| Name: Naddy | Date: Jun 24th, 2008 11:47 AM |
| Amnio (or CVS earlier in preganacy) is the only way to get a definitive answer one way or the other. ↑ |
| Name: Crissy | Date: Jun 24th, 2008 2:00 PM |
| Hello everyone. I came to this site a few months ago when our son was diagnosed with fetal pyelectasis in the womb. I can't tell you how many hours I spend worrying that he had downs. It turns out he was born a healthy and very happy boy. We have had to have some follow up tests to check out his kidneys, but things look good. They are just following with ultra sound to make sure it doesn't get any worse. Hang in there. I'm sure you'll all have healthy babies also. Enjoy your pregnancy! I know that is my biggest regret. I worried too much. The birth of my son was supposed to be happy, but instead I was a nervous wreck until I could see him and see that he didn't have downs. Take care! ↑ |
| Name: Naddy | Date: Jun 24th, 2008 2:40 PM |
| Good advice Crissy! I'm the world's worst worrier, but I'm trying to think positive ↑ |
| Name: Susan | Date: Jun 25th, 2008 1:45 AM |
| Crissy- can you tell me more about your little one's kidney follow up testing? What were his US measurements? Did he have the VCUG? Thanks in advance. ↑ |
| Name: dana | Date: Jun 25th, 2008 3:30 PM |
| Thanks Crissy for sharing your positive news. Congrats on yoru little one!! ↑ |
| Name: Staci | Date: Jun 25th, 2008 7:35 PM |
| Does anyone know what prenatal hydronephrosis is? Is this the same as pyelectasis? I am 20 weeks and had my US yesterday and was told that the kidney's were enlarged. I was given the term of hydronephrosis and also told that this was linked to DS. I can't tell if this is the same condition that most of you are talking about. ↑ |
| Name: Susan | Date: Jun 25th, 2008 9:09 PM |
Staci-
Technically, the term hydronephrosis is used when the kidneys are more than mildly dilated. (I think over 10mm) I think that many providers however use the term interchangably. Remember, the actual size of the kidney dilation does not predict liklihood of DS (ie: Once dilated, the larger the kidney does not mean higher liklihood of DS). ↑ |
| Name: Christie R | Date: Jun 26th, 2008 12:15 AM |
| I just found this forum today. At 40 years old, I am 29 weeks with my second child. I had an u/s two days ago which showed 5 mm in the right kidney and 4 mm in the left. Since I am considered advance maternal age, I had the nuchal translucency test and corresponding blood test at 10 weeks, which showed low PAPP-A and only slightly increased my risk for down syndrome; it's more associated with low birth weight. At 17 weeks, I had a targeted ultrasound where everything look normal except "undercalcification of the fifth digit", considered at soft marker for DS; however, my husband has crooked pinkies that are genetic. This most recent ultrasound was to check the growth of the baby due to the low PAPP-A and now we find yet another "soft marker" with the pyelectasis. We have a follow-up ultrasound in 4 weeks. While the doctor assures me that pyelectasis is a common problem, often clears up before birth and most babies are born perfectly healthy, the minute she mentioned "soft marker for down syndrome," I heard little else and have cried on and off for the past two days. I was thankful to find other moms-to-be here who are going through the same issue as me. ↑ |
| Name: Susan | Date: Jun 26th, 2008 4:57 PM |
Christie R-
I was in your shoes 5 months ago, I can't count the hours I spent in tears or on the internet looking for information. From all I've read, pyelectasis is only considered a soft marker on the 20 week scan. Meaning, I don't think studies have been done on the significance of a 5 mm renal pelvis at 29 weeks, so I'm not sure why they told you that. If you saw a perinatologist, I would ask about this in particular. I was 35 at my 20 week scan, so AMA as well. I was given an adjusted risk of about 1:900 chance of DS after my US, but when I heard the words Down syndrome, I was sure that I was the one out of 900. I wish I wouldn't have worried so much. I wish I would have spent my time reading about breastfeeding or other helpful things rather than spending 100+ hours reading about pyelectasis and DS. Good luck, please check back in here often. ↑ |
| Name: Christie R | Date: Jun 27th, 2008 5:08 PM |
Susan, thank you. I've spent the last few days talking to family , friends and even my doula. Now, I'm trying not to focus too much on this; it caused my blood pressure to rise for the first time during this pregnancy. The information is too ambiguous and doesn't really seem to provide much of anything other than unnecessary stress, which is so much more detrimental. This has caused a lot of soul searching, and I wholeheartedly believe everything happens for a reason. As much as my husband and I hope and pray for a healthy child (everything else points to an otherwise healthy child), and I'm not sure if I am capable of handling a special needs child, if this child should happen to have down syndrome, there are far worse things in life that could happen to us.
I am going to keep checking back. I think the support is good, plus hearing a lot of good endings and the stories of healthy babies is reassuring. ↑ |
| Name: Victoria | Date: Jun 30th, 2008 2:46 PM |
| During my 21 week scan i was told that my baby has slight kidney swelling and that it was very common in boys. My OB told me not to worry and that I should have another scan in 8 weeks and by then it should have corrected itself....I was also told that this is a marker for DS but all of my other tests have been negative...so for all the moms who are going through the same thing...just have faith that your baby will be fine and don't read too many internet articles...they will literally make you go crazy! ↑ |
| Name: Emily | Date: Jul 11th, 2008 6:19 PM |
| Hi, I am 27 week.s pregnant with my first a son, I.m 20 and my OB said my afp is so low they didn.t give numbers. I had an ultrasound at 19 week.s that showed his kidneys to be 5mm dilated and i a perinatologist and had a level 2 ultrasound today at 27 week.s showing his kidneys are still 6 mm and i will go back in 6 week.sf or another one. The doc seemed VERY annoyed that i opted against the amnio and after my mom left said the point in doing the amnio was so i could decide to terminate..... which i would NEVER do, and had to sign a paper saying i was REFUSING it!!! Has any one had something similar to this that could tell me if they did the amnio and how it turned out? ↑ |
| Name: Naddy | Date: Jul 11th, 2008 7:27 PM |
| Emily, some people get the amnio to psychologically prepared themselves in case the baby does have Downs, not solely for termination. Blood tests are notorious for false positives, kidney dilation is a soft marker, chances are your baby is totally healthy. ↑ |
| Name: Ahappymomma | Date: Jul 14th, 2008 1:45 PM |
| please dont take any tests.these doctors are out there to just make money.after doing mush research i realized that the chances of downs are very very slim and the doctors do these things to get referrals. my son had 7mm and 7mm at 35 week ultrasound and almost the same at his one week ultrasound. he is born healthy and god forbid he remains that way. I have personally decided against any tests till he is one year old. presently he is 7 months. I also refused to give him antibiotics. I will do his follow up ultrasound only when he is one year old. I know from bottom of my heart that he is fine. how on earth can all babies have the same condition? dont you think the doctors are playing with our emotions? and i am going to take up this matter further because this has caused me a lot of pain and agony and will insist that there are proper guidelines to be followed in this matter. i ask for all your support and prayers. ↑ |
| Name: corvina | Date: Jul 14th, 2008 9:43 PM |
| Hi ladies, alot of your posts give me hope that my baby girl will be ok. at my 20 week ultrasound, they told me that her left kidney measured at 5mm (if i'm not mistaken) and right one at 4mm. the only really troubling part is that her cerebellum also measured smaller than her gestational age (the age of the baby is pretty certain as i was monitored when i got pregnant). this is really troubling me and i have an appointment this wednesday at about 24 weeks to see how she is doing. it's a level II u/s and i have to drive 3.5 hours away to see the specialist. i can't even tell you how much sleep i've lost thinking that something could be wrong with my baby. the doctor never mentioned doing an amnio, and i don't live in an urban area and don't think that very many doctors here will do the amnio (i don't know that i would have done it anyway, but for some women, it definitely gives them peace of mind to be prepared for whatever may come). anyway, the posts on the kidneys are really reassuring that they will either correct themselves or can be dealt with after birth, my only real worry now being her cerebellum. if anyone else out there has ever heard this at their u/s, could you please let me know anything about it? i've tried researching it, but there is such variations on what this could be from and without the doctor actually having called it by its medical term, it's like i'm shooting in the dark. thank you ladies for sharing your stories and may God bless you and your little ones. ↑ |
| Name: ahappymomma | Date: Jul 14th, 2008 9:55 PM |
they told me the same thing at 24 ultrasound i was a little late with the ultrasound instead of 20 i had one at 24 weeks, they said he was week behind for his gestational age but everything looked normal for that age.they also said his head looked big.
he is a healthy 8 pound at birth. trust me on this one your daughter is fine and healthy. ↑ |
| Name: corvina | Date: Jul 15th, 2008 12:29 AM |
| ahappymomma, i wasn't 100% clear about what you said. i don't think i explained myself well b/c i was pretty emotional when i wrote... i meant that the baby was measuring everything else at the correct gestational age, except her cerebellum was about a week behind her gestational age. is this also what they told you? thank you for the encouragement and the info, it's greatly appreciated. ↑ |
| Name: lisasing | Date: Jul 15th, 2008 7:33 AM |
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| Name: dana | Date: Jul 15th, 2008 10:34 AM |
| I just went for another visit and my sons kidneys went down from 9mm to 8mm.. Iam 27 weeks and it doesn’t seem to be going down. I have another visit in 6 weeks so we will see. It has been an emotional rollercoaster for me and my husband. We just pray that he will be healthy when he is born. ↑ |
| Name: Sam | Date: Jul 15th, 2008 12:11 PM |
Emily, From 7/11/2008
When you said your AFP numbers were really low. Did you mean that you were low risk? Or did you mean that the ratio was low 1:64 etc.... I was wondering why your doctor would be annoyed with you if you have a good screen test. ↑ |
| Name: corvina | Date: Jul 17th, 2008 12:49 AM |
Hi everyone. i just wanted to let you know that i went in for my level II u/s and everything was fine!!! Baby girl's kidneys were not dilated AT all and her cerebellum has caught up with her gestational age and that also is a normal prognosis. For those of you who don't know my history: at my 20 week u/s, doctor told me that Baby Girl's kidneys were dilated at 4mm on left and 5mm on right. He also told me that the baby's cerebellum measured smaller than her gestational age and suggested that i get a level II u/s. i had to wait 4 weeks for the level II... it was the most excruciating waiting i've ever done in my life. i researched alot and found all of the things that COULD be wrong, but also knew that there was a chance that things would resolve itself on its own with time. i am so thankful to God... and everything did resolve itself and she's progressing at a normal rate.
For those of you who don't know as i didn't before, typically in more metropolitan areas, a level II u/s is ALWAYS done at the 20 week u/s. For those of us living in more rural areas, this is not the case. at my 20 week u/s a technician (who was all of about 20 years old) zipped through the u/s in a matter of 6 minutes with her measurements. the doctor then reviewed the measurements and then spoke to me about moving onto a level II u/s which i'd either have to wait 6 weeks to do near my home via telemedicine (technician is physically doing the u/s while a maternal/fetal specialist is reviewing the u/s from another location) or wait 4 weeks and drive 3.5 hours away to the maternal/fetal specialist. for some reason, i would have liked to have known that my 20 week u/s was not the same as say, my friend in NY. i am the type of person that likes to be prepared and research everything and feel a part of the medical process instead of being treated as just an ignorant patient. throughout this ordeal one thing i have learned is that it's best to arm yourself with as much knowledge as possible. now this is not the same as researching everything that could be wrong based solely on speculation or a possible mistake by a technician, etc... but to know what the process is and what your options are.
but the most important thing i want to say is that a majority of cases where a fetus' kidneys are dilated, end up resolving itself on its own. especially with numbers that are just over the threshold of what is considered "normal". so i hope this helps the ladies who are worrying about finding out their baby's kidneys are dilated. thank you all for your help and information on this as well. God bless you and your future babies!!! ↑ |
| Name: Naddy | Date: Jul 19th, 2008 3:08 PM |
Another success story: My baby girl was born 7/16, healthy & normal thank the Lord!!
To recap:
-I never had blood screenings or NT scan done
-US revealed slightly dilated rt kidney, which cleared up before birth
-I am 33 yrs old, my risk for DS based on age and w/ the kidney issue was 1 in 249
-I worried for 20 weeks for nothing!! ↑ |
| Name: corvina | Date: Jul 20th, 2008 10:25 AM |
| Naddy, congratulations!! that is wonderful news. thanks so much for keeping us posted. ↑ |
| Name: Bhagyashree Kharwandikar | Date: Jul 24th, 2008 1:13 AM |
| Hellow! i'm 26 weeks pregnant,my 20 weeks sonograph showed 7mm fetal renal dilation, & in 26 weeks it showed 8mm dilation. rest other things are normal i'm 36yrs. old with my second pregnancy. pl. pray for my baby for normal growth & birth ↑ |
| Name: newmommy1 | Date: Jul 24th, 2008 8:38 PM |
This website was a tremendous support for me during the last 4 weeks of my pregancy so I thougth I would share my story with other mothers. I am 33 years old. I had a 7 week, 12 week, and a 20 week ultrasound that were all normal. I had the first trimester screening with a risk of 1:3300 for DS. I had another ultrasound at 36 weeks to make sure my baby boy had turned from a breech position. At that time, they noted that his kidneys were dilated 9 mm and 14 mm. I worreid for the next 4 weeks. On July 16, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy. He has had no problems with urinating. His kidneys were still dilated after he was born (they did the ultrasound the next morning). So we had a VCUG at our local Children's Hospital on Monday. The results were normal. The urologist scheduled another ultrasound for 3 weeks from now to see if his kidneys are still dilated. If they are, they will probably do a renal scan. She said there are two possibilites : (1) normal variation in kidnyes (2) Ureteropelvic junction obstruction. The 2nd option she said may correct itself and not require any intervention. If he does need surgery, it wouldn't be until he was older (9 + months).
While I'm still a litte worried abou the Ureteropelvic junction obstruction (Feedback from others who have had this experience would be helpful), I feel relieved that the doctor doesn't seem to think it's something to lose sleep over.
Thank you all for your support! You are all in my prayers! ↑ |
| Name: Susan | Date: Jul 26th, 2008 1:25 PM |
| Newmommy1 and others who went through VCUG, what did your little ones think of it? Has anyone been advised to have the VCUG and not done it? We are scheduled 8/28. ↑ |
| Name: kitkath | Date: Jul 26th, 2008 9:47 PM |
| I am 37 years old pregant with my 3rd and last child. I was sent to a peri to have a 3d sono due to a possible low lying placenta. I was told by my ob the worst case I would have to face would be a c-section. I was actually looking forward to the chance of possibly getting a cute face pitcure of my baby. I was told my placenta moved out of the way and I no longer had to worry about placenta previa. How ever he said they had found a echogenic focus on the left fetal ventricle and dilated renal pelvises. the right measures 5.1mm and the left measures 7.7mm . I was told that these are two soft markers for ds. I had a quad marker back at16 weeks and it came back fine. He said my chances of having a baby with ds was 1/35 0r 1/50. I try to remain positive and tell myself that this is a 97% to 98% chance of having a healthy baby but I am scared to death. You all seem to have positive out comes but you guys are also young and most only have one marker (mild fetal pyelectasis) which is the weakest linked marker out of the ones the peri looks for. Please some one help me feel better about this pregrancy! I had been dissapointed because this was going to be my third boy child and our last hope for a girl. Now I look back and think how silly of me to think this way and just pray that our little Alex is going to be as healthy as his brothers. ↑ |
| Name: newmommy1 | Date: Jul 26th, 2008 9:51 PM |
Susan -- The VCUG was not terrible. They catherized him (do you have a boy?) and then put insert dye to see if he has a reflux condition. Our little boy fussed some during the catherization but after it was in, he was fine. It didn't seem to hurt him, and later he was ok and didn't seem worse for the wear. They then check for another condition to see if the blockage is from the bladder to the urethera (I think). The test did not show problems in either place. As I said before, our pediatric urologist said that based on this testing, it could be that there isn't a problem (just normal variation in dilation) or it could be the Ureteropelvic junction obstruction. They'll do another renal ultrasound at 4 weeks old to see if there is any change. Our baby is also on an antibiotic to prevent UTIs. He seems to be doing well. He doesn't seem to have any problems urinating. Do you know how much your baby's kidneys were dilated at birth? We don't know b/c the test results came back and said only "significant bilateral dilation." The urologist was going to get the numbers.
Hope this helps! I'm praying for your baby, too. ↑ |
| Name: jmsmith3 | Date: Jul 28th, 2008 8:09 PM |
| Did your baby end of having downs? ↑ |
| Name: newmommy1 | Date: Jul 29th, 2008 11:44 AM |
| No -- my baby does not have DS. He's a perfectly healthy little boy :) ↑ |
| Name: Susan | Date: Jul 29th, 2008 1:31 PM |
Newmommy1-
Thanks for the response. No, I don't know the size of dilation at birth, they did not give me actual numbers only "mild dilation". ↑ |
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