11.11.11 had been circled on my calendar for a long time. Cole & I rushed off to our 830 am appointment, so excited to see our little munchkin. On the way, we got a phone call from the fetal center asking if we could bump our appointment back to 11am, since an ultrasound tech had called in with a family emergency. We were already pulling into the parking lot, and way too eager to see images of our baby... so we passed and kept our early morning appointment. We didn't have to wait too long until we were whisked away into our room.
The ultrasound tech was not a very happy camper... apparently our baby is a mover and a groover, and decided to put on a show instead of posing for pictures. The tech would jam me to the right, and jam me to the left, trying to get the baby to unwind out of a ball, and to stop swirling around.
After a good 40 minutes, the ultra sound tech abruptly got up and said she'd return with a doctor. Left on a table covered in warm goo and rolled down pants, Cole and I got a little confused. We shrugged it off since this was our "big ultrasound meeting" and figured the doctor routinely visits and talks to parents-to-be, and then helps us find a good picture of the wiggle worms precious little face.
The doctor walked in, introduced herself, and said she was going to walk us through the anatomy of our baby and discuss something that came up on the ultrasound. It was at this point during our appointment that I knew our tiny munchkin wasn't going to get the "perfect" ultrasound that I had planned on. She got the baby in a position to view his/her bladder & kidneys. We were explained that in normal ultrasounds - the kidneys should come up as almost tiny slits, nothing too large on the ultrasound screen. The bladder should be the most visible organ. Here is our baby's bladder & kidneys (I think!! They really should label these photos for you after you leave, because I can't really tell what anything is besides arms & feet, and of course the face!)
So, the bladder and the kidneys are basically the same size. The reason the kidneys are enlarged is because the baby isn't able to really urinate. The medical term is HYDRONEPHROSIS - and it can be caused by reflux or a blockage. The doctor mainly ruled out reflux, and explained that the majority of the urine is being trapped in due to a blockage of some sort. The best way she explained it was to imagine the baby trying to urinate, and having a thin layer of tissue that causes majority of the urine to bounce back, which in turn puts stress on a kidney(s) (in our case, both kidneys). That is honestly the most information I can really say at this point. We have a meeting with our regular ob-gyn this week, and a Urologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital next week. I think I'll be able to understand more at that point. All I know right now is that I meet with a specialist, and go in for routine ultrasounds every 3 weeks to determine the kidneys and bladders progression. We were also told that this is a marker for down syndrome. I spent all weekend tossing and turning, crying and worrying, wondering what I could do to make this all better for my baby. Ultimately, we were told best-case and worst-case scenarios on Friday: this ranges from a baby being surgically delivered early and being monitored in ICU with surgery; to going full term and being able to delivery naturally- meanwhile being monitored and possibly surgery post-delivery. We have always wanted to keep the sex a surprise until birth- but there is a good possibility this will no longer be the case, since the urologist will need to talk to us about the diagnosis/surgery options... pending the babies little parts. So until I know more information, I'm just going to keep rubbing my belly and telling this tiny nugget that he/she really needs to work around that blockage and go pee! And more importantly, no matter what we have to go through, no matter when and how I have to deliver this baby, if I get to take them home or have to hold their hand in the hospital, it doesn't matter. This baby is still perfect, and perfect to us.
A really good, basic overview of what this tiny baby has... http://www.cumc.columbia.edu/dept/obgyn/services/prenatalpediatrics/learning_center/hydronephrosis.pdf
The ultrasound tech was not a very happy camper... apparently our baby is a mover and a groover, and decided to put on a show instead of posing for pictures. The tech would jam me to the right, and jam me to the left, trying to get the baby to unwind out of a ball, and to stop swirling around.
 |
| Laying in a ball, legs up in the air, fists by the little face. |
The doctor walked in, introduced herself, and said she was going to walk us through the anatomy of our baby and discuss something that came up on the ultrasound. It was at this point during our appointment that I knew our tiny munchkin wasn't going to get the "perfect" ultrasound that I had planned on. She got the baby in a position to view his/her bladder & kidneys. We were explained that in normal ultrasounds - the kidneys should come up as almost tiny slits, nothing too large on the ultrasound screen. The bladder should be the most visible organ. Here is our baby's bladder & kidneys (I think!! They really should label these photos for you after you leave, because I can't really tell what anything is besides arms & feet, and of course the face!)
So, the bladder and the kidneys are basically the same size. The reason the kidneys are enlarged is because the baby isn't able to really urinate. The medical term is HYDRONEPHROSIS - and it can be caused by reflux or a blockage. The doctor mainly ruled out reflux, and explained that the majority of the urine is being trapped in due to a blockage of some sort. The best way she explained it was to imagine the baby trying to urinate, and having a thin layer of tissue that causes majority of the urine to bounce back, which in turn puts stress on a kidney(s) (in our case, both kidneys). That is honestly the most information I can really say at this point. We have a meeting with our regular ob-gyn this week, and a Urologist at Phoenix Children's Hospital next week. I think I'll be able to understand more at that point. All I know right now is that I meet with a specialist, and go in for routine ultrasounds every 3 weeks to determine the kidneys and bladders progression. We were also told that this is a marker for down syndrome. I spent all weekend tossing and turning, crying and worrying, wondering what I could do to make this all better for my baby. Ultimately, we were told best-case and worst-case scenarios on Friday: this ranges from a baby being surgically delivered early and being monitored in ICU with surgery; to going full term and being able to delivery naturally- meanwhile being monitored and possibly surgery post-delivery. We have always wanted to keep the sex a surprise until birth- but there is a good possibility this will no longer be the case, since the urologist will need to talk to us about the diagnosis/surgery options... pending the babies little parts. So until I know more information, I'm just going to keep rubbing my belly and telling this tiny nugget that he/she really needs to work around that blockage and go pee! And more importantly, no matter what we have to go through, no matter when and how I have to deliver this baby, if I get to take them home or have to hold their hand in the hospital, it doesn't matter. This baby is still perfect, and perfect to us.
