I was five months pregnant with my first child when I experienced a sharp pain in my chest on the right side. I was shopping with my husband and I had to sit down it was so intense. The pain was gone in a minute or two, and I stood back up and continued my shopping. We both assumed it was a normal pain associated with pregnancy, and considering it was my right side and not my left, I didn’t think to tell my doctor. I do, however, remember that episode vividly, the pain was so bad. The rest of the pregnancy was essentially a breeze and we soon were fawning over our little girl.
The next episode that sticks out in my mind was when my daughter was eight weeks old. I had spent alot of time for a few days holding her because she was fussy. She had also just started smiling so I was leaning over her bassinet constantly, watching her play and sleep. One night my back started to get tight. I thought it was just back pain because of my leaning and holding, but it was not abating with a back rub or with pain medicine. Soon the pain was so bad that I admitted to my husband we needed to go to the emergency room. When we arrived, after waiting the usual ER amount of time for non-critical patients, the physician’s assistant did a chest x-ray, which came back fine, and agreed with my assessment of a back strain. Never trust a physician’s assistant that automatically agrees with your assessment. So after spending many hours in the ER with my tiny baby in the waiting room, I had a stronger painkiller and that was it.
Over the next few months I experienced similar back spasms, always late at night. I didn’t think anything of it because my baby girl was growing bigger all of the time and we were all more active. A light touch massage and lots of muscle relaxers would make the pain subside eventually. Until one day with the pain came nausea. Now by this time I was 14 weeks pregnant with baby number two and I was taking my doctor’s advice to walk more. I thought I had overdone a walk and was nauseous because of the prenatal vitamins. Soon the nausea was full fledged, uncontrollable vomiting. So we found ourselves back in the emergency room. I remember that night very well, too. It was March 1st and the tornado warning siren was going off and I didn’t care, the pain was so bad. The doctor that saw me that night heard two things: pregnant and nausea with vomiting. Well, I obviously was a classic pregnant woman, right? Wrong. I couldn’t take typical pain medicine because of the new life inside me and I was worried about dehydration with the vomiting. So I was given an intravenous solution of nausea-reducer and pain medication suitable for my situation and sent home.
The rest of the week, I was sore and tired, but had no idea what my body was in the process of doing. Exactly a week later, the pain had gotten out of control, and I was not leaving that hospital without an explanation. This time I was given one, almost immediately. The ER doctor didn’t even touch me and knew what was ailing me. He sent me up for an ultrasound after getting me on some pain medication, and the diagnosis was confirmed. I had gallstones, big ones. After consultation with my OB and the surgeon, I decided to go ahead with the surgery. The OB said the baby would likely survive the surgery, it was far enough along, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to go through the entire rest of the pregnancy living with the pain. So we prayed and took a leap of faith. As it turned out, my gall bladder was infected so badly that they could not do the surgery laproscopically and had to make a very large incision in my abdomen.
I was fortunate that my baby girl survived that surgery and it perfectly healthy right now. I only have a scar across my right side. But it could have been worse for both of us. I should have been warned that there are some risk factors. The first ER doctor should have been more aware of gall bladder problems, especially in pregnant women. My OB should have been more forthcoming with this information as well. So I am here to tell YOU about it, so that you can be prepared, should it happen to you. If you do a little asking around, you would be surprised with how many women have experienced gall bladder problems and didn’t know it until it was almost too late.
Many hormones fluctuate during pregnancy and after delivery of your baby. Higher estrogen levels during pregnancy are known to cause thickening of bile, which is stored and released by the gall bladder. Progesterone can inhibit the ability of bile to be released from the gall bladder. These two things can lead to a greater possibility of forming gallstones. Obese women have a higher likelihood of developing gallstones as well.
It is recommended that you maintain a high-fiber diet, including lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. Try to increase your activity levels but limit your postpartum weight loss to less than two pounds per week. All of these things will help decrease your risk of developing gall bladder problems, especially after your baby is born.
The bottom line is that you shouldn’t wait if you think you are having pains that aren’t being relieved by normal pain medication, or if you have symptoms that just don’t seem right to you. You know your body best!
