We had what I *hope* will be our last appointment with Dr. Sweeney just a while ago. He shook our hands and told us he enjoyed taking care of us these last months (baked goods for doctors go a long way, trust me!) as if he wouldn't be seeing us at our next scheduled appointment--next Monday, the 30th, and the day we go to the hospital to be induced if Matthew hasn't come. I hope he's right.
The sono tech was really having a great time with us and Matthew was very entertaining. He kept moving, was breathing up a storm and kicking my organs (my poor gall bladder is just being used for his own personal kicking bag) like crazy...and she felt really sorry for me! She's the one who likes to do the growth assessment as well, so we learned that Matthew was 7 lbs., 3 oz! This is a TREMENDOUS gain from last week, over a pound! Which leads me to believe (and hope, a little) that there is a little bit more of a discrepancy in measurements because of two different techs taking them. In any event, I'm pretty confident he's at least 6 pounds FOR SURE and probably a bit more based on how much more powerful the kicks and movements have been in the last week.
Tomorrow we'll get a Bishop Score from Dr. Shonekan and we'll see how close he is to coming on his own or how successful the induction may be. John thinks, "That little turkey will come on Thanksgiving Day," and that would be fine with me because then he would at least get to wear his First Thanksgiving outfit.
I'm not placing any bets on it though....he looked like he was having an AWFULLY good time in there!!
Oh, and Dr. Sweeney said he *is* betting...betting that he's found the second kidney. I bet he's right...it even looked just like a little kidney bean!! So, Uni-kidney may just turn into Pelvi-kidney!
Showing posts with label kidneys. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kidneys. Show all posts
Monday, November 23, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Uni-kidney no more??
Well, after our exciting day yesterday (ha ha) we were up SUPER bright and early this morning so we could get to Dr. Sweeney's by 8:00.
(I don't miss getting up at 5 AM...and we got up this early on Saturday too so we could get to the car place. Of course...it's not like I was really sleeping anyway, but still.....)
We had a sono tech I've never had before, and she was very intent on what she was looking at on the screen. I could tell she didn't really want to do a growth assessment because the last one was only 2 weeks ago and she was worried he'd be smaller and I'd freak out. (Did she hear about me crying on the table two weeks ago?) At this point, I'm pretty confident he's at least 5 pounds, so no more freaking out....just hoping to GET HIM OUT! In any event, two Mondays ago he was 5 lbs., 9 oz. and this morning he was 6 lbs., 1 oz. Not quite as much growth as I expected (13th percentile for growth), but at this point, plenty big enough for me. Speaking of big...or little, hopefully....John said he paid attention to the head circumference and it measured 8.9 cm. I've always said I hoped he took after his daddy and had a little head...I don't know how much bigger his head will get in the next two weeks (John says not much) and maybe I am naive, but in my mind, if I dilate to 10 cm., and his head stays that size, I'm liking those stats!
When Dr. Sweeney came in, I told him Drs. Polko and Shonekan were more content to let Matthew get to 41 weeks than to make a plan for 39. He said, "Well, okay then." I told him I was fine with that too...although if he thought he needed to come out earlier, by all means tell us! He was pretty interested in what he was seeing on the screen and then told us that he may be imagining things, but he thought he saw some kidney tissue! The sono tech had seen it first and told him...and he was actually pretty surprised since we had been looking pretty closely for another one this whole pregnancy. He's interested to see what it looks like next week (though here's hoping there is NO next week appointment!) and may amend his recommendations for the renal ultrasound when Matthew is born. As of now, he is ok with the ultrasound being done on an outpatient basis after he's born. If this is a pelvic kidney, as he now suspects it may be, he will request a renal ultrasound the day Matthew is born for nephrology consult. True to his lineage....Matthew's odds of having one normal kidney and one pelvic kidney are 1:3000!!!! It's funny because there is actually less possibility of complication for Matthew if he only had one kidney vice him having one normal kidney and one pelvic kidney. Even still, because his one normal one has been fabulous, and a pelvic kidney may function fine (many pelvic kidneys function normally, but in some people, it can be small or have abnormality in the drainage system) , we'll just be on the lookout for a few different things than we would with only one. We may not have to worry as much about contact sports (though I am JUST fine with him not playing football!) and such, but may have more UTI and recurrent infections. In any event, until he has his very own ultrasound and we see that there is another kidney and how functional it is, we are just surmising. Worst case scenario, from what I've been researching, would be that it isn't functional, and could be problematic or it could be functional but he could have hydronephrosis and they may need to be surgically remove it. Honestly, I don't think that's the case....so I am not even close to worrying about it.
I must admit, we were pretty surprised though! This little guy never ceases to amaze me.
(I don't miss getting up at 5 AM...and we got up this early on Saturday too so we could get to the car place. Of course...it's not like I was really sleeping anyway, but still.....)
We had a sono tech I've never had before, and she was very intent on what she was looking at on the screen. I could tell she didn't really want to do a growth assessment because the last one was only 2 weeks ago and she was worried he'd be smaller and I'd freak out. (Did she hear about me crying on the table two weeks ago?) At this point, I'm pretty confident he's at least 5 pounds, so no more freaking out....just hoping to GET HIM OUT! In any event, two Mondays ago he was 5 lbs., 9 oz. and this morning he was 6 lbs., 1 oz. Not quite as much growth as I expected (13th percentile for growth), but at this point, plenty big enough for me. Speaking of big...or little, hopefully....John said he paid attention to the head circumference and it measured 8.9 cm. I've always said I hoped he took after his daddy and had a little head...I don't know how much bigger his head will get in the next two weeks (John says not much) and maybe I am naive, but in my mind, if I dilate to 10 cm., and his head stays that size, I'm liking those stats!
When Dr. Sweeney came in, I told him Drs. Polko and Shonekan were more content to let Matthew get to 41 weeks than to make a plan for 39. He said, "Well, okay then." I told him I was fine with that too...although if he thought he needed to come out earlier, by all means tell us! He was pretty interested in what he was seeing on the screen and then told us that he may be imagining things, but he thought he saw some kidney tissue! The sono tech had seen it first and told him...and he was actually pretty surprised since we had been looking pretty closely for another one this whole pregnancy. He's interested to see what it looks like next week (though here's hoping there is NO next week appointment!) and may amend his recommendations for the renal ultrasound when Matthew is born. As of now, he is ok with the ultrasound being done on an outpatient basis after he's born. If this is a pelvic kidney, as he now suspects it may be, he will request a renal ultrasound the day Matthew is born for nephrology consult. True to his lineage....Matthew's odds of having one normal kidney and one pelvic kidney are 1:3000!!!! It's funny because there is actually less possibility of complication for Matthew if he only had one kidney vice him having one normal kidney and one pelvic kidney. Even still, because his one normal one has been fabulous, and a pelvic kidney may function fine (many pelvic kidneys function normally, but in some people, it can be small or have abnormality in the drainage system) , we'll just be on the lookout for a few different things than we would with only one. We may not have to worry as much about contact sports (though I am JUST fine with him not playing football!) and such, but may have more UTI and recurrent infections. In any event, until he has his very own ultrasound and we see that there is another kidney and how functional it is, we are just surmising. Worst case scenario, from what I've been researching, would be that it isn't functional, and could be problematic or it could be functional but he could have hydronephrosis and they may need to be surgically remove it. Honestly, I don't think that's the case....so I am not even close to worrying about it.
I must admit, we were pretty surprised though! This little guy never ceases to amaze me.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Feeling a bit better...
Okay Matthew, I will admit. I was thrilled to learn you are going to be a (bouncing!) baby boy, but a little overwhelmed at some of the information that goes with finding out you may only have one kidney (and if I'm honest, wondering how to turn that totally girl haven into a Little Monkey jungle).
I'm feeling a bit better today. Stress is the last thing your poor little body needs, so I'm going to do my very best to not stress so much. As you grow, you will find you are the son of the most worrisome and overprotective mother alive and you will be annoyed. I apologize now--it is just because you are so precious to me, and have been since the very possibility of you existed. But...dear friends and family have given lots of encouragement and advice, so I'll take it to heart and be thankful to God the kidney Dr. Sweeney saw was evident and doing a nice job. After reading up on this all, daddy and I realized we were so blessed they found one!
Some little pieces of notes that mommy has found encouragement in...
From your Aunt Heather's friend, who is a pediatric nephrologist at UNC---
One kidney is actually quite common. We re able to diagnose this more frequently antenatally now due to the availability of prenatal ultrasounds. A good marker of in utero renal function is amniotic fluid level. In infants it can be due to: (1) unilateral renal agenesis, (2) regression of a malformed rudimentary kidney (multicystic dysplastic ... Read Morekidney - MCDK) or (3) there can be a fusion of the 2 kidneys (i.e. horseshoe kidney or cross-fused ectopia). We manage many kiddos at UNC Pediatric Nephrology department with solitary kidneys who are all normal and healthy. Really, in essence all renal transplant patients have only 1 solitary functioning kidney (the actual transplant) in addition to their 1 or 2 non-functioning native kidneys. Some patient resources:
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/solitarykidney/ http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.kidney.ca/page.asp?intNodeID=22142 http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.revistanefrologia.com/fileingles.asp?ID=2795
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1472993
Remember, Matthew is "made in God's image" and is "wonderfully and fearfully made". God knew him before he "knit him in his mother's womb". Give it all to Him and know that He will handle it and you won't have to.
Don't borrow trouble with the kidney, wait and see what develops. If its only one, he'll be OK anyway and it might just prove to be two!Hmmm...boys...man are you lucky!
Hey Lori,
Just wanted to let you know my sister only has 1 kidney and all is well!!
Just wanted you to know too that when I had my u/s with the genetic doc with R that she thought there was a problem with his kidneys too. We went back 4 weeks later and it turned out every thing was fine.
A**** has left renal agenesis. She will be 2 in Jan. and so far no kidney issues. Congrats!
Trust in God's plan, He will take care of everything.
Little Monkey (for I already know that's what you are!), you are a very loved and lifted little boy!
I'm feeling a bit better today. Stress is the last thing your poor little body needs, so I'm going to do my very best to not stress so much. As you grow, you will find you are the son of the most worrisome and overprotective mother alive and you will be annoyed. I apologize now--it is just because you are so precious to me, and have been since the very possibility of you existed. But...dear friends and family have given lots of encouragement and advice, so I'll take it to heart and be thankful to God the kidney Dr. Sweeney saw was evident and doing a nice job. After reading up on this all, daddy and I realized we were so blessed they found one!
Some little pieces of notes that mommy has found encouragement in...
From your Aunt Heather's friend, who is a pediatric nephrologist at UNC---
One kidney is actually quite common. We re able to diagnose this more frequently antenatally now due to the availability of prenatal ultrasounds. A good marker of in utero renal function is amniotic fluid level. In infants it can be due to: (1) unilateral renal agenesis, (2) regression of a malformed rudimentary kidney (multicystic dysplastic ... Read Morekidney - MCDK) or (3) there can be a fusion of the 2 kidneys (i.e. horseshoe kidney or cross-fused ectopia). We manage many kiddos at UNC Pediatric Nephrology department with solitary kidneys who are all normal and healthy. Really, in essence all renal transplant patients have only 1 solitary functioning kidney (the actual transplant) in addition to their 1 or 2 non-functioning native kidneys. Some patient resources:
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/solitarykidney/ http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.kidney.ca/page.asp?intNodeID=22142 http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.revistanefrologia.com/fileingles.asp?ID=2795
http://www.facebook.com/l/;http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1472993
Remember, Matthew is "made in God's image" and is "wonderfully and fearfully made". God knew him before he "knit him in his mother's womb". Give it all to Him and know that He will handle it and you won't have to.
Don't borrow trouble with the kidney, wait and see what develops. If its only one, he'll be OK anyway and it might just prove to be two!Hmmm...boys...man are you lucky!
Hey Lori,
Just wanted to let you know my sister only has 1 kidney and all is well!!
Just wanted you to know too that when I had my u/s with the genetic doc with R that she thought there was a problem with his kidneys too. We went back 4 weeks later and it turned out every thing was fine.
A**** has left renal agenesis. She will be 2 in Jan. and so far no kidney issues. Congrats!
Trust in God's plan, He will take care of everything.
Little Monkey (for I already know that's what you are!), you are a very loved and lifted little boy!
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