A Trial Run to L&D.

First things first, I'm hoping to go private by this evening. Just an FYI. Anyone wanting to be added to the reading list that hasn't yet let me know, send me your email to unexpectedlyexpectingbaby@gmail.com, or just leave me a comment :)

Ok, now that that's out of the way, I can tell you about how I got to spend most of yesterday late afternoon/early evening in L&D. Did I think I was in labor? Absolutely not. I wasn't having any strong, regular contractions or leaking of fluid or bleeding. Instead, the culprit was severe, intense, paralyzing stabbing pains above my belly button and radiating around to my back and up between my shoulder blades. While I really want to avoid all dramatics with regards to my doctor and the hospital I'll be delivering at, since I was so badly to ensure they'll take me seriously when the time comes, I was in so much pain I couldn't even take a deep breath, let alone move from the seated, leaning forward position I was stuck in, so off we went after calling L&D to ask what we should do.

D and I were both VERY alarmed when instead of taking us into the triage room we were told about during our hospital tour, they skipped a step and threw me into a real L&D room, complete with hospital gown, non-stress test and contraction monitoring. Apparently when you go into L&D completely unable to walk (yes, I had to be wheeled - how mortifying) and fighting back both tears and yelps, they don't believe you're not in labor. After taking my vitals and finding my blood pressure had shot from it's normal 100/65 to 130/90 and my pulse was up over 120, they took a urine sample and a couple vials of blood, and were off to confer with my doc via telephone. Nothing quite like medical care through a conference call...

While I was hooked up to the monitor I started to contract a bit, though not regularly, which almost gave D a heart attack.

"Um, are you going into labor?!?! Cause we could still call this whole thing off.." he assured me, as I alternated between tears and damn near screaming. Even he was starting to not believe me at this point. And for good reason. You know what is as painful, if not moreso, than labor?! GALLSTONES. Yep. I was having an acute gallbladder attack..super fun. Equally fun is the fact that because of the size of my uterus and the risks of surgery, there is absolutely nothing they can do until the baby is born, and if they continue to get worse, she may need to be delivered via c-section so they can remove the stones at the same time. Fan-freaking-tastic. In the meantime, I've been prescribed the strongest pain pills I've ever taken, though I'm only planning to use them in case I have another attack, not for pain management. I'm not sensitive to pain meds at all, but by the time my doctor got to the hospital last night, I was completely incoherent. I accidentally told him I had a fever of 102 that morning rather than 100.2. Oops.

The upside (You know how I prefer happy news...)? I am more effaced than I was Wednesday, though still haven't reclaimed my centimeter. Oh, and I have absolutely no fears about labor anymore. Every nurse I talked to said that the pain of gallstones can be significantly worse than labor, and I totally believe it. Wishful thinking? Maybe. But considering I practically slept through my exam by the doc yesterday, I'm pretty sure my pain tolerance has just greatly increased. On top of that, I now know which nurses I prefer (not the one that asked me when I last made pee-pee. No joke!), and can tell you firsthand that those hospital rooms are AMAZING! A-MAY-ZING! I have never felt so calm and relaxed, though that could have something to do with the pill they slipped me :)

The downside is that I can no longer eat dairy or fried foods according to most things I've read, though my doc took his usual, "Eh, whatever," stance when I asked him about it. That means I can't eat fried or greasy foods, red meat from before, much sugar or dairy. What the hell does that leave? Luckily apples are my absolute favorite food, so I'm going to try to exist solely on fruit and grilled chicken. Maybe I won't be gaining anymore pregnancy weight after all...

Hope everyone else had a better weekend than that! Although ours was otherwise lovely, with us getting some errands done, finishing up my pre-baby car maintenance (inspection, registration, oil change and brake check), and putting up our Christmas decorations. Pics to come when I can take the stairs without shuddering!