Murphy's Gallbladder

Well, I must say, I was not expecting to be typing another blog post from a hospital bed quite this soon! Yet, here we are...this account is for those of you who are morbidly curious (or, like me, very interested in the human body) and want the long version of the story. :-)
The problem started on Saturday, August 4th, at about 9 AM. Josh was making breakfast and I was giving Ben his breakfast when all of a sudden I got a cramping sensation in my abdomen. "How weird," I thought, and put Ben on his fleece while I went to the bathroom to see if that helped. Nope. I came back just as Josh said, "Breakfast is ready!" I had zero desire to eat! I had literally gone from feeling completely fine to feeling like I was in the transition phase of labor in less than 5 minutes. I let Josh know I wasn't feeling well and went to lie down in bed to see if that helped. Nope, that made things WAY worse! I was moaning and unable to keep myself from crying and making noise. Josh came in and suggested going to the hospital. I said, "For what?" and he said, "Ummm, sudden sharp abdominal pain!!"
After about 2 more minutes, that sounded like a really good idea, as the pain was not letting up at all. I let Josh know, and he started getting ready to go. Then I got hit with another wave of worsening pain that dropped me to all fours...I was unable to get up. Josh had to put Ben in the car, then pick me up and drag me to the car. We drove to the emergency room at Women's and Children's hospital and they took me right back (I guess I must have looked pretty bad). We waited for what felt like a really long time as I used labor  breathing techniques, position changes, whatever I could think of, to try to manage the pain. Finally, the doctor came in and I tried to provide coherent answers to his questions. He had me lie down and poked around. Almost immediately, he found a place in my right upper quadrant that worsened the pain even more (which I would have sworn was impossible). "Oh," he said, "I think it's your gallbladder."
I started drinking contrast dye for a CT scan, but the doctor changed his mind and decided to do an ultrasound instead. The ultrasound confirmed the initial diagnosis, and I was given pain medication. I ended up having a laparoscopic choecystectomy (they chopped my gallbladder up into tiny pieces and pulled it out through holes in my abdomen) that evening around 6. The explanation I was given was that the hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy can cause the gallbladder to change the amount of cholesterol that it secretes, which can cause gallstones. The gallstones can then plug ducts and cause irritation leading to infection. I had an infection when I came in, as well as several blockages. The doctor who did the surgery let me know that the removal should take care of the problem, but in 1-2% of people, a stone has made its way into the common bile duct and will need to be removed.
Ladies and gentlemen, I am the 1-2%. Unfortunately, that meant I had to have another procedure the next day (I went under anesthesia 2 days in a row...yuck). Because it was the weekend, we had to wait quite a while for an operating room to come available, and there were some equipment mixups that made the wait even longer. I went over 48 hours without eating or drinking. They did give me IV fluid, but somehow I was still extremely dehydrated (went 18 hours without urinating, and then when I did manage to, it was almost red...never a good sign!). Thankfully, it looks like we are going to be okay now, and I just got the news that I can go home this evening. We are just supposed to watch for signs of infection or pancreatitis. The good news is that I feel much better now than I felt all day yesterday (Sunday) because I am now rehydrated. Also, part of the reason I was feeling sick on Sunday was because my bile duct was blocked and so some of my liver enzymes and biliruben were getting out of balance. I felt better from that stuff almost as soon as I woke up from the second procedure. Now, I am just experiencing postoperative pain, which is to be expected.
The hardest thing through all of this was not being able to feed Ben for a long time. On Saturday, he was so sad....he was crying, and asking to nurse, and I could tell when he looked at me that he didn't understand why I was denying him what he needed to feel better. Thankfully, I had started a freezer stash for when I return to work, so we did have breastmilk to give him, but he nurses for comfort just as much as for food sometimes. I wasn't able to nurse him for about 30 hours total. Thankfully, I was able to pump during this time. I was really worried about my milk drying up as a combination of not nursing, not eating, and being dehydrated, but thankfully it looks like it is okay. Production has dropped a little, but overall I think I still have enough and should be able to get it back up to where it was quickly.
Anyway, sorry if this is a little disjointed-I'm still on painkillers and still in pain, but wanted to give you guys an update. We appreciate the concern and well wishes! I am thankful that this happened while I was on maternity leave anyway, and I don't think it will change my timelines for going back to work, though I am going to have to rest more the next few weeks than I was originally planning for. I think it will all work out, though!
It definitely seems like recovery from this pregnancy has been much more eventful than I would have hoped! I had never heard of this being a postpartum complication, but apparently it is something that happens. I don't think it is super common, but it is also not unheard of. Continued prayers are appreciated, especially since Josh will have to help a lot more with Ben (especially at night) than he has been so far as I am still having trouble moving around and can't really lift him. I can only feed him if someone helps me get positioned! The good news is, this particular complication can't happen again next time since I no longer have a gallbladder!