I'm Giving Myself a Gold Star!

Yes, you heard that right. I'm giving myself a gold star for having to deal with a whole lot of not fun stuff during this pregnancy. And you better bet once I stick that gold star on my cheek, I'm going to wear it proudly...like, for days.

So you are probably wondering why in the world I all of the sudden want to give myself this gold star. Okay, so here's the latest.

Today, about 11am, as I was driving to my endocrinologist appointment for a routine check on my thyroid levels, I get this really sharp pain shooting through my vagina. It was def a different kind of pain that I haven't felt since being pregnant. I tell myself it's probably just some weird bodily reaction to having a full bladder and needing to pee. I did have some water before leaving the house.  The pain stays with me the entire drive to the doc's office and it's pretty uncomfortable, but I was still able to talk on the phone. :)

As soon as I get to my doc's office I make a quick trip to the potty. What?! I barely had anything to pee out. Huh. My thoughts then turn to a possible UTI. But then I quickly remind myself that I drink way too much water and never drink really anything else other than an occasional coke. Plus, there was no burning or discomfort while I was going. I've had UTI's in the past and at this point it just didn't feel like an obvious choice.

So I head into my appointment. The pain stays constant and is ever- present in my thoughts. I give my blood sample and finish up at my appointment and I'm on my way shortly. Kevin calls me as soon as I get back to the car and I tell him that I'm having really strong shooting pains in my vagina. I'm sure he loved hearing this tid- bit of info. while at work. :) At this point, I can tell the pain is increasing as I'm finding myself wanting off the phone and I'm feeling agitated.

I make the long drive back home and the pain is def getting worse. What in the heck is happening to my body now, I wonder?! By the time I make it home the once 'discomfort' I was feeling is now full fledged pain. Even though I had no urge to pee, for some reason the only place I wanted to be was sitting on the toilet. I know, weird. It didn't take away the pain at all, but for some reason I felt like I need to bear down some. Of course, I'm totally thinking this is the start of labor or something.

I end up taking a really small dose of hydrocodone/Tylenol about 3pm per Kevin's request. Much to my surprise within 20 minutes I feel substantial relief. So at this point I tell myself I must be experiencing some type of pregnancy induced round ligament pain/muscle stretching, etc. I get a few things done around the house since I'm feeling normal again, but within an hour of taking the medication, the pain is back all of the sudden full force. What in the world is going on, I wonder. So I'm then back to pacing, rocking on all fours, and sitting and rocking on the toilet. No relief. Arrg!

Since I took such a small dose of pain medication before, after another hour passes and still no relief, I take another small dose of pain medication. In between these two doses of medication I have also talked with my OB's nurse. By this time the pain is much more well defined. It is a constant sharp, throbbing pain dead center right about my pubic bone that passes all the way down through my vagina and a little in my left groin. Almost like severe period cramps that extend all the way down. But no contractions, which is great news! This is what made me think it wasn't anything baby related. My nurse says the doc thinks it's either the start of a UTI or the baby really pressing on my cervix and/or moving down lower into my pelvis. Seems totally plausible to me. She recommends I take pain meds and rest and the doc will check me out tomorrow at my appointment.

After the second dose of pain medication, no relief at all. Why not, I wonder. I thought it helped the first time. Or did it. Was it just a coincidence the pain stopped shortly after taking pain medication? This is weird. Where is this pain coming from? About an hour and a half after taking the second dose of pain medication, all of the sudden, I get a small break: the pain seems to have stopped. Okay, this is getting weirder. I get about 30 minutes of relief, and then it's back. No position change decreased the pain. As a matter of fact, there was absolutely no position that I was comfortable being in. Not one.

The whole evening I kept going back to the toilet---just to sit and kinda rock back and forth---usually in the dark. It was just more relaxing.  As I said before, it didn't offer any relief, as a matter of fact, as the night went on it did kind of begin to hurt every time I finished peeing, but still no burning or blood or anything like that. Even still, I just felt this weird need to be in a position to bear down a little. Not like major pushing or anything.

After about 11 hours of this today, 10pm rolls around and I make another trip to the trusty ol' toilet. This time I do have a pretty long pee. I'm sitting in the dark, on the toilet, praying out loud to God asking for him to heal whatever is happening with my body, to provide pain relief, and to keep the baby in and not let us deliver quite yet.  Literally 2 seconds later as I'm still peeing, I feel a 'plop' in my urine stream. I'm immediately reminded that I still have kidney stones in my body left over from the last time I passed stones.

I look down in the toilet and find what appears to be a kidney stone and sand-like material around it sitting at the bottom of the toilet. I immediately felt relieved, as I knew if this really was a stone, the pain would be over immediately. And it was! Completely gone in that second. But was it another weird coincidence? I don't put anything past my body.

Gross, I know, but I get what I think is the stone out of the toilet. It's small,  light brown, has a rocky and irregular shape, and also has a little red colored something smeared on it--possible blood? I have convinced myself this is a passed kidney stone, as I remember feeling tremendous pain last time I passed a stone and also immediate relief once it was out.

I have an appointment with my OB tomorrow, so I'll be bring that bad boy in a ziplock bag for her to give me her opinion. I'm sooo hoping she agrees with me, as this means this was an isolated day of pain and I should be pain-free from here on out...barring anymore oddities. Which we all know can't be ruled out. We are talking about me. Any medical condition that has less than a 2% chance of occurring while pregnant will find and afflict me. Okay, okay, I know this isn't completely true, but I do feel this way some days.

So this is why I'm giving myself a gold star. I think I've earned it.

Update: I went to see my OB today and showed her my good ol' find in the bottom of my toilet and she confirmed it was in fact a kidney stone.