ER Visit while 22 Weeks pregnant

Hospitals...needles....the incredibly sterile environment....the smell... not a place I like to go spend my Saturday mornings but that's exactly what we did this Saturday. About 2 days ago I started just experiencing the worst upper back pain, I mean this pain felt deep inside my entire chest, shoulder blades, lungs. I remember sneezing and just thinking WOW that was brutally painful. I really wanted to chalk it up to just a strain muscle, so I ignored it. Saturday morning came and I just felt like this isn't muscle pain because when Russell tries to rub me it hurts, I mean my entire back is tender to the touch. I called my OB explaining the pain, honestly suspecting she'd tell me it was just plain old stretching pregnancy pains. She did not, she advised me to get myself into the ER. It wasn't the most fun experience sitting there for hours as they did test after test. There was one moment that will haunt me, a nurse had come in to listen to our boys fetal heartbeat. With our boy, finding his heart as been a piece of cake, I mean they put that heart monitor on my tummy and immediately we can hear him. This time he was NOT finding it....... Russell and I were pale, staring in anticipation at the nurse when finally he found it. I can't adequately explain that moment and the fear I felt of thinking something could honestly be wrong.

After hearing the heartbeat and being reassured that our little boy sounded very strong and healthy Russell's and my hearts were a little more at ease, though we still didn't know what was wrong. In a few minutes the nurse that had been taking care of me came in the room to tell us some good and some unsettling news. She first told us that my chest x-ray was normal, and there were no infections they could find through other tests. She then proceeded to explain that although that was a good thing, that this pain I was feeling and still feel was not anything normal. She said the only other explanation they could think of would be a blood clot, or a pulmonary embolism, but further explained that this was not something easily detected. She said they would have to do a CT scan and use a radioactive trace die that would give a lot of radiation to me, but minimal to the baby. She also cautioned us on how this could affect me.

After talking with her for a while about whether or not to do this test Russell and I decided to wait and see if symptoms would get worse in the next day or two. If they did then we would call and probably go straight in to the ER and get the test. As of right now, we are still waiting but I have to say, I am not feeling much better yet, even with pain medication. So we are in the waiting stage. I am still in incredible pain. The pain I feel, feels akin to how someone must feel after a major surgery. That is the best update we can give right now. Some have asked what they could do. My first inclination is to say, oh we are fine, don't ya worry yourself now. But honestly we love visits, texts of love, and homemade bread lol hahahaha :)