Pregnancy and Bladder Infections (Read This If You're Pregnant!)

If there is anyone out there who is pregnant, especially the early stages of pregnancy than this is a post you should read. As I'm sure you can guess from the title I'm going to be talking about bladder infections during pregnancy. This is something I wish I had known about before my ordeal with my first pregnancy and so I'm going to share it with you guys in hopes that it will do some good.

I'm Pregnant and I've Got a Bladder Infection

'I've got a bladder infection! Sure, it's annoying but big deal. It's not life threatening.' That's what I thought. I've had bladder infections before in my life, so I didn't think anything of it when I got one while I was pregnant. I brought it up to a couple people and they said to call my doctor to make sure I didn't need to take something. When I did, the advisors didn't make it sound like an urgent matter and nothing I read made it seem like it was a big deal. However, this thing I thought was a little nothing became a big something.

Since I thought it wasn't a big deal I didn't go in to the doctor to talk about it. Instead, I did what I normally do with bladder infections. Drink more water and downed as much cranberry juice as I could handle. It didn't help but I thought eventually it would go away. Three days into my irritating bladder ordeal I bent over funny and realized I now had a crick in my back. 'GREAT! Exactly what I need right now!' I said to myself but still didn't think anything of it. The symptoms of my bladder infection went away for about a day after that but then would come and go throughout the day and then the pain in my back just kept getting worse. 

I thought I just tweaked my back. All those hormones coursing though my body making things loosen up had got the best of me. I really thought that was the case until I started to really not feel good. 

A week to the day after I got my bladder infection, I ran a fever. Low grade. About 99.2. But an hour later my skin started to ache and I felt like I now had the full blown flu. When I checked my temperature again which was only about an hour after the first time my fever had gone up to 101. Something wasn't right and my husband took my straight to the hospital. After a few tests and a few hours of waiting around for some answers I discovered I had a Kidney Infection and was immediately admitted.

"Kidney Infection? What is that? How did I get it? Will my baby be okay!?" I asked the nurses and doctors and they explained. 

Apparently, due to the added weight over my bladder from being pregnant my bladder infection in affect 'backwashed' up into my kidney. Which pretty much meant the bacteria from my bladder spread back up into my kidney which gave me the infection in my kidney and now placed my health level at septic. I was unhealthy and now there was a chance I could have a miscarriage if things didn't get under control. 

I was scared and upset. It was now they tell me that a simple antibiotic taken at the beginning of my bladder infection would have likely made this whole mess avoidable. "Why didn't anyone tell that?!" I wanted to yell at them but couldn't help but feel immensely guilty that my lack of knowledge now put my baby at risk. 

When they admitted me, my temperature had spiked to 104 and my pulse was 144. It all looked bad but I did my best to remain calm. They put me on antibiotics right away and I ended up spending 3 days in the hospital waiting for my fever and infection to go away! 

Lesson of the Day: Educate Yourself!!

I learned ALOT from my experience with all of this.

1) The moment you think anything might be wrong call your doctor and ask them questions. Be specific. Ask them, 'what's the worse that could happen?' And even if you think you'll be okay, prey on the side of caution and go in to see your practitioner. Better you and your baby be safe and okay.

2) If you have any symptoms of a bladder infection, GO TO THE DOCTORS OFFICE THAT DAY!!! You do not want to go through what I went though. Safe yourself the panic, worry and medical bills. Get tested to see if you have a bladder infection and if you do, learn about the antibiotics that are safe to take and take them for a long as your doctor recommends. Most will have you take them till your infection is gone which shouldn't take long. (Educate yourself about antibiotics since many have side affects you should be aware of. ) 

3) WATER! WATER! WATER! This was where my troubles started. I thought I was drinking enough water. I drank two 24oz bottles of water a day but turns out that it wasn't enough. The average woman needs to drink about 4-6 24oz bottles of water a day while pregnant. It just depends on height and weight so make sure you ask your doctor how much you should be drinking and DRINK IT!

4) Take preventive measures. Wear cotton underwear, not silk ones or thongs. Change them daily. Talk to your doctor about adding cranberry pills to your pill regimen. This is especially wise if your already prone to getting bladder infections. Up your vitamin C too. When you pee, wipe front to back. Take a shower after sex. All these things can help prevent you from getting bladder infection in the first place.  

I'm happy to say that my baby and I are well now and quite healthy but I wish I never had to go through that whole mess. If you're pregnant, make sure you do as much as you can to educate yourself. Get multiple opinions from multiple doctors if you have to. Talk to other moms, old or young and learn from them. And dad's don't forget to learn about this stuff too! This baby is as much yours as it is hers and both parents owe it to their child to give it their best.