First, in terms of cervical length and the general well-being of the baby and my uterus, everything was looking GREAT this morning at my appointment. So good, in fact, that my doctor said she doesn't need to see me for a month. Basically since I'm close to 30 weeks now, and I've been doing "so great," they don't feel the need to check me in such up-close-and-personal detail every 2 weeks anymore. The cerclage is considered a big success, and I can relax (still on bed rest, still doing very little) until I see her again in a month (all the while still diligently on the lookout for the signs of preterm labor). In the meantime I'll probably start to see Trish my midwife every 2 weeks now, so I'll still have a check-in every 2 weeks, just here at the Troy office with Trish, rather than at the hospital with the specialist. I feel pretty great about all that.
Then comes the bad news. I had such horrendous mid-back pain last night, on my right side, that I was thisclose to driving myself to the emergency room around 11:30 last night (Eric is out of town). I skipped getting ready for bed (save for taking out my contacts) and basically fell onto the bed, laying on my left side, praying that it would subside. After about an hour it let up and I fell asleep. But it woke me back up again this morning around 6 a.m., and has been coming and going ever since. Sometimes it's a dull ache, sometimes it feels like someone twisting a knife in my back. But it is a fun new constant in my life today.
Thank goodness I had my appointment today, otherwise I probably would have gone to the ER this morning. Dr. Murphy thinks it is one of a few things.
1. Just muscular-skeletal pain from the weight of the baby (I think this is NOT the case)
2. A kidney infection or possibly kidney stones
3. Hydronephrosis (what?)
An ultrasound of my back and kidney didn't show any stones, but I did have a CBC and urinalysis done this morning to check for other signs of them. However, the ultrasound did show what they thought might be a mild (?) case of hydronephrosis. This is basically when the baby's weight is blocking urine from getting from the kidney to the bladder. It almost always occurs on the right side, which is where this 2 1/2 pound lump of a baby has (very noticeably) parked herself for the last 2 months. A quick google search tells me that most cases end up being pretty minor, and generally resolve themselves immediately after giving birth. There is also no real treatment during pregnancy, unless it gets so bad that surgery is necessary to open the ureter back up.
So basically I am waiting on the blood and urine lab results (Dr. Murphy said she'd call me as soon as she got them, probably/hopefully over the weekend) to see if it's a kidney infection or kidney stones. Sadly, I'm hoping for an infection. Give me some antibiotics and send me on my way. Because this hydronephrosis gig isn't really treatable, and means I have to deal with this obnoxious and sometimes tear-inducing flank pain for the remainder of the pregnancy.
As we have told her on several occasions now, this baby girl better be the best behaved, sweetest, most wonderful child there ever was when she finally makes her appearance in a couple months. For real.
For now I will suck it up on my couch, laying only on my left side, maybe breaking out the heating pad (dear lord, where IS the heating pad?), and watching some stupid movies/TV to take my mind off things.
I'm also stalking my friend Christy's Facebook page like a crazy person, as she gchatted me yesterday to tell me her water broke! She and her husband live in Dublin, Ireland, which is like a billion miles away, but I was lucky enough to chat with her for a few minutes yesterday (she had gone in to the hospital to be checked and they sent her home until her labor started to progress). Good luck Christy and John! Can't wait to see that sweet little Irish boy!
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