In the summer of 2019, Dannette Giltz was taken to the hospital after feeling a very specific pain. She believed that she had kidney stones again, drawing from a past experience. However, Dannette’s doctors soon informed her that her self-diagnosis was wrong, and she in fact had a life-changing condition.
For those of us who have experienced certain medical conditions before, the memory of the symptoms doesn’t really go away. So if we start to notice the aforementioned signs again, we’ll jump to what appears to be the obvious conclusion. And Dannette was no different in that regard, as we’re about to discover.
As we previously mentioned, Dannette began to pick up on a very recognizable pain back in August 2019. At the time, she was convinced that kidney stones were to blame, as she’d battled through that condition in the past. But the discomfort became too much after a while, leading to a significant moment.
Due to those symptoms, Dannette decided to go to the hospital, still believing that she had kidney stones. When she arrived, she was sure that the doctors would go on to perform an operation to clear everything up. Yet the patient’s world was turned upside down a short time later, as the true cause of her pain came to light.
For some of us, we spent most of our youth in the same place, growing comfortable in our hometowns. But that isn’t the case for everyone, as other people might’ve needed to pack their bags for a new home at a certain point in time. Dannette could definitely relate to that.
A resident of Sturgis, South Dakota, Dannette moved around quite a bit during her younger years, going from place to place. She originally hails from the Colorado town of Denver and went through various different schools over the course of her education. Each of those schools could be found in various states across the country.
Indeed, Dannette attended three educational facilities, including Dighton High School in Kansas and Abraham Lincoln High School in New York. Alongside those two institutions, the well-traveled youngster was also a student at Nebraska’s McCook Senior High School. But in 2007, though, she experienced something that would change her life forever.
During that period, in fact, Dannette and her partner, Austin Giltz, tied the knot. The latter was a resident of Nebraska before he and his spouse relocated to another state. Now the pair live together in Sturgis, and they added a couple of new faces to their growing family over the last decade.
Dannette and her husband first welcomed a baby boy into the world, who they named Ronnie. After that, the couple had their second child together, as the mom gave birth to a little girl called Angelina. And to help support her family, she then took on the role of a caregiver in 2016.
So with everything in place, all appeared to be going well for Dannette and her clan as they enjoyed their family life together. However, in August 2019 the former started to experience an uncomfortable feeling in her torso. To begin with, she was fairly certain that it was a recurrence of a previous medical issue.
As Dannette suffered with aches and pains in her side and back, she came to the conclusion that she had kidney stones. It’s a condition that many people are familiar with, including the Sturgis resident. Yet despite that experience, though, it can still prove to be a fairly unpleasant issue.
To explain more, the Mayo Clinic provided a thorough description of the medical condition via its website. The post read, “Kidney stones are hard deposits made of minerals and salts that form inside your kidneys. Kidney stones have many causes and can affect any part of your urinary tract ‒ from your kidneys to your bladder.”
From there, the post then described how someone might develop the problem. It continued, “Often, stones form when the urine becomes concentrated, allowing minerals to crystallize and stick together.” Off the back of that, the website went on to share some more details regarding the medical ailment, as we’re about to discover.
The post explained, “Passing kidney stones can be quite painful, but the stones usually cause no permanent damage if they’re recognized in a timely fashion. Depending on your situation, you may need nothing more than to take pain medication and drink lots of water to pass a kidney stone. In other instances, surgery may be needed.”
Meanwhile, the Mayo Clinic then outlined the symptoms that you should be looking out for. According to the medical site, you could feel sick or struggle to urinate if you had a kidney stone. In addition to that, the signs also include aches and pains in your torso, much like Dannette experienced in August 2019.
After laying out the symptoms of kidney stones, the post referred back to a previous point. While it did briefly mention how someone could develop this issue, it then went on to describe the causes in a bit more detail. But that wasn’t all, though, as the website shared another interesting piece of information.
The medical post read, “Kidney stones form when your urine contains more crystal-forming substances ‒ such as calcium, oxalate and uric acid ‒ than the fluid in your urine can dilute. At the same time, your urine may lack substances that prevent crystals from sticking together. [This creates] an ideal environment for kidney stones to form.”
At that stage, the Mayo Clinic’s post revealed that there are actually different kinds of kidney stones. These range from calcium to uric acid stones, while some individuals might also suffer with cystine or struvite stones. Of the four, calcium stones are apparently the most common type that patients develop.
“Most kidney stones are calcium stones, usually in the form of calcium oxalate,” the post continued. “Oxalate is a naturally occurring substance found in food and is also made daily by your liver. Some fruits and vegetables, as well as nuts and chocolate, have high oxalate content.” Yet it didn’t end there.
The post then explained that high levels of vitamin D could lead to the development of calcium stones; so, too, can a number of metabolic issues. However, there’s an additional variation with this type of kidney stone as well. For you see, if anyone suffers with one of those metabolic conditions, it can cause a different problem.
“Calcium stones may also occur in the form of calcium phosphate,” the Mayo Clinic post concluded. “This type of stone is more common in metabolic conditions, such as renal tubular acidosis. It may also be associated with certain migraine headaches or with taking certain seizure medications, such as topiramate (Topamax).”
In Dannette’s case, she tried to persevere with the symptoms she felt, drawing from her previous experience. Yet in this instance, the mom noticed that things were getting worse as time went on. So, with the pain showing no signs of abating, she finally made a decision on what to do next.
Dannette then opted to travel to the hospital, hoping that the doctors there could help her. By that point, she was fairly convinced that she needed an operation to correct the issue, such was the pain in her back. But a short time later, the Sturgis resident was given a shocking bit of news regarding her condition.
As it turned out, Dannette didn’t have kidney stones, despite the familiar symptoms she was experiencing. With that in mind, the patent then shared what happened next in a detailed Facebook post. To kick things off, she first reflected on the initial stages of what would become a life-changing day.
Dannette wrote, “I started getting pains in my back and in my side. [It] felt like kidney stones because I’ve had them once before. So I just kept pushing until on Saturday, when I was in so much pain, all I could do was lay in bed and cry. It hurt to move and even breathe.”
From there, Dannette revealed the true cause of her discomfort. She continued, “[I] went to urgent care thinking I would need to have surgery to break the stones up. Well, the doctor came back in after doing a urine sample and said, ‘You’re pregnant!’ So they got the portable heart monitor that they use and did an ultrasound and said there was possible twins.”
Incredibly, though, that didn’t signal the end of the surprising twists, as Dannette received another shock to the system around two hours later. During that period, she had been moved to a different facility in Spearfish, SD. And while there, it was established that the mom was indeed carrying twins.
Then, the next big shock came to light. As Dannette explained on social media, “[The staff] noticed that the pain I was feeling was actually contractions. So the doctor checked and I was four centimeters dilated. I had to be rushed by ambulance to Rapid City Hospital.” But the drama wasn’t over yet.
“[The hospital staff] did an ultrasound and saw one baby was feet first, so I would need a C-section,” Dannette continued. “When the doctor checked, I was already six centimeters dilated, so they moved very quickly and got me into surgery.” Unsurprisingly, this wasn’t the procedure that she would’ve been expecting earlier that day.
After going under the knife, the first of Dannette’s twins was retrieved by the doctors, as they welcomed a baby boy into the world. His slightly younger sister followed a few moments later, and that appeared to be it. However, their mother was given one final shock when the hospital staff made an additional discovery.
Dannette wrote, “Then the doctor yelled, ‘I need another blanket, there’s a third [baby]!’ I ended up having triplets, one boy and two girls. That’s the story ‒ I never felt movement, I never got morning sickness, nothing!” Following their births, she and her husband named the infants Gypsy, Nikki and Blaze.
Going back to the C-section, Dannette then shared a few more details while talking with KOTA-TV News in August 2019. Although she briefly touched upon the surprise of the third baby in her Facebook post, she wanted to speak about Austin’s reaction as well. Indeed, it seems he was just as dumbfounded as his wife.
“It was quiet, we thought they were done,” Dannette told the television station. “[Austin’s] over there, kind of like rocking, thinking of the names and then [the doctor’s] like, ‘Well, we need another blanket.’ And his reaction is like, ‘Excuse me, put it back. No, I was told I have twins, I’m not doing triplets!’”
Furthermore, Dannette also reflected on the event itself during her interview. The mom admitted that she doesn’t know how the pregnancy managed to slip under her radar, especially as she was carrying more than one baby. In keeping with that, the mom-of-five then touched upon the response of those around her.
Dannette continued, “You don’t ever see triplets being conceived naturally, let alone going 34 weeks without knowing. So, everyone’s like, ‘I can’t believe it.’ I’m like, ‘We’re still in shock, trust me, we know what you mean.’ I go to the doctor’s thinking I’ll have surgery for kidney stones and end up going into labor with a C-section that night. It’s crazy.”
As for Dannette’s oldest son, he shared his views with KOTA-TV News as well. According to Ronnie, this unexpected surprise lined up with a wish he made a while ago, hoping that his family would add some new faces. In the end, the youngster got exactly what he wanted from his mom’s trip to the hospital.
“One time I seen a shooting star and I wished for a baby brother,” Ronnie said in August 2019. “And I wished for two sisters for my little sister, because she always wanted a little sister. I knew this day was always going to come.” That excitement was shared by his parents, but Austin was still processing it all after the births.
Speaking to KOTA-TV News, Austin explained, “Once we left the hospital, [and Dannette’s] out of the hospital, I know she’s okay. I’m overwhelmed, honestly, it’s still exploding in my head.” Given the added responsibilities the couple now had with three more children, someone decided to help out later that month.
Isabella Kimberly Marie Moelter was a friend of Dannette and she felt the need to start a fundraiser on Facebook for the family. To begin with, she set a target of just over $500 on the social media page. However, not even Isabella could’ve predicted what happened next, as the donations started to pour in.
Before long, Isabella’s fundraiser brought in more than $1,900, which led her to close the page. Prior to that, she wrote, “I just want to thank everyone for all your support! The mom and dad will be a little at ease now, knowing they can get what they need for those precious babies and the other two siblings as well!”