Gallstones and Pregnancy - What to Do If You're Diagnosed

It was 3:00 in the morning when I first had my gallbladder attack, although I didn't know it at the time. I was 33 weeks pregnant with my daughter - and I thought I was literally having a heart attack. After putting in a call to my obstetrician, I made the decision to have my husband take me to the emergency room. My gut instinct was telling me that something wasn't right.

We arrived at the emergency room shortly after, where I was taken up to the labor and delivery floor. I knew I wasn't in labor, however they needed to monitor my baby just in case anything was affecting her. It wasn't until 8:00 am that I was taken down to have an ultrasound done on my abdomen. After being taken back to my room, the doctor came in and confirmed the diagnosis - gallstones.

Gallstones form when liquid stored in the gallbladder hardens into pieces of stone-like material. The liquid, called bile, is used to help the body digest fats. Bile is made in the liver, then stored in the gallbladder until the body needs to digest fat. At that time, the gallbladder contracts and pushes the bile into a tube-called the common bile duct-that carries it to the small intestine, where it helps with digestion. Bile contains water, cholesterol, fats, bile salts, proteins, and bilirubin. Bile salts break up fat, and bilirubin gives bile and stool a yellowish color. If the liquid bile contains too much cholesterol, bile salts, or bilirubin, under certain conditions it can harden into stones.

Since I was only 33 weeks pregnant, there was nothing the doctors could do. A nutritionist was sent up to my hospital room to discuss a very low fat diet with me that would help in stopping any further attacks. Unfortunately, im my case, the low-fat diet cannot stop the formation of stones, so every week I had to endure attack after attack.

Symptoms of a gallbladder attack can include pain in the right upper quadrant of the abdomen, with pain usually starting around thirty minutes after a greasy, fatty meal. Other symptoms are pain radiating to the right shoulder or back that can usually last one to five hours after it begins. Other common symptoms are nausea and vomiting, indigestion, belching and fever.

The best treatment of gallstones is surgical removal of the gallbladder itself. While other medical measures can be taken to remove stones or relieve symptoms, it is not a permanent cure.

It wasn't until I was four weeks post partum that I finally was able to have my gallbladder removed, and I can honestly say, it was the best thing for me to have it done.