Kidney Stones and Pregnancy

I just spent yesterday day in the emergency because of kidney stones and I’m 6 weeks pregnant. They had to put in a catheter to fill my bladder for the ultrasound and I thought I was going to die. The pain was so bad that I thought I was going to pass out. I also was bleeding heavily afterwards and thought I was miscarrying but it was coming from my bladder. Needless to say I am only allowed to take Tylenol and Tylenol is not working. I also have horrible back pain. This is not fun……

I had never had one but they run in my family - and when i was 14 weeks pregnant I got one - it was HORRIBLE. Had to spend 5 days in the hospital (which had only been open like 3 weeks - my care was terrible but that's another post) so if you can take care of them before hand I would say DO IT!

My friend had severe kidney stones, she had to be on morphine for a large part of her pregnancy. Being pregnant really can make them worse, and the Dr's are more restricted in helping. Since they couldn't do x-rays due to her pregnancy, they had no idea how large it was. She had to pass it and it was massive, the kind that should have been surgically removed. She ended up getting severe infections and other complications from it. If you are not yet pregnant, I would have them taken care of now.

I have never had kidney stones, but when my husband did, the doctor told me that when I have my baby, my husband will know EXACTLY how I am feeling during delivery. I also had a friend, that her daughter had kidney stones while she was pregnant, and the doctors could not do anything for her. They told her delivery will be much easier.

Do it now! It really isn't a big deal at all to have them taken care of. Talk to your doctor about your fears. He/she has heard it all and should be able to discuss them with you, address them and help you feel a little more relaxed. Do not wait! They can do so many things for you right now to help you pass them. Once you're pregnant they will be very restrictive in what they can do to help you. Do not complicate a pregnancy by not getting this taken care of.

Also, the more you wait, the bigger the stones get. Having a stone lodged is horribly painful (worse than labor, I've been told, but I've never been in labor). Do it! You won't regret it.

My friend got really sick with them on the day she was supposed to leave the hospital with her new baby. She ended up having to stay and have them surgically removed and she had to spend nearly a week in the hospital without the baby. She wasn't able to breastfeed during this period because of some of the medications she was on and the whole experience was pretty hard on her.

She had just had a c-section and claimed the pain from the kidney stones was worse. She had also been taking supplemental calcium in addition to her prenatal vitamin throughout her pregnancy which her doctor suggested may have made them worse. He recommended that if she wanted to continue to take calcium that she take calcium citrate (like Citrical), not calcium carbonate (like most other vitamins) - especially since she had a family history of kidney stones. Oh, and she'd been craving Coke her entire pregnancy and would have it as a 'treat' when she really wanted it. Of course, her doc said dark sodas also contribute to them.

Needless to say, I'd say get them taken care of. I can't imagine going through what my friend did and avoid that at any cost.

Get them taken care of prior! Pregnancy can make them worse, and who wants to feel that for 40 weeks! I had a history of kidney stones prior to conceiving my first child, but hadn't had one in about 8 years. At 14 weeks pregnant, I got one and it was awful! I was on vacation in NY and had to go to a strange hospital with unfamiliar doctors, who were nice, but I wanted my OB. After about a 3 day stay in the hospital, they let me fly home after medicating me REALLY well. So I hop off the plane and had to go to the bathroom and "strain" my urine. Out it came. Pain was gone, and I was relieved. My ob here said it might have had something to do with flying and the pressure??? Who knows, but I was so happy. :) Good luck!

If you're taking pre-natals, stop taking them for a little while and make a switch to Flintstone chewables.

I had kidney stones WHILE pregnant with my daughter. They CANNOT gett rid of them if the woman is already pregnant. IF I hadn't stopped taking my vitamins for a few weeks and then only continued with Flintstones chewables, I would've had to go in and have a bypass stint put in through my urethra! OUCH! I didn't have the same issue while pg with my son. I didn't have a problem taking the pre-natals either. I stayed on the folic acid even though I switched to Flintstones with my daughter.

Good luck!!!