Nolan Update

Two weeks ago, Nolan’s left kidney was measuring 11 mm.  It had grown an average of 1 mm per every two weeks.  Doc had said around 20 mm is when they need to get the baby out quickly so there wasn’t a need for a huge rush.  His amniotic fluid level was fine, and doc was content to wait for a bit to let his lungs mature more.  He said two weeks ago that if by today’s visit his kidneys had gotten much worse OR if I had made any progress labor wise that he would go ahead and induce but wouldn’t let me go past 38 weeks.

Well, at the ultrasound today, Nolan’s left kidney shot up 5 mm in two weeks – to a 17!  His right one was up as well to an 8.  AND, his amniotic fluid has dropped.  Normal range for amniotic fluid is 5 to 20 – his fluid has dropped to a 7.  He has grown a lot though and was at least 6 pounds already – possibly more.  She said she could tell he was breathing well on ultrasound and was measuring even a little ahead.

When we got to the doc appt, Doctor Trabue read the results and said the ultrasound did not read as needing anything urgent but continued follow up.  He said the information he had given us two weeks ago was his knowledge, but he consulted with another doc in that field this week and was told that the danger level for the kidney is not at 20mm but between 20 and 30 mm.  So, we are not in the “danger” zone yet according to that info.  (Being only 3 mm away from the danger zone worries momma a bit.  Especially having shot up 5 mm in two weeks.)

He suggested waiting one more week for his lungs to develop more.  He said statistically that INDUCED (as opposed to going into labor naturally) 36 week old babies have a 1 in 3 chance of being in NICU with breathing problems – some for a couple of days, but some for several weeks.  He said if we give Nolan to 37 weeks that his chances for being in the NICU are half that.  He said if he was born with lung problems now, they wouldn’t be able to work on his kidneys anyway until lungs were stable.  I did measure at a 2 today, so he said I also had a chance of going into labor on my own this week.

While I am glad for the decreased chance of NICU, the huge jump in his kidney size bothers me as well as the drop in amniotic fluid level this week.  The non-doctor part of me wonders how he knows that the rate of increase in his kidneys and drop in fluid is not something that happened within a week and how he knows that next week that will not be significantly worse.  But, we don’t have anything else to go on but the doctor’s advice and the Lord’s protection so that’s what we’re going with. 

Just please pray for his kidneys to STAY this week and his amniotic fluid level to not get any lower.

We are scheduled to go in Tuesday, Feb 26th (two days after Katie Beth’s birthday) to be induced at 7:00 am.  It’d be nice if I went on my own before that, but I’m thankful to have a definite point at which they can really figure out what’s going on with his kidneys instead of the waiting game.  For that I am really thankful!

Tried to keep it short but a lot of details!  Thanks for your prayers in advance and we’ll keep you posted!    Love you all!