Tucker's Kidney: The Official Update

So it has come to my attention that several of you are still curious about exactly what is going on with little Tuck's kidney. As I briefly mentioned in a previous post, they are fine, but I'm happy to tell you exactly how it went. For those of you who are completely lost, during an 18 week ultrasound, they discovered that his right kidney was slightly enlarged, a condition called Hydronephrosis. The condition can range from a very mild case, like Tucker's is, to a very serious case. In its most serious form, a child would need a kidney transplant by 3-4 years of age due to kidney failure. Luckily, the condition is fairly common in boys (particularly in the womb), and it is very rare to be that bad. That worst-case scenario is typically due to urinary reflux, and that is not very common at all. While the prospect of having to deal with a serious medical condition in my perfect little baby was scary, none of the doctors seemed all that concerned so we tried to remain positive about it as well. They followed him throughout the pregnancy, which meant lots of extra ultrasounds (yay!), and since it didn't resolve by birth (which many cases do), they performed another ultrasound before we took him home. It looked about the same, so they decided we needed to follow up on it at 1 month of age. So we did. He got to wear that cute, tiny little gown, too. The ultrasound showed that his right kidney was still slightly enlarged, but just barely. However, the VCUG, an x-ray, showed that he did not have reflux. The pediatric urologist told us that it may just be Tucker's anatomy, and that the case was so mild he did not expect it to be a problem for him. Occasionally, problems do develop over time and he will want to see him again at 7 or 8 months old to be sure that has not happened. Hopefully, he'll decide it's fine and we won't have to think about it any more. Maybe next time I'll be able to produce a child without any excess water someplace it shouldn't be.