OB Thinks I May Have Gallstones....

C.,

I started having attacks 1 week before I was to be induced. It was an agonizing week. The doctor kept telling me the pain was because I was in my last week but that weekend it was unbareable and I ended up in the ER. It is easily diagnosed by an ultra sound. Many times it can be controlled by diet but mine was so overfull it had to go soon. It was affecting my other organs. So I was induced early and spent 9 days in the hospital while my daughter go to go home after 4 days. They did a C section. Atleast labor pain comes and goes, the gallstone pain was constant and unending. After she was out they could finally give me an MRI to find out the extent of the damage. I had an endoscope one day (they had to flair some tube to let all the stuck stones out) and then the next day the gallblader was removed. My doctor told me he had only operated on 2 pregnant women and prefered not to. Follow that diet closely.

Hi C.! Gall bladder issues are actually not uncommon during pregnancy. I had horrible trouble with mine when I was pregnant - it was non-stop "all day sickness" for months. They finially diagnosed it and told me to avoid greasy or spicy foods, which only helped a little. It got so bad they had to remove it when I was about 5 months along - by which time it was gangrenous and could have killed us both - but the surgery was handled well and neither my daughter no I had any bad effects from it. She is 15 now and perfectly healthy :-) so do not worry too much if they decide they have to remove it. It can be done safely for you both, and it will be better in the long run if you do it now, if that is indeed what the problem is.

Good luck - I know how much this hurts. I pray for you that they will come to a quick diagnosis and will be able to treat soon and safely! Send me a message if you have other questions or need to talk!

I had gallstones with my 2nd prego and we found out that if i ate gressy food that it would cause the attacks. If you have them, watch what you eat, if you have an attack after ceratain food then stay away from that food. Also it depends on how you are caring the little package. I had my pains in the front down around the hips, even thou your gallbladder is on the right side and up a little bit. best of luck on the test.

When i was pregnanat with my second kid i had AWFUL AWFUL almost unbearable lower back pain. At first they thought it was also gallstones but it ended up being a kidney infection that they said came from an untreated urinary tract infection that i didn't know i had. Drink lots and lots of water and lots of cranberry juice or cranberry pills they won't harm the baby.
Hope this helps.

I had pretty bad gall bladder pain when I was pregnant w/ my first. They said that there wasn't a whole lot that could be done about it while I was preggo.
Thankfully, mine just gradually went away & never came back (not even w/ my next pregnancy).

Hope you have the same luck!
A.

C. J,

6 weeks after delivering my first child, and on my first Mother's Day I was brought to the floor by a terrible pain in my back, and rib cage. I seriously felt like I was having a heart attack, I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I had to yell for help. Well long story short I spent 2 days in agony before I began urinating what seemed like blood, apparently I had a horrible case of gall stones that had infected my entire system, and I was urinating bilirubin. I was taken into emergency surgery to remove my gallbladder. The pain it caused me was worse than labor pains, and I had a difficult delivery. I would suggest that you take care of it as soon as possible, and I hope that I am not scaring you, but I want to convey the seriousness of having gall stones, especially if they become infected as mine did. It was terrible, and I was really scared when the pain struck me.

Best of luck,
R.

I knew someone who had gallstones when she was pregnant. you will need to watch what you eat when you are pregnant.
you may need to go to a nutrtionist. that will help a lot with the pains you get with the gallstones. i know you can not eat a lot of greasy foods or foods with a lot of fat.

I am sorry my reponse to this is so delayed. I hope that you have found some relief in anyway possible. I experiened my first "attack" at 14 weeks. I had a ultrasound that showed I has many stones. My OB said this was very common. She said that between 16-20 weeks it is safe to have laproscopic surgery. I remember the day I was goign to the surgical consult I was very apprehensive and thought I couldn't do. It just so happens that I had a SEVERE attack for no reason at all. My surgeon was very reassuring and said that she had preformed the procedure hundreds of times on pregnat woman in the 15-20 week range. At 17 1/2 weeks I had it removed. It actually mad my baby more active. I felt so much better afterward. The hardest part was not being able to carry my 1 1/2 year old for a week or so afterward. My son was born prefectly healthy and a year later he is absolutely wonderful. Hopefully you have an OB with enough experience in this situation to treat it appropriately. You don't have to suffer for 5 more months!!!

Hello,

I've actually gone through all of this when I was 26 wks preg. I didn't have any symptoms, until one night I woke up pretty much screaming I was in so much back pain. Went to the emergency room at Mercy and they confirmed it was the gallbladder/stones. That was a Friday and on Monday I had surgery to have the gallbladder removed. I fortunately didn't have any issues with the surgery or the anesthesia (sp?) - neither did my daughter. If you have ANY questions, please feel free to get in touch with me!
Good Luck! I know how much horrible pain you must be in!
~B.

I am so sorry to hear about your situation. This happened to my sister. Unfortunately her doctors did not catch it. She had her son 2month premature and he had and infection in his cord due to this. My sister had to have her Gallbladder removed a week after she delivered him. It is very important that you get this treated as quick as possible.

I had my gall bladder out after i had my last child. I was to far along when it had to come out so be careful because mine ruptured and by the time they got it out it was shreadded. I feel for you becuse the pain was unberaable. They put me on pain killers and (i would not do it again and they said it was safe for the baby) but it ate a hole in the lining of my stomach and then when i had surgery i coundn't take any pain medication.
jade