Hydronephros-not: Alex visits the Nephrologist.

So I promised and update on Alex's kidneys.  At the ultrasound that they did when he was a week old they still noted that the right kidney still looked like it had fluid in it so they told me they would refer us to the specialist to see what we needed to do next.  No answers, just to wait until we went there to find out what if anything was going on.

On May 2nd, my last day of maternity leave...(wth?) They FINALLY scheduled a referral appointment for Alex up at UofM. My mom took the day off work to go with me which was pretty awesome of her.  We had two appointments first was with the imaging department so that they could take a new ultrasound of both of his kidneys.  (I may work at UofM but I've never actually set foot in the new Mott Women & Children's hospital.  It was very nice.)  The nurse who did the ultrasound was very nice and super friendly.  Alex didn't seem to mind his ultrasound at all.  Actually in typical Alex fashion he pretty much didn't make a peep all day until he got hungry.

After the ultrasound they sent us up to our next appointment with the pediatric nephrologist.  They asked us a million questions about family history and how Alex had been doing since birth before bringing in the doctor (Dr. Lombel).  The doctor started in with more of the same questions before pausing to say "he's fine" and continue on with her questioning.  They are 99% sure from the looks of the ultrasound that absolutely nothing is medically wrong with him.  (yay!)  What they say he has is on his right kidney, it's called Exrarenal Pelvis, where basically the part of his kidney that collects urine before it moves to the bladder (the renal pelvis) is misshaped.  Instead of following the typical kidney (bean) shape it is just misshaped outside of the normal bean shape.  It is a normal variant in about 10% of the population and is harmless. (My aunt has it so we wonder if its a genetic freak trait that our family carries, the only reason she knows she has it is because she was having kidney issues when she was pregnant so they did some imaging tests on her and found that she had a misshaped kidney but it wasn't the cause of the problem she was having.)  They said he should not be at any increase risk of UTI's or kidney stones.  The concern was if he had a reflux or obstruction of urine through the ureters which is not the case. They said we don't have to continue to monitor him or his kidneys.  The only way we need to go back for additional testing is if Alex starts to develop urinary tract infections.

She drew us this lovely picture to try and explain it better :)  the misshaped part is where it bumps out just a little bit right near the ureter.

Happy to know that it's nothing, really, other than my kid being a little odd.  But aren't we all?

Doctors, Doctors and More Doctors

Today I've been spending my day enjoying my kids in what I am considering the last day of my maternity leave.  Yes, technically I still have Friday off also.  Friday just so happens to be the day that they scheduled for Alex's referral to UofM for his kidneys.  While I am very happy to get that done and over with tomorrow I am not excited to have to drive to Ann Arbor, to UofM on my final day off.  Might as well go to work!  So Addison will be at the babysitters while Mom and I take Alex to UofM.  We first have to go to an appointment in imaging for an ultrasound and then we are going to see a doctor from the Pediatric Nephrology Clinic who hopefully will give us all the answers to what the heck we are dealing with.  As much as I despise UofM, there is no denying that when you have a sick kid, or a medical issue, it's the place to be.  Hoping his turns out to be a non-issue but we shall see.

Speaking of medical issues, I got news today that my grandma (79, this summer) was placed in Hospice care this week.  :(  About 3 weeks ago she was hospitalized for a week, to put it simply, her body is failing her.  Shes been unable to walk for the better part of a year but recently things have gone downhill quickly.  Most likely due to her inability to be mobile.  She was sent home from the hospital on oxygen to help her heart about a week before Easter.  My family has been amazing in stepping up to help take care of her and keep someone there with her around the clock so that my Grandpa can get a break and get out in the fields to get some work done.  It's so hard to watch someone you love waste away and lose the ability to care for them self even worse when they are still in their right mind.  As hard as it will be to lose her I know that being stuck in a chair now hospital bed in pain is also no way to live.  I feel so bad for my Grandpa I can only imagine how hard this is for him.

I just love this picture, I feel like I have a lifetime of memories of my Grandma, I'm glad I have at least a few photos of her with the kids to show them and share my memories someday.

When I went to the hospital to visit her while she was there I took the kids but had planned on letting them stay with my step-dad in the waiting room while I visited to keep the calm in the room.  The second I walked in alone my grandma asked me where that baby was.  So in came the kids.  Can't deny Grandma any baby snuggling.

holding Alex when he was a week old

Holding Alex again at the hospital 

With a Newborn Addison in 2010

Helping Grandpa Pick on a 1 year old Addison

Bad photo skills but Addison's First Christmas

Love these two, they celebrated 60 years of marriage this past February!

Hydronephrosis and the Waiting Game

I mentioned briefly in my weekly updates while I was pregnant that at my 20 week anatomy scan with Alex they found that he had fluid on his kidneys.  They talked a little bit about how its very common to find especially in male babies, that it usually will resolve itself before birth.  They then scheduled me for a second prenatal ultrasound at 32 weeks.

At my 32 week ultrasound they found that the kidneys still had fluid on them.  They still said it can resolve itself before birth so they will ultrasound him after he's born to see if the fluid is still there or not.

So at a week old we had Alex's kidneys ultrasounded.

Then I had to wait untill Monday to hear from his doctor that he still does have fluid on his kidneys.  Still no real answer as to what is causing it.  They are going to send us to UofM to the nephrologist to have them ultrasound his kidneys and decide where to go from there.  There is still a chance that the fluid on his kidneys can still clear up on its own, if it doesn't it sounds like anything that could be causing the fluid to build up is fixable with surgery.   It's either a problem with the kidneys emptying or a problem with backflow from the bladder to the kidneys.  Even looking online I don't find any horror stories to make me worry too much about it.  He's totally fine and if you didn't know from the ultrasounds, you'd never know that there was anything going on.   So now we wait until they contact us to schedule the UofM appointment.  In the grand scheme of things it could be worse, I'd just like to know if we have to do anything or if its just more waiting and rechecking.