Positive thoughts go a long way!

We are back from Cincinnati with news we were not expecting! Let me start at the beginning of the day...

James drove over 3 in the pouring rain and sat in rush hour traffic to get us there. We were a bit late, but were able to get in for the ultrasound first thing. The tech spent over 45 minutes scanning from head to toe and back again. She commented many times on how cute he was with his little hands in front of his face or how he stuck out his tongue. Cracked me up, all I saw was a white outline that I didn't want to get to attached to in case we received bad news. But she was very sweet. Then a doctor came in to review everything and we were sent on our way to the MRI. 

The nice little lady in MRI asked if I was told how long I would be in the machine...uh no a few minutes? At least an hour she says! And sure enough I was. It was loud, and uncomfortable, but the images we saw from it later were well worth the marginal discomfort. 

Afterwards James and I quickly grabbed some lunch and headed up to the Fetal Care floor of Cincinnati Children's Hospital not knowing what would come next. We met with a genetic counselor who took a family history. When asked if both my parents were living I nearly said yes then broke down and referred the question to James. He took my hand and explained to the lady how fresh the wound was and how she died. Honestly that was the only time I cried all day. 

Finally it was time to meet with the team of Doctors. There were 8 people in the room other than James and I. A fetal surgeon, neonatalogist, pediatric urologist, main doctor guy and various nurses. They were all VERY nice and answered any questions we had. Which wasn't many because we have researched for the last 3 weeks, but it was nice to bounce some things off of them. 

LOL, are you ready for the results yet? MRI shows the lungs look well developed for Baby Ians gestational age (which is 22 weeks tomorrow.) Amniotic fluid is normal 12.3 (Normal is 8-20) The kidney's still looks large, but show no cysts or bright spots that would indicate failure. As for the protein that we were told indicates kidney failure, it doesn't. The level was high, but it a mute point, no big deal. The only problem we are guaranteed of at this point is the bladder. It could be as simple as an oral medication or sometime more intense like cathing the baby daily. We will just have to wait and see. Until he is born we will go for weekly fluid and kidney checks most likely 1 week at my OB and the next at St. Vincent, but that is up to the maternal fetal medicine Dr. 

When Baby Ian is born, we will deliver via c-section around 37 weeks at St. Vincent in Indy. He will have a renal ultrasound the day he is born to check his bladder and kidney. They will monitor how well he pees. And as long as he is a good weight he will have surgery before we leave the hospital to remove the blockage. Best case scenario we are done at that point...he would need to be monitored for life to make sure his kidney's continued to function and be on medicine for his bladder. But it could be as simple as that! 

There are still many possible problems that could arise. His kidney's could become damaged in the next 15 weeks and things would be much different. But at this point we are very optimistic. There is a great chance I will get to bring home my Baby Ian the last week of August! 

Keep the positive thoughts coming!