Ultrasound Update

Ok, I’m going to try and explain this the best way I can without making this too long.  I’m still a little overwhelmed at the moment so I apologize in advance if something doesn’t make sense.  And sorry in advance for you ADHD ppl – I really will TRY to make it short.

As you know, Nolan’s kidneys have been dilated meaning there is urine that is getting blocked in his kidneys.  At the beginning, the doctor assured us this was very normal for boys and that he had never had a case where the issue hadn’t resolved itself by the time of birth.  (He’s been a doctor for 30ish years!  He’s a great Christian man and has seven kids of his own!)  He wasn’t worried. 

We have been having follow-up ultrasounds about every six weeks or so to see how the kidneys are doing.  The ultrasound techs do this by measuring the diameter of the kidneys.  His left kidney has always been larger and more of a concern than his right kidney.  A “normal” diameter of the kidney is 1-2 (cm?).  At the first ultrasound, the left kidney was at a 5.  No huge deal.  At the second ultrasound, it had gone up to an 8.  Not a huge jump, not a huge worry, but Dr. Trabue expected it to stabilize over the next six weeks by today.  We went in today, and it was up to an 11.  The right one is increasing too, but not at the same rate – I don’t remember those numbers.  (He said that 20 or so is where we would have to get him out immediately.)

He is urinating as the amniotic fluid level is where it should be.  His bladder has the correct amount of fluid.  But, there is a blockage especially in that left kidney that is not resolving itself as expected.  All else looked good – he is actually at 5 pounds today, which Dr. Trabue and the tech were very pleased about. 

The concern is that if he goes too long without some intervention that he could get permanent damage to his kidneys which I have no idea what exactly that would entail – and I choose not to explore that right now – one step at a time.  In order to have that intervention however, he needs to be born and out here! 

We are at 34 weeks right now.  He mentioned that he could have us deliver today (WHOA!), but it would probably involve a C-Section, and Nolan would have a lot of recovery time in the nicu with a breathing unit. 

He advised us to give him at least two more weeks – 36 weeks along.  We will go in on 2/18 to have another ultrasound and see how the kidney is progressing.  If it has increased more in diameter, we would explore my being induced that day (or within a day or two) to go ahead and get him out so the pediatrician and urologist could start their assessments and treatments on him.  He also said that if I had made any progress labor-wise he would probably go ahead and induce at that point.  He said he would definitely not stop labor at any point from here on out.  He said hopefully at 36 weeks I could still deliver naturally and that would give Nolan’s lungs a couple of more weeks to develop – he should be around 6 pounds by then at least as well.

If on 2/18 the kidney is still the same and I haven’t made any progress labor-wise, we would probably wait a little bit longer to give him more time to grow.  He said he thought we would DEFINITELY go ahead and induce by 38 weeks at the latest even if nothing had changed to get the pediatricians a chance to look at him.  38 weeks would put us around March 3rd.

So, that’s the scoop as shortened as I could get it.  It was overwhelming to hear him even halfway consider today, and it’s crazy to think we could deliver as early as two weeks!  Partly exciting – I’m ready for him to be here, but we of course definitely want him as healthy as possible when he comes.

Here’s our prayer requests:

- That Nolan gets as much time to grow as God knows He needs.  We are not super worried about his condition in and of itself.  Even though it’s getting worse, it still isn’t life-threatening.  There are plenty of things the doctors will be able to do to help him heal.  I’m really not worried about the issue in and of itself much at all as it is still fairly common.  The great concern is preventing long-term damage.

-  We mainly want prayer for wisdom (mainly for Dr. Trabue – and ultrasound techs – as we will follow his advice) to know the right time to balance between getting him out while he is as strong as possible but in time so that he doesn’t have permanent damage.

- I really don’t want a C-section.  Whatever happens, happens, but I’m praying for that not to be the case.  He said it being our third baby should make an induction much easier and a C-section much less likely.  Just recovery time and having three sweet babies to care for would make it more challenging of course with the C-section – we’ve never done that!

- I really, really don’t want to leave the hospital with Nolan still there in the nicu.  Pray that he grows strong strong over the next couple of weeks!

- Pray now for our pediatrician and the doctors that will be assessing Nolan once he’s here.  I am praying for a non-invasive and easy solution to this issue.  God is capable of healing him now I know!  But, we trust him in this either way.

- Emotionally I’m overwhelmed right now.  I still have a lot of things on my plate at this point - some of which I will be taking off very quickly just to give my brain room to think.  I know I just need time to settle, but we’ve taken off at least 2 weeks of our get-ready timeline, and possibly 4!  So, there’s a lot to be done.  So pray mentally and emotionally I can just chill a bit! 

Our praises:

- God is sovereign, He has a plan in this, and I’m excited to see what He wants to teach us through this.  We are truly RESTING in Him on this.  Just get my brain to catch up with my heart over the next day or so, and I’ll be good!

- We are in Nashville!  Even if I have to have a C-section, we are surrounded by almost all of our family and probably 40 or 50 friends that I know would be here to help night or day if we needed them.  What a peace!  We’ll be fine even if a C-section is necessary!

- We have a wise, experienced Christian doctor!

- Jason’s job is flexible so he can be here when I need him.  It was such a comfort to have him at both appointments today.  I’m so glad I wasn’t by myself.  And, it’s not the middle of the summer during his busy season either.

We are just so thankful for this happening in the way that it is.  I know we’ll be fine on the other side of it – God really has given me a peace about it.  It’s just getting all else done in between!  I’m excited to meet him as soon as it’s physically okay for him to be here!

Sorry this is long, thank you for your prayers in advance.  I love each of you.  We’ll keep you posted!