area to get a urine sample and wait. I was preparing for the long haul, but Praise The Lord! a wheelchair was waiting for me when I was finished in the bathroom. I was wheeled away to a bed immediately. Unfortunately, just because there was an empty bed did not mean that the nurse wasn't being over worked. I assumed my postion of comfort and rocked back and forth for 2 hours before the nurse was able to come in and start the process of the IV and finally the pain meds! Just like last time, the pain meds offered a nice little buzz, but didn't do much for the pain. I was wheeled away for an ultrasound, and just like last time they could tell there was some swelling, but couldn't see a stone. Also, they told me that this far along is was normal to have some swelling, especially on the right side. None of this was comforting. After a dose of more meds I though, hmmm.. I might could handle this at home. 30 minutes later when they were wearing off again, I knew I couldn't. Josh and I decided that with my nausea and lack of relief from perscription narcotics that going home wouldn't help much. So we were admitted.
I was taken to a room in the postpartum care and got some morphine, hopeing for relief. They started at 2mgs, that did nothing, so I got up to 4mgs. That night nurse just wasn't gonna budge! They weren't gonna give me fluids until I puked twice and they decided that I probably wouldn't be able to drink enough to pass the stone on my own. Wise choice :)
Monday morning the OB said that I could have 6mg of morphine. But that was tops....so, at my worst I was at a 5 on the pain scale, not enjoyable, but what can you do? The Phenergan helped me get the rest that I needed.
On Tuesday my girls were coming for a visit. I hadn't showered since Saturday and really wanted my hair washed. I guess not very many postpartum patients asked for that, but I had a wonderful nurse who said, if I wanted to get a hairwash she would figure out how to get it done. And she did! I was just finishing the process when my girls came, it was nice to visit with them feeling clean. The visit went well while I still had a good morphine kick, but once that started wearing off, any movements the girls made in the bed hurt, plus Sydney wanted to pull out the IV. The newness and coolness of the room was getting old for the girls, so even though it wasn't a long visit, it was nice to see them for a bit.
Things are a blur until Tuesday night around 5 when the Urologist came to visit since I wasn't passing the stone on my own. He gave me some meds to help the muscles relax around the stone to see if that would help over night. I was to get an x-ray in the morning, just one little one, to see if they could locate and determine the size of the stone. He promised it would not harm the baby. But who knows, I could pass it on my own during the night. Depending on the results of the x-ray, I may or may not have to have a stent put in. He left and I immediately started researching stents online and got very upset. This did not sound fun at all! I took my pheregan eagerly that night and kept it coming to get a good nights rest!
Wednesday morning they wheeled me down to get the x-ray nice and early since I wasn't able to eat or drink anything until it was over (not that I could eat, but I did get thirsty!) The RX technician made me feel so welcome once I got there questiong "Why was I doing this?" accusingly. Um, hello, I realize I'm pregnant, I'm doing what the Dr. told me to do! Thanks for making me cry lady! They inserted a dye into my IV and waited 10 minutes for it to get to the kidney. They took a quick x-ray and I lay there waiting..... The technician comes back and says that the Dr. looked at the x-ray and wants a retake in 45 minutes. Wait a minute?? Didn't you guys say just one? I was getting nervous. I laid there and waited , dreaming of the breakfast food I would order when they took me back to my room. They finally took the last x-ray. This baby is gonna have 4 eyes and green toes! They told me that it wouldn't take too long for the Dr. to give me to results. Once they wheeled me back to my room the nurse popped her head right in and said nothing to eat or drink. WHAT???? This really didn't sound good. I called Josh and asked him to come as soon as possible, that something wasn't right. My room phone rang while I was pouting/dozing, waiting for the Dr. to come and give me the results. I ignored it, figuring it was someone just calling to see how I was, I wasn't in the mood to talk. 15 minutes later it rang again. This person is persistant! I answered the phone. It was the Dr. He let me know that they there was a large obstruction, it wouldn't pass on it's own and they would be putting in a stent at 3pm. I stuttered a few questions through some tears. The nurse came in to the room as I was on the phone ready with the consent papers. It was all going too fast! Did the Dr. really just call me on the phone to give me that kind of a diagnosis? I felt like I had gotten dumped over the phone! I told the nurse I wanted to talk to my husband before I signed anything. She let me know that she had to start some meds before the procedure. What a pickle! I called Josh bawling! He got to the hospital ASAP, did I ever tell you know nice it is to have a nurse for a husband. Him and my nurse spoke a little nurse-ease and got the Dr. back on the phone. The Dr. explained everything to him and I got ready to sign the forms while getting the meds for the Stent placement. An anethesiologist came in and talked about what they would be giving me to put me to sleep during the procedure, making sure everything would be safe for the baby. Then the urologist came in, not the phone man, but the one who would be doing the procedure. The looked a little but like SuperMan. He was nice and explained things a little bit more for the non-medical people in the room :) Before long they were wheeling me away to the waiting area and then back to the surgery room. Everyone was very nice. They kept the mood light and kept me talking about silly things, probably just to get my mind off of what was going to happen. Apparently the anethesiologist changed his mind and decided it would be safest to give me Benadryl as a seditive instead of a twilight drug. Hmmm...Bendadyrl? I was really hoping for a good nap! Yeah, I forgot to ask about pain, because I thought I was going to be asleep..... I felt IT ALL!!! I won't lie, it HURT. No all of it, but when it did, WOW! The nice people did their best to comfort me. I couldn't even breathe! It was a quick prodedure and before I knew it they were done. I waited in recovery for what seemed like forever! Recover from Benadryl? I just wanted to see my husband! The nurse forgot to get Josh, but luckily we met in the hall on the way back to my room. I REALLY had to pee at this point, so I was in a rush to get back. I thought they were going to drain my bladder during the procedure! I will leave out gross details, but it was a little surprising going to the bathroom the first time. But, hey, my back pain was gone! I hadn't had any meds since noon and it was 5pm, an hour past when I would normally get them. I even ordered dinner and ate all of it! First time eating in four days, it felt good. I had some tylenol that night, but didn't get much sleep, Julianna kept me up and I didn't have my phenergan to knock me out. At least I had Josh to stay with me. I missed him. We snuggled, I cried about missing the girls, we watched tv and relaxed, what we won't do for a date night! My night nurse was very thorough as well. She was vigilant on getting vital signs and updates through the night. At least she was sweet.
Thursday I was READY to get home! I was experiencing some discomfort from the stent, but nothing a girl can't handle. Just feels like having a UTI all the time, for the next 10 weeks. The urologist finally came in to discuss the final game plan which includes repeating the wonderful stent process by replacing it in 6 weeks. They don't want to leave it in the full time to reduce the chance for infection. After the baby is born, about a week or two I will get a CT scan so they can determine the size and position of the stone so they can get it out!
Nothing like a little last trimester fun, huh? Luckily, the pregancy masks many of the symptoms of the stent, but I can definetely feel it in my back. I have back pain and pain around my bladder making it difficult to walk. I'm still working on getting my strength back. It's amazing how weak 4 straight days of laying in bed can make you. If I wasn't peeing constantly before, I am now, just with this nice burning, twinging pain as the stent drains from my kidney to my bladder. When things don't seem as pleasent I picture a newborn all swaddled up. I can do it for Julianna.