Great Grandma Clara sent this baby picture of other namesake Grandma Ann, and a dress that Ann wore (which Clara handmade!).

The pediatrician says the right kidney is completely normal (just shaped funny, so it fooled the prenatal ultrasound), but the left has slight hydronephrosis. We still don’t know why, so we’re doing another diagnostic procedure next week to rule out reflux. Also I gained weight! Back to birth weight and then some (up to 8#3oz from 7#13.3oz).

3 Responses to “”

  1. Anonymous Says:

    What, pray tell, is hydronephrosis?

    –cs10

  2. nerkymarg Says:

    Um. I think the Latin works out to hydro for ‘water’, nephro for ‘kidney’, and sis for ‘condition used to scare parents’. The functional structure of the kidney looks healthy, but there’s too much space in the part at the top of the duct before the produced urine moves down into the bladder. The big deal is that if it *is* reflux of urine coming back up from the bladder, she could be subject to repeat kidney infections (which we would only be aware of if we noticed her slight fever at the time). Untreated, repeat infections would likely permanently damage the kidney. They rule out this diagnosis by putting dye in the bladder, and then x-raying her after she pees to see if any of it backs up into the kidney. If it’s severe, they do corrective surgery (which is by all accounts a very minor surgery). If it’s less severe, they put her on low-level antibiotics until she gets old enough to tell us when it hurts. If it isn’t reflux at all, we wait another three months and see if her kidney is still big or if it has resolved itself.

  3. Sarah Says:

    What is up with these tests!?!?!?

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