Worse Than Labor?

Yes, I have discovered that kidney stones are worse than labor. On Wednesday night, I experienced a kidney stone for the first time in my life and hope to never repeat the experience. Around 7:30pm, right after church, I began to feel a stabbing pain on my right side. I simply assumed that the baby was positioned in a weird way and he would move soon. After taking two Tylenol and the pain only increasing I knew it was time to go to the hospital. Josh called his mom at midnight and she came over to stay with Thomas.

I got sick twice on the way to the hospital and then again at the hospital. The first thing I said to the nurse is, "Give me something for pain!" Of course, they had to check my urine, hear the baby's heartbeat, and ask me a whole page of questions before I could get anything. Thankfully, they finally gave me some pain medication around 3:00am. After drawing blood and checking it, they determined it wasn't my appendix, and most likely it was a kidney stone.

Hospitals aren't known for being quick about anything, and it wasn't until 5:30pm on Thursday afternoon that my OB confirmed I did have a large kidney stone. He thought it would pass by the morning and he was right. We were so thankful that I didn't have to endure any kind of medical procedure to remove it and when they did the ultrasound, they only saw one. The doctor still isn't sure what caused it, but he did say kidney stones sometimes occur in pregnancy.

I'm thankful for pain medication and a husband that takes great care of me when I am sick. Josh pulled an all-nighter on Wednesday night, something he hasn't done since college and he hopes he doesn't have to repeat! My ob told me on Friday morning that labor should be a breeze after going through this and I agree. Even though labor is very painful, at least there is a break between contractions. I told him maybe I didn't need an epidural after all and he said, "You deserve it after this experience."

Hopefully, the next time I visit the hospital, I'll come home with a baby!