Morning

I have been told I get to go home today around 10. The blood specialist came in this morning her name was Dr. Jordan and she was wonderful. Honestly, just a great doctor. She sat down and started asking me all kinds of questions. One of which was asking if I had battled a major virus in the past few years. I answered no and then of course after she was gone I remember my black widow bite. Anyway, she had reviewed all of my test results and looked at the small red dots I have on my skin. She stated she is really leaning towards ITP. What is ITP? :

A: ITP is an autoimmune disease. In autoimmune diseases the body mounts an immune attack toward one or more seemingly normal organ systems. In ITP, platelets are the target. They are marked as foreign and eliminated in the spleen or sometimes, the liver. Because this process removes platelets from circulation, people with ITP have a low platelet count or thrombocytopenia.

She said this could very well be the root of all my issues. My platelets dropped to 78,000 today so there was another decrease. According to her even though it's still a decent range it's lower than they are comfortable with. Also according to her Baylor doesn't like allowing surgeries for anyone with under 80,000 platelets. She said the average persons run 150,000-400,000. I asked her what her thoughts were on this passing to Jude. She states she believes it's a very slim chance unless my platelets get down to 10,000. So the plan is to send me home on steroids to bring them back up. I will go back into her office next week to have another CBC. If they have dropped again then I might have to do shots and IV's each day. Regardless right before the 36 week mark they will start me on additional medicine to see if they can get me high enough for an epidural. I know I can do the labor natural, but I guess it helps them if I have one in case of emergency c section. A precaution I guess because of my issues. Anyway, that was my understanding of everything. whew! What a mess this all is. I had someone tell me they had never seen someone have so many issues when having a baby. The ITP sounds horrible but on one hand I am relieved that we may have found the cause of all this. Now her diagnosis could change but she is pretty sure. So Jude has been labeled "a beautiful baby" on the hospitals strips which is their way of saying his heart looks perfect. So as long as he stays ok then we will make it. I have just been scolded by a nurse and told when you go home "NO cooking, cleaning, working (except by computer in bed) you do EXACTLY what you have done here!!" Ok, so I guess Mike will be a bit tired in the next few weeks. It's amazing how one person being down and out can affect so many others. I miss my work, my friends, and my family. It is very difficult for me to let go of my work and wash my hands of it for a bit. I am so used to identifying myself through it I guess. It's just me and what I do. Well thank you for the sweet emails everyone and Luane you crack me up! Have a great day! Soon this blog will hopefully be filled with pictures of a smiling baby!

In the hospital

Well here I am again supporting the salaries at Baylor hospital! I went into the doctor's office yesterday and I was having severe back pain and it turned out to be back labor. I was having serious contractions about every 4-6 minutes. I also have some other issues going on so the doctor stuck me back in here. So now I am entertaining myself via lap top and the phone. Bad thing is I cannot access myspace or anything halfway entertaining in here. So they did do a sonogram of Jude and for the first time I fell very much in love with him. Not that I wasn't before it's just been a very trying pregnancy and I was a bit hesitant to get attached. Well yesterday my little boy had a big yawn on the sonogram and then got the hiccups because he took in to much fluid. It was very cute. He was blinking and turned and looked at us on the sonogram. He weighs a little over 4 pounds right now. His legs measure ahead of his body, but I figured he had some long legs. They seem to reach up to my lungs! Ok now for the not so good news...my platelet level dropped again and is now at 87,000. Back when I was about 18 weeks along I showed up at the ER in severe pain which turned out to be from the kidney issue. At that time the ER dctr said my platelet level was a bit low but nothing to be concerned about. It seems it has steadily dropped since that time period. I almost feel like the right hand has not been communicating with the left hand, but I am sure they just didn't know what to do. So the perinatilist seems a bit concerned about this and thinks it's IPT, but my OB seems to think it's just brought on by pregnancy. So I guess the two of them got together and decided to bring in blood specialist. I swear the vampires just took enough blood to transfuse a city. So they will test all that and then do another abdominal CT on me to see what they can find. Honestly, I am the type of person that always said if I had a serious disease I am not sure I would want to know. I think people probably go throughout their lives happy and oblivious. Knowing somehow brings a person down. The platelet issue from what I have read does explain all my medical issues I have had. I was a very healthy girl before the pregnancy. Although the dr said I may have only thought I was healthy and the pregnancy aggravated the underlying issue (that's re-assuring) sigh. I do have a very nice nurse named Tammy that I have gotten to know in the hospital. She is pretty funny and does a good job of keeping me entertained. I am hoping I can get this IV out and take a bath!!! That would make my day. Anyway, she started naming all the blood tests off and we were looking them up on my lap top..ha ha ha! One of them was HIV .. ummmmmm considering I have had 2 different Ob's I have now had 3 hiv tests and besides that have a clean lifestyle. Plus overall I am healthy and don't fit the mold for leaukemia, lupus, etc. I am going for pregnancy induced Thrombocytopenia which I would only have a MODERATE form of. Anything about a 50,000 count is mild or moderate. Hopefully, everything will be just fine. Anyway, I need some entertainment people. Email me or something...lol!

Monday

Mondaaaaaaay. I am busy working from home making calls, taking payments, writing policies, etc. It keeps me busy and I am happy I have work to do. Mike has his brother's truck and it isn't working so he is stuck at home too. It's nice to have some company through the day though. Although he keeps turning lights off on me and I already feel like I am inside too much! I guess he forgets I am sitting at the bar working..lol! It was a pretty good weekend. Fri night I started contracting again and that was annoying. The nurses kept finding them on the monitor and wanted me to give myself a demand dose through my pump. I was just minutes away from getting my large dose though so I refused, and the large dose did the trick. I know my body and I don't need a mand dose on top of a regular dose. That would be like giving my cat a HUGE dose of catnip! Talk about bouncing off the walls. I seemed to contract that day no matter what, but honestly I think that is just going to happen with this pregnancy. I know I will start contracting no matter what, but these aren't braxton hicks. Let's just hope this means my labor will go quick. Although my dr is talking about a c section again. Ugh, I really didn't want one! Other than that things are well. I have developed a rash, but preggo women get weird things all the time. I guess the dr will check it out. I am guessing she will take another look at Jude again tomorrow too. She said she thought his head looked really good at the last visit so I am hoping she is right!
So my hubby and I were talking about old times in high school last night, and after he mentioned someones name I realized I worked with his ex wife's ex boyfriend. Make sense? It's a long story, but basically it's just a small dang world. Honestly, Mike and I seemed to have parallel lives and I swear we could have been a movie. Have you ever seen that move Made in Heaven where she is walking down the street and walks right past him. Well Mike and I were honestly probably in the same places throughout our entire lives, but never met until a few years ago. We knew the same people, had the same friends, etc. It was just a strange circumstances. I guess we were not suppose to meet through until we had plenty of time to work out any prior issues we had so we would truly appreciate each other. I guess fate and God just wanted to make sure it was the right time. Well everyone have a good week. I will post some pics later when I get myself upstairs.

better

I am better today! I slept in late so I think that helped. Sorry I was so crabby yesterday. Anyway, I think I just get very stressed about my job. I am working from home, and even though I am swamped everyday I feel like I am not doing enough. Plus when my boss calls about something it stresses me out. I guess I have decided to just take it easy and not worry anymore (yeah right). If something happens to my job then I find another one but I like my job so let's hope it doesn't. Well I am going to enjoy a nice weekend with my husband. Everyone have a fabulous weekend. Jude is craving pancakes so I am going to fix some!

Grumpiness

Well I am very grumpy today. I have tried to stay positive and I have just lost it today so bear with me. You know when you see a story on the news and someone says, "well she was just so great she never complained" Yeah that's NOT ME! I am sick of being sick! I am tired of not feeling well. I don't like working from home although I am lucky that I am because we need the money. I would rather be in the office helping Sarah out as much as I can. I enjoy being with Emily, but she has to be getting bored. Luckily my aunt took her out yesterday and she had a great time. I am also sick of being poked with needles and having medicine being inserted into my veins that makes me feel like a speed addict. The meds make me jittery, my heart race, and something is lowering my blood pressure so I can only assume that's the issue. This morning? I woke up puking probably from the meds. I am tired of wondering if the baby is going to be ok and constantly trying to feel him move to reassure myself he is still there. I love that I have people calling to check on me, and at the same time I have nothing new to report so I would rather not even talk and complain anymore. I am sure I am just a thrill to have on the phone. I am tired of not feeling pretty, not feeling like getting ready, and having nothing fit. Oh the joys of pregnancy. I know I need to keep Jude in as long as possible, but I will also be very happy when he is born. I just hope he is ok.

Wed

Well I am now working from home and it seems to be going ok. I feel bad because Sarah is alone at work, but I am trying to help as much as I can. The pump is still in my leg and I hate this medicine. I am ready to have it out. The plan is next Wed they will remove the pump to see if the oral medicine will work. Jude has been moving a whole lot which is really good. Poor Em is here just so bored I feel so sorry for her!!! Anyway, we are basically just trying to get Jude to bake a few weeks.

Sunday

Good Morning everyone! I ventured out today to get some food and it was nice to be in the sunshine. My orders say bedrest except bathroom, but I have to get up to eat anyway!! So I guess since I am feeling some better I should explain. Monday at work I just wasn't feeling very well at all. My back was hurting so bad that I felt I was going to throw up. I am so sick of complaining that I just rode it out until about 3 at work. Then when I did start throwing up I told Sarah that I couldn't take it anymore, and went to labor and delivery. I had called the dr prior to leaving and we both assumed this was the issue with the kidneys. So the plan was she was going to flush an IV through me to open the ureters, and I would feel much better thus letting me go home that night or the next morning. Once I got there I guess L+D paged her telling her she needed to come in because there was another issue. I had noticed my pain was getting worse, but I was just waiting in my bed on monitors. Next thing I know a nurse is coming in with a huge shot telling me I was in pre-term labor. Hold up buddy I don't know where you are sticking that thing, but it's NOWHERE until I know whats being given to me and my kiddo. I am not one for medicine! I could never be a drug addict....my body doesn't respond well to meds and I don't like them. Well my dr came in and in a stern voice told me this was pre-term labor I was having contractions every 3 minutes and I had to have this shot. Weird thing is with Em I had normal contractions. With this one it was back labor........ um that sucks people sorry if you have endured it. The back labor then went into the normal tightening and pain in your uterus but gees. My friend Ginger tried to describe back labor to me, and she was right it sucks. So the shot worked!!! Although it's pretty much like having speed pumped into your body. My heart rate would run about 130 and I was a jittery fool! The meds wore off about every 4 hours and I would start the contraction routine again. They would vary from 1 every 3 minutes to every minute. There was one time they were monitoring me and I did not feel them even though they picked them up. For the most part though I knew there was an issue, and the contractions hurt. So the DR came in and suggested a leg pump of the terbutaline (sp?) and if that doesn't work mag sulfate...YUCK! No thanks to the mag sulfate.... thank goodness the leg pump worked. So basically since I have been sent home I have a small port that attaches to a catheter in my leg, and a pump gives me a small dose of meds every hour, and large dose every 4 hours. My hubby changes out my meds every day and inserts a new port into my leg every 5 days. He is a brave soul huh?? I am also hooked up to a monitor twice a day for an hour each time that monitors me for contractions. It transmits via the phone line like a fax to nurses that then call within 30 mins. I am all high tech here people!! They also gave me two steroid shots to increase Jude's lungs so in case he is born he should have a good chance!!! The good news is I am at home and I am enjoying that very much! I sleep a lot better here then I do at the hospital and I think that has to help the contractions. They scared me before I left because they were monitoring me again and said Jude's heart was not accelerating like they liked. Um ok I can handle any issues with me just no more with Jude ok God? Gees! So I guess he heard me because he started responding again. My little girl Em has been great too....in fact she just painted my toes :). She went to her cousins last night to sleep over and I am glad she got the break. I am tired of looking like poo and feeling like poo, but I know it's not much longer. I am also really tired of stressing over my job, but I cannot seem to help it. My boss didn't plan for me to be out this early. I will do ok here from home, but he just doesn't know that yet. I wish we could just win the lottery....I mean someone has to win right? ha! Now for one funny part....when you turn off the pump it beeps and vibrates until you get everything changes. Well it was sitting on my tummy and every time it vibrated Jude kicked it! lol. Also, I cannot use my cell phone within 6 inches of the pump............um ok. So I am home with my great little set up Mike has made for me. I have the lap top here WITH a mouse, my fax, my printer, and my phone. I am ready for the work week and to be ....... normal.

Home

I am home from the hospital and I am relieved! I was so tired of sitting in that bed and eating hospital food. I have the leg pump and we have a monitor that is hooked up to our phone line. I kind of feel like I am on house arrest. Before we left the hospital they did a sono on Jude. It seems his brain vent has increased to 12 again, and that there is a dark spot by his cerebellum. They are unsure what the dark spot is. My OB said not to worry to much because you can get different measurements from different sono machines. It's hard not to worry though. It's hard not to wonder if we are going through all this just to have something tragic happen. Surely, that is not the case though. Anyway, some extra prayers would be great. I am very thankful though to be home in my own house and to sleep in my own bed! I also get to work from home which will be great and keep me busy!

Update

Hi all! This is Sarah, Jenn's cousin, with an update. Jennifer was admitted to the hospital Monday after complaining of not feeling well. The diagnosis is preterm labor and she is currently on a Terbutaline pump to stall contractions. She will have a level 2 sonogram tonight to check on Jude and also to see if the contractions are causing any dilation. If not, and Jude is well, she will be sent home tomorrow with the Terb pump. I'll update as soon as I know something. Thank you all for your prayers.

Shower day

It's the day of Jude's shower and it's pretty exciting. For a long time I felt very hesitant about having a shower, or buying anything for the baby. There really cannot be much worse than walking through a house looking at an empty bassinet you bought for a child that didn't make it into our world. I feel for the women that have to experience such a loss. So as we look at our ray of sunshine that seems to be bursting through the clouds we always remember those who have not received good news. We still hope and pray that when Jude is born they will find nothing wrong. That he will breathe fine, get a great apgar score, and be a normal baby. I am off to make Emily some mac and cheese. Again, have a great weekend everyone.

Thanks for my wonderful friends and family for hosting this great occasion for us.

Friday!

It's Friday and I am very happy about that! Emily even said today "I sure am glad it's Friday because those kids at the daycare are getting attitudes and they are giving me one too!" ha!

Anyway, a lady on my ventricumegaly site had her baby by C section this week. He had hydrocephalus, but they thought they would just be installing the shunt. It seems the fluid kept the baby's brain stem from developing and they had to let him go. UGH! Stories like that make me SO SAD! It makes me realize I still just really don't know until Jude is born. My heart honestly tells me he is going to be ok, but life is so unpredictable! So you guys might say a little prayer for her and her family. I am sure they could use the extra support.

Jude's baby shower is tomorrow and I am excited. It's normalcy and a happy time following lots of stress so I am truly looking forward to it! Jude's room is done too and it is SUPER cute. I am going to have to post some pictures of it.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

Dr Moser update

Aw my nice little doctor I really like her!

The good news ~ I just got back from the OB. She had spoken with the perinatlist so she had some updates. She also did a sono of Jude today in the office. She did not measure his head because she said he looked "normal" and had grown a lot. As of right now I will not have any more appts with the perinatlist (dr doom) hooray!!!! She said they all agree it's a rather remarkable case, and are all wanting me to do another MRI at 34 weeks to help others in the future. I told her I would consent to one, but only for their scientific research. I don't want the results because it really wouldn't matter at this point anyway. Once Jude is born the pediatrician will perform a head sonogram. If needed Jude will then be transported to Cooks to the neurosurgery dept, but we are very hopeful he will be normal. :) He was moving around in his sono and the little stinker has gone transverse again. He was kicking at the sonogram though and you can tell he is very long!!! I think he will be a tall boy. I am amazed we were given such a grim outlook he had a stroke in utero, a small cerebellum, a small corpus collasum, etc etc yet he has pulled through. There is no guarantee that he will not have issues, or that his brain patterns have filled in properly. There is a guarantee though we will love him regardless!

The not so good news news ~ due to the pregnancy my kidney's are now both affected from the hydropnephrosis, and I also now have gallstones. She is worried the gallstones are causing issues with my liver because they are backing up into the ducts, and so they did some blood tests ...... always something with this pregnancy just DANG!. She did assure me it's the pregnancy causing the issues so i am really not worried. Hopefully, the blood test shows there are no problems and I can keep right on working right up until the due date, but just bear in mind I am in pain if I am pissy. lol! It seems to be worse in the morning. Anyway, I am shooting to deliver him 8/29. I will let you guys know for sure. I would say my last day at work will probably be 8/27 which is a Wed.

Finally some dates to work with :) She may not deliver me until 9/2, but Em is with me the weekend of the 29th and that would be ideal. She could just take off school that Friday.

Thank you to everyone that has prayed, hoped, wished, and thought of us throughout this ordeal. I especially thank my family for listening to all my tears and heartache. I know it's not easy listening to someone in pain, or sick. Thank you for also listening to my joy.

Stick a fork in me I am done

Ok don't get me wrong I am so thankful I am pregnant, that I have a good job, a wonderful husband, and so far Jude is looking much better. Although, I am done. lol!!!
Ever had one of those days near the end of your pregnancy? You know the day where you are trying on clothes, and you become convinced that you have to be as large as a small beached killer whale? Not to mention that you are so pasty from lack of tanning that you could scare Casper? Well picture me in Motherhood Maternity searching for the perfect baby shower outfit for my shower Saturday. After gathering a few cute pieces I then waddle into the changing room which is luckily made larger for us huge pregnant folk. There isn't any flattering lighting in these rooms.....no it's just cellulite and big tummy city people! So it seems that one positive is that despite my prior thoughts I do still wear a medium... although my boobs want to wear a large. Now if you have never been pregnant you cannot understand the complexity of maneuvering yourself in and out of outfits. It takes gasps of air, large leg lifts, and a workout in itself. So after completing my cardio for the day I am very annoyed that nothing looks good on me. I then put my old clothes back on and decide to tour the store once again, and thus picked up a few more items. While waddling back to my dressing room I noticed the "perfect" pregnant girl exiting from hers. She must be from Southlake because she bought half the store, obviously still got facials, and looked perfect so.......... I cursed her and moved on. Anyway after none of those outfits looked right either I went outside grabbed a very cute Baby university looking T- SHIRT, and decided on it, high heels, and jeans! If people don't like it TOUGH! I then muttered to myself on the way to the car, and called my darling husband. Who then heard me angrily say "I am FAT, ugly, pale, and I feel disgusting I couldn't find anything to wear and settled on a t-shirt. Not to mention my great blonde hair is now turning brown from the hormones and won't do ANYTHING, my feet are bigger, I am in pain, I am dizzy, and just plain done man stick a fork in me!" To which he replied "Well hun why don't you just get a t-shirt that says I am so pregnant that I feel fat, ugly, pale, and am frankly just pissed off. Oh and ps my hair looks bad". I had to laugh.

Monday

Well it was a nice long weekend, but we all got back to the grindstone today. It hasn't been as busy as I thought it would be, but it's been pretty steady. Sarah did have fun with the customer who was mad we weren't open on the 4th though. Sarah cracks me up! I am ready to head home and cook dinner for my family and spend time with them. I guess we only have a few more hours to go. I do like my job and I get to sit in the air conditioning during the day so I am very thankful for that.
Anyway, I have another OB appt on Wed and I will get to see Jude again. I am of course praying that his head has increased in size, but I really believe that it will have. So we are now heading towards being 31 weeks pregnant. I am ready to have him, but I know he needs to stay in a bit longer. I am on a support forum with some other pregnant women. I had read that a lady gave birth to her baby in her bathroom with her husbands help about a week ago. Even though he was well over 3 lbs I am afraid he had some serious issues and didn't make it. Ugh, my heart just ached for her. No mother should have to experience that kind of loss. So hug your kiddos tonight.

Holiday Weekend

So far I have had a relaxful weekend and it has been nice. I have gotten a lot of sleep so far and its helped cure my cold, and I am feeling much better!!! We went to my father's house yesterday and enjoyed a great meal for the 4th. Since they live in the country we got to shoot of fireworks, and that's always a good time. Mike likes to make fun of my fountains I buy to shoot of, but they make me happy..ha! Jude has been very active the past two days. I am thinking he needed the rest as well. Next weekend is his shower and I am very excited. I am beginning to realize he is going to be here very soon. Mike got to feel his little foot trying to escape yesterday and was amazed. Jude began the same gymnastics the afternoon and Emily got to feel. She just stared at me and said. "WOW!" So all in all it's been a good weekend. I did call into my works voice mail just to make sure no one had a claims emergency they didn't call into the claims number. I got a bit of a laugh after I heard the voice mails. There were only 3 and all 3 were people that were very late on their payments, and they were angry we were not open on the 4th. Um they were off and it is a national holiday?!?! I was confused.
On another note and very off the topic, but insight into me. Most everyone knows that I love movies.. in fact am rather passionate about them, and I also like to read. So what better thing for me then to read than an article written by Stephen King. He is a profound writer and has had excellent movies made after his work. The article was featured in Entertainment Weekly and he was discussing what he thinks makes a good scary movie. I loved loved the article, and found great interest in it because people always ask me if I have seen a particular horror film which many times I reply "no". Why? Because it is not realistic and therefore to me is not scary....at all. Freddy Krueger? PLEASE! Who can fall asleep and be terrorized in their dreams by some burnt crazy man...ridiculous plot. I have always believed that the smaller low budget films seem to be better, and in his article he stated just that. Some of my top horror movies? Blair Witch Project, Night of the Living Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho (scared the bejesus out of me when I was little), Scream, The Shining, etc. My hubby loves horror movies, but unless it is one that really works I just don't like them. He did have me watch Hostile and that's a scary plot. They also don't have to be scary, but just have a great subject like "The Sixth Sense" (loved it). Anyway, the point of my rambling is I loved the article and the fact he said less is much more and it's so true. I like all aspects of movies and the fact he points out that the crowd is not dumb and knows when special effects or blue screens are being used is perfect! There are some days I could just say give me a great drama like Gone with the wind, or Steel Magnolias vs a stupid demon chasing Betty Lou and her copied scream for the 100th time. Give me the good old movies with a great plot and less blue screen!
On another note there is a huge UFC fight tonight. My cousins family and mine normally watch them together, but she is in Memphis. So if she is reading this we will record it for ya!! :)

It's 4th of July weekend

Hooray the weekend is here....WELL almost anyway. I enjoy the 4th of July and we will get to shoot off some fireworks this weekend. I do feel really sorry for my hubby lately. I cannot sleep at all at night anymore, and to top it off I have a summer cold. So therefore, I cannot breathe when I lay down and that makes it ten times worse. Last night I woke up at 12:30 and did not go back to sleep until after 5. I only fell asleep because I turned around and was sleeping at the foot of the bed with my head propped up. So he said he was worried he was going to kick me and couldn't sleep. Anyway, I am at work though today and I am EXHAUSTED. I have had about three nights of no sleep. Yeah yeah I have a cold because I didn't have enough going on ya know? All you can do is laugh about it though. Oh and I am starting to get the comments from my customers "So are you sick of the summer yet?" "You ready to have that baby yet?". I am waiting on my all time favorite..........."So you haven't had that baby yet". Swear I will answer them "Well yes I actually I did and I just stayed very fat!". lol! I am not in a bad or negative mood so don't get me wrong. I am just honest in my blogs and honestly will tell you a part of pregnancy (the last 2 months) is well not comfortable! So at night I struggle with the cold, the kidney, etc. It seems Jude is so long too his feet sit right around my sternum. I am anxious to see what he will look like!!!
I was thinking last night again about our visit to the perinatalist and how positive he was. I am very happy that so far things are looking brighter for our Jude. I am not oblivious though to the fact he may very well still have issues. Although, it's been a rocky road and I am glad we made the decision to proceed with this pregnancy. It was a huge struggle making that decision and once we did I felt a huge relief. Everyone says I am strong for doing so, but I do want to stress I believe in a quality of life vs quantity. I would not want to live as a vegetable and I do not wish this for my child. Of course, I looked at the situation as a whole. There are many preemie's born each day that struggle and end up having serious issues. Would be do away with them?? Of course not because they are our children. Then again if Jude had come back positive with Trisomy we would have ended the pregnancy. I would not want to bring someone into the world knowing what a horrible struggle they would have in front of them. Just as if I were in a horrible wreck and were brain dead I would hope Mike would let me go. There are lots of issues you could go back and forth on here. Like the fact we did our research and many preemie's have brain bleeds like Jude did and recover from it. It looks as if he did too and we will keep the faith he did. Have a safe and happy weekend all.

Renal sonogram

So I was scheduled for my second renal sonogram today. Hearing the word renal will send someone into a tizzy alone. It's not as horrible as it sounds though it's a simple sonogram on your kidneys to make sure they are functioning. Sounds like it has to do with a different part of your body though doesn't it? (smile). See I have developed hydronephrosis of the right kidney due to this pregnancy. Which basically means the uterus (or something) is putting pressure on my right ureter and thus keeping it from allowing the kidney to drain. So my left one is compensating and all is well except the pain. I have learned to drink as much water as possible though and that forces the "kink" in the ureter open. So I am sitting there patiently having the sonogram and the sweet little tech girl says with concern "Um have you ever had a problem with your liver or gallbladder before?". I reply very annoyed "Um noooooooooooooooooooooooo why?" she pauses and then replies "Well I cannot really tell you yet, but I will have the head radiologist come in and talk with you (she pauses) although he might want to write a report, and let your doctor discuss this with you" Flashes of my mother's liver problems (although brought on by drinking flash through my mind because she had an enzyme problem in her liver ARGH omg, panic!) So I am sitting there waiting on the head guy to come see me and I am texting my cousin just furious. Mad that I am once again sitting in a doctor's office waiting on them to give me news. News that I didn't ask for!!! I am in severe pain, but I don't go into their office complaining about it. Poor Mike and Sarah just hear me..all day...lol! So she finally comes back in, and explains the head doctor had to rush off to an emergency, but he gave her permission to tell me that I now have fluid in left kidney, and have developed gallstones. I was split between feeling very annoyed that the girl scared the living hell out of me, and aggravated I have yet another issue. I do know that gallstones can form from pregnancy, and the pressure not letting your gallbladder drain properly. This all seems to be pressure related problems. So she said she wasn't sure how I was handling all the pain because it had to be unbearable. I explained I have a high pain tolerance, but that it isn't anything I couldn't handle yet. So there ya go. More crap, but all issues pregnancy can create! I hate hearing about people being sick and I am sure people are sick of me....gees! I would be on my nerves.......I am on my nerves! I feel like my old grandma was with all her ailments. I am good though and thank goodness it wasn't serious. Pain I can deal with. whew! Crazy lil girl scared me!