You think you know your body...

So, you think you know your body, huh? Well, become pregnant and prepare to throw everything you thought you knew out the window and start from scratch.

It all began Sunday morning with what appeared to be a routine 3:00 am trip to the bathroom. Not a rare event for a woman of my condition. I came back to bed only to find myself feeling like I needed to visit the bathroom again only moments later. After about 20 minutes of this, I decided to come downstairs and leave my sleeping husband sleeping. I was awake in this condition for the next four hours and got to watch the end of My Best Friend's Wedding and Spanglish - if you haven't seen it, don't bother. I love Adam Sandler and usually love his movies, but this did not live up to the likes of Waterboy and Billy Madison.

I digress....

So I went back to bed around 7:00 am and got up around 9:30. I felt better, although very tired. So I didn't think much about it. Just chalking it up to being pregnant in all of its grandeur. Not until it happened again on Monday morning and then again on Tuesday morning did I decide to go to the doctor. You know it was bad if I went to visit the doctor, because I usually go to the doc kicking and screaming. I had a little bit of pain associated with this terrible sensation on Tuesday morning, but it was gone by the time I got to the doctor. No big deal. The doctor's diagnosis: It could be the baby kicking a nerve or it could be something else. Hard to say. Really? So I may be in this state for the next three months? Wonderful! She recommended a few things to try at home and a few vitamins to add to my handful already. I did these things and had a great night's sleep on Tuesday night and felt great all day on Wednesday. And here is where the story gets interesting....

I woke up on Thursday at 5:00 am in excruciating pain. The only time I felt good was in a warm bath or a hot shower. Eventually, I took some tylenol and the pain subsided enough that I could sleep. This continued all day long. The pain was only bad in the morning on Thursday and the rest of the time it was manageable. I had a scheduled docs appt on Friday morning anyway, and as long as I could manage the pain, I figured I would wait it out rather than spend the money on a visit to the ER (we are gonna need that money when Amabo makes her entrance!). Well, I woke up again at 3:30 this morning with a little pain, took some tylenol and it went away until 5:30 am. On a pain scale of 1-10, I was at about 20. Just ask my husband. I could barely breathe or talk, or walk. I called the doctor's office just before 6:00 am. Who was on call? That's right, friends...Dr. No! Just what I need. I was certain that he was going to tell me if only I had laid off the juice this wouldn't be happening. Well - I will say, I was pleasantly surprised. He was delightful and informative on the phone - even comforting. He listened to everything I had to say and gave me a recommendation to wait until I came into the docs office at 8:00 am rather than come to the hospital. After I arrived at the docs office, I was immediately put in an exam room - they couldn't have the other patients see me writhing in pain; I might scare them! I was waiting for my favorite doctor to come in (that's the one my appt was with), and in walked Dr. No. He stood by my side, told me that Dr. McFave was on the way, and told me that he knew that it hurt and that they were going to make sure I got some pain meds and got me all fixed up.

Okay - so remember that whole "rewind sound", tape pauses and I speak directly to the camera? Well, had I not been in so much pain, this would have happened, but be that as it may, it happened afterward. I enjoyed seeing Dr. No this morning - and wasn't it nice of him to come check on me? So - it is totally okay if he delivers my female fetus, even if he did lack enthusiasm for the baby girl and even if he did call me a cow.

Well once Dr. McFave arrived, he checked me out, monitored Amabo and was very pleased with her heart rate and movement - she was not in distress at all during any of this. Then he gave me a perscription for pain meds should I need it and referred me for an urgent renal ultrasound. Well - by the time I left the docs at 10:30 am this morning, the pain had completely left me. Go figure. And it is hasn't been back since. Nonetheless, I still went in for the ultrasound, but won't know anything until probably Monday. So here is the diagnosis so far: 1) Baby sits on a nerve, pinches it, inflames it and it causes all kinds of pain OR 2) Kidney Stones. Either way, the treatment is the same - GALLONS of water and pain management. Right now, I have no pain, so I am just chugging the water.

In some ways, I hope that I can blame this on kidney stones. That way, I will know that there is at least an end in sight. But, I wouldn't be surprised if this is all the work of little Amabo, stretching and kicking. I am certain that I have a lot of payback coming for everything I put my parents through...so this is probably just the beginning of the next many many years to come.