Poor Baby Girl

I had my regular monthly check-up last week. In between the last two appointments I had my exciting ultrasound appointment and determined we're having a GIRL! :) Well, the purpose of that ultrasound isn't really to find out about the baby's sex, but to measure all sorts of other things. While at the doctor on Friday I asked about the results of the my ultrasound.

She flipped through my chart and said that everything looked good EXCEPT - that's when I stopped listening or my breath caught or something - EXCEPT - who says that to a pregnant woman, why didn't you call and say something to me, etc, etc flew through my head. Okay - Heidi - seriously you probably should listen to what she is saying EXCEPT about...

The babies kidneys and ureters (tubes connecting the kidneys to the bladder) are swollen. Sometimes, a birth defect in the urinary tract will block the flow of urine in an unborn baby. As a result, urine backs up and causes the ureters and kidneys to swell. Swelling in the kidneys is called hydronephrosis. Swelling in the ureters is called hydroureter.

Here's a picture of what it looks like normally...
And here is a picture of what it looks like swollen...
She went on to explain that it is not known what causes the condition (they compare it to acid reflux of the bladder kicking stuff back into the ureters and kidneys) and that it typically corrects itself during fetal development. The next step is to have another ultrasound at 32-33 weeks and see if it has corrected. If not, Baby X will have her own ultrasound once she is born, to see if the last few weeks of development corrected the problem. Then, if not, WHO THE HECK KNOWS, they just tell you it normally corrects itself.

So then, like any good parents or informed person, you go home from the doctor and start surfing the web. I've decided I'm a "worst case scenario" kind of a girl. That is not helpful. I read all sorts of stuff online and probably should just quit. Luckily I married a "best case scenario" kind of guy who adds some needed perspective. Truthfully, there isn't anything we can do right now but wait and most likely it will work itself out. If not, there is all sorts of information, it is a well researched issue, we live in a country with excellent medical care, we live in a state with tons of pediatric specialist, and we both have great health insurance.

So now we wait, we pray and we are patient (nope not great at any of that kind of stuff - luckily I married a great man)...she'll probably be just fine. And the upside is we get to "see" her again at 32 weeks...and that's always fun!