Spending the First day of 2012 in the Hospital

I'm not blaming my recent hospital stay on Parker, but it is pretty much her fault. Just like her sisters, she's calling the shots before she even arrives, and apparently she thought mommy and daddy needed a private room to kick off the new year!

On Sunday (Jan 1st) were at church when I started feeling a pain in my left mid back. The pain continued throughout the service and I started to feel a little nauseated. We ran a lot of errands the day before so I was trying to determine if I just overdid it or pulled a muscle getting Lou in and out of the car. Because the pain was not subsiding, I talked to a friend after the service who is a nurse. She advised me to take Tylenol and go home and rest. I felt somewhat better after taking Tylenol, but the pain came back stronger about an hour later. That afternoon, I napped when the girls napped, but woke up in even more pain. The doctor on call thought I might have a kidney stone so I tried to hang out at home and drink lots of water. I finally gave in around 6pm and Greg and I headed to the hospital as soon as my dad could come over to watch the girls (thanks dad).

Because I'm a planner and this was not in my plan for the day, I wasn't thrilled about going to the hospital 5 weeks earlier than my expected due date. I'm also an overachiever (even in the worst of times), so I was happy to meet one of my goals, which was to make it to the hospital before throwing up. Not long after settling into our room, "it" began. Luckily I made it into the bathroom for the first two rounds, but round three happened in the room ... with Greg close by. I guess this is the for better or for worse part. Greg was a trooper.

After some lab work and an ultrasound on my kidneys, the doctor diagnosed me with some big words that Greg and I don't remember. Essentially, my left kidney was inflamed. We were told that this is something normal that can happen in the third trimester because of limited room for my organs and the growing baby putting pressure on my kidneys. Just call me lucky.

Throughout the night, I was given 3-4 bags of IV fluid, 2 bags and one shot of antibiotics, nausea meds, 2 shots of pain meds, and Tylenol. To top it all off I started having contractions every 3-4 minutes. Until the nurse mentioned it, I was unaware of the contractions because of my intense back pain. Greg saw them on the monitor and (thankfully) decided not to tell me since I had enough going on. I was then given a shot to stop/slow contractions, and a pill every 6 hours. I was not dilated or effaced so we felt better knowing that Parker was staying put for the time being.

For the record, Stadol (my pain med) can make you me act a little loopy. It made me laugh, it made me sleepy, it made me paranoid, and it made me very aware of the words that were coming out of my mouth ... or at least I thought. I just tried not to talk soon after taking the meds for fear that I would say something stupid. Only Greg knows the truth!

The next morning, and lots of prayers from family and friends later, I was feeling better, able to eat, and released. I will continue to take the "stop contractions" pill for a week unless my doctor discontinues that at this mornings appointment. I'm certainly glad that this is over and that we decided to go to the hospital when we did because I never would have known that I was having contractions had I stayed at home.

This pic was taken right after the doctor said I could go home. It's not my best look, but this is as good as it gets after the night I had.

Now, lets get on with starting the new year on a happier note!