Happy Mothers Day to me...I'm in the hospital

[LosingMyMindInGA]

So after the pains in my back and chest Thursday, plus some aching Friday, then saturday around 430 the left side of my chest started hurting and my left arm started having some mild -moderate numbness.  When DH go thome we decided better safe than sorry and came to the er.  We got there at 8 finally got called back to a room around 9:45. They drew blood and took a urine specimen and did an EKG.  The ER doc said everything looked normal so it didn't explain my symptoms.  She talked to the OB on call and the hospitalist who decided to admit me atleast until the on call ob can see me in the morning and see what's going on. They keep asking if I have ever had carpal tunnel.  But I've never heard of carpal tunnel giving you chest pains.  So I'm sitting here with a stupid wrist brace on, I have an IV line started but not hooked to anything. It's 3 am, I haven't slept and haven't eaten since lunch yesterday and they tell me that for some stupid reason I can't eat or drink anything until I see the doc in the morning.  GRRR

DD13 packed me some choco chip muffins when she got my stuff together for DH to bring me so I'm sneaking one of them.  I'm freaking starving.  I'm so tired I'm practically dilerious but at the same time I can't sleep.  DH was here with me till about 15 minutes ago and he has to be at work at 7 am :(.  DD13 has been home watching my other 3 and will be watching in the morning until whenever I get outta here.  Thank God they have free wi-fi LOL

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Well I followed up with my ob this afternoon.  I explained the chain of events since I'd seen him Thursday afternoon.  I explained the original pains in my back and the ache/numbness in my left arm.  He said that it sounds to him like a a compressed nerve in my back and the original pains were muscle spasms from that.  So now I have another diagnosis or whatever you want to call it.  I told him about how it took the hospital THREE tries to start an iv, blowing up one vein leaving a nice nasty bruise, then they didnt' even hook the stupid thing up to anything.  He rolled his eyes like it didn't surprise him. Then I told him about the no eating or drinking and his jaw dropped and he was like "WHAT?" and said "I don't understand WHAT they do over there".  He asked about what tests they did and how they came up with the whole kidney infection thing.  So I told them that all I knew was that they drew blood twice, I peed in a cup and they did a very short ekg.  The only test I know they SAID they were going to run was troponin.  So he said he wanted to run a few more tests and get the test results from the hospital.  So I had more blood drawn today and he said that hopefully by my appt on the 19th he will have everything back and we can make some sense out of this.  

As for the boob thing, well I've never had augmentation but mine hurt like a you know what.  They are both (but especially the left) REALLY tender and they feel a LOT fuller.  I noticed today that already at 22 weeks I'm leaking colostrum.  This is the earliest I've done that with any of my pregnancies.  

[Melka76]

I have come to the conclusion to eat and drink as much as I can on the way to L&D.  Everytime I go the either withold food or water in fear of having emergency surgery - It is sooo annoying.  Luckily I have only been there twice this pregnancy - first NO FOOD... so I bribed my DH to sneak me in some... but the second time was a joke.. I am contracting and dialated and they ALWAYS say to drink water and lay on your side to see if they subside... NOTHING TO DRINK.... I was ready to scream.  But luckily I ate before I got there so I was not hungry.  I have been having a ton of aches and pains with this one and I just can't understand why.... I am going to mention to my ob again about the chest/rib pain - I know rib pain is common but I had breast augmentation done 2 years ago - with the incision under the breast - so I am thinking the scar tissue is pulling and tugging.... which hurts like heck - not to mention I believe each boob weighs 10lbs ..... Feel better!

[JadedSweetheart]

I have chronic pain in my neck, left arm, shoulder, and occasionally chest.  Nearly every time I go to the ER for pain or a problem if I feel it's getting worse, they tell me it's something different.  Even though I have MRIs to show them and everything.  Hospitals are so frustrating some times.  I'm sorry you went through that and the not letting you eat was absolutely ridiculous.  
Try to take it easy with your arms and neck.  There are nerves coming from the spine in the neck that can make your arms, back and chest all weird with a single bulge of a disc.  You can also post in the "Neck and Back" forum about it and they may have a better idea of what happened and how to avoid pain.
I hope you feel better!

[LosingMyMindInGA]

I know exactly what you mean.  This is #8 for me...#6 that has made it out of the 1st trimester so I think my body has just gone to crap.  I have SOO Much that needs to be done around here.  DH works so much he doesn't have time and when he does he's too tired.  I really wanted this stuff done before the baby gets here but it's not looking too promising.  

The hospital wanted me to follow up with my ob today so I'm going in at 130.

The doc at the hospital gave me a script for vicodin, which I know is a pretty common thing to be prescribed during pregnancy but becuase it's catagory C and a narcotic I won't take it unless I absolutely can't stand the pain.  

[Melka76]

Sorry to hear you are going through all of this.... hope you feel better soon.  I am thinking the more pregnancies you have the hard it is on your body - this is my 4th pregnancy - 3rd to go this far... and I thought yesterday for the first time ... I don't think I can do this again.  If I sit for more than 30 mins I have burning pain in my chest and back and I am crampy and have loose stool every morning.  Im on bedrest and want to go to work but now with this pain - Tylonol is the equivilent of tic tacs at this point - it does nothing for me.  I told my OB and he said it is going to get much much worse as things progress - I called my family dr to see if there was a stronger safe pain med I could take when it is sooo bad.. they never called me back.  I think we just need to take it easy - even though it is not in our nature.  My FIL, Father and DH painted almost my entire house this weekend to prepare for the baby - and I sooo badly want to finish it up as a surprise to my DH - but I know if I do that I will pay in pain for it later... Feel better soon!

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Thank you.  I'm glad to hear I'm not just going crazy and someone else has been through this LOL.  I think my body is telling me it's time to finally call it quits in the baby making department.  Right now the numbness is still there but barely noticeable.  They did give me vicodin but I'm not comfortable taking it while I'm pregnant unless the pain gets absolutely unbearable.  I tend to be an overdoer as well.  I figure If I don't do it it won't get done so I just suck it up and plow through what needs doing, I guess it's time to take a step back and prioritize what absolutely HAS to be done now (laundry, light housekeeping, etc) and what can wait til later (finishing the home improvement projects we've started) Maybe this is my bodys way of telling me to chill out and slow down some.  They told me to follow up with my ob tomorrow so I will go see him and let him know what all is going on and see what he has to say.  

Part of me felt really stupid for making such a big deal out of it, but Like I told DH yesterday...whenever someone asks me "what should i do?" I always tell them that it's better safe than sorry so it was probably time I followed my own advice.  I will probably request the records of my blood work etc just so I can put my eyes on exact levels and see for myself that things were ok rather than going with the "everything looked fine" that I was told.  

It was kind of strange when I was talking to the doc this morning, she said "did they tell you your EKG was abnormal?" I said "no, they told me everything looked pretty much fine" and she said "ok well everything looked good"  I thought that was an odd way to approach it, like she was trying to get me to lie or something.  She did tell me to increase my calcium intake becuase it should help with the muscles.  They gave me this giant wrist brace but it just makes my arm feel worse.  If I get the numbness again I'll find my smaller wrist brace that my mom used to use for bowling.  

[tiredbuthappy]

i know i responded on your other post the first time around, but i see you updated here. Glad you're home.

Reading your response here, something jumped out at me- when you describe the pain starting in your back and shooting straight through to your chest. I've had that once, when i was having my first c-section. The pain in my chest was exactly like you describe and so intense it was making me panic. They told me it was heartburn. It kept getting worse and they shot something into my IV and it was instantly gone. Anyways, i know you've been told heart burn, and i wanted to share that. As for the arm going numb, i definitely had that! it was terrible and didn't resolve until i had the baby. Never had a problem like that before or after. And I had a neurological exam during my pregnancy for other reasons. Also, i did have heart problems in both my pregnancies which is why i saw a cardiologist both times. In both pregnancies they could find no reason for my heart problems and just chalked it up to how i respond to pregnancy and hormones. Since there was nothing in the tests that showed warning signs, i just had to deal with it. oh yea- when i asked the cardiologist about the numbness in my hand and arms, he said something about the muscles in the neck as well. It's not exactly carpal tunnel because a different part of your arm and hand is affected, but the idea and the cause is the same. That is probably what they were referring to.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Limonada:  I don't think so there wasn't anything unusual going on.  When the original pain started Thursday I was pretty much just hanging out sitting on my butt cuz DH was taking care of DS1.  I don't know. I've never had panic attacks or anxiety or anything like that.  

They let me out this morning, said it was just carpal tunnel and something to do with a muscle in my neck?!?!  They did say based on my blood work that I have a mild kidney infection so they took me off the z-pak my ob originally gave me and put me on amoxicillan.  Ok whatever, just glad to be home, I was so freaking tired. I pretty much slept all afternoon.  

[waitn838]

oh my gosh...im so sorry you are in the hospital....and not being able to eat....i would be super grumpy if i couldnt eat...please let us know how things go and try to get some rest

Happy Mothers Day

[Limonada]

I have to ask....is it possible that you were having a panic attack or that the symptoms were brought on by stress or anxiety?  I had a bout of pretty bad health anxiety that started at the beginning of 2008, and  I had numbness, tingling, pain in my left arm - among other worrisome symptoms.  I was convinced that I was having a heart attack or a stroke at one point and went to the ER.....where I waited for 6 hours, only to be told that they couldn't find anything wrong with me.

Good luck - I truly hope that nothing is wrong and that you'll be sprung from the hospital soon :-)

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Well they are saying its all from carpal tunnel and some muscle in my neck?!?!?  To me that doesn't explain the aching feeling in the left side of my chest.  They say the ekg and the blood work all looked fine though.  She said the pain from thursday could be from disk issues in my neck but that its best to wait until after i'm not pregnant to have xrays of my neck done but she thinks it would be a good idea to do so.  I really don't think the docs around here actually LISTEN to you though, they only hear what they want to hear.  I told her the pain thursday started in my back and went THROUGH to my chest, she kept talking about how it would go around the sides to the front.

She did just come back in and say that my blood work showed a little bit of a kidney infection so she's putting me on amoxicillan for it. Whataver, I'm just ready to go home.  

[kerriekab]

OMG u must be so bored! I hope you are ok and there is nothing wrong! Hopefully you will manage to get some sleep before the dr comes. I hate trying to sleep when i feel hungry. Eventually you will fall to sleep! You might get so tired that you fall to sleep mid sente..........

Keep us posted!