Enlarged kidneys

I had that too. At the 20-week scan, the kidneys were slightly larger than average. We had to go to the hospital a few weeks later for a better and more detailed scan. But it turned out everything was fine after all. All the worry, luckily, for nothing.
That could very well be the case for you too.

Greetings, Fenny

Hi everyone,

During our 2nd baby's pregnancy, they also discovered that he had enlarged kidneys. At first, we were told it wasn't too worrying, but that we needed extra monitoring at the hospital. So we did. Now that he's born, he was supposed to be seen by a pediatrician last Friday (1 week old) due to the enlarged kidneys. First, we were seen by a pediatrician in training without a fully qualified pediatrician present. We found that strange.

Now, the story is that the pediatrician in training examined him briefly, looked at the previous ultrasounds, and came back with the following plan. They want to see him again in about 6 weeks and possibly do a contrast study to check how the urine flows. We weren't told what the next steps would be, but we feel this is quite an invasive procedure for a tiny 6-week-old baby.

Has anyone here had this experience before? Does anyone know if there are other methods to examine him?

We're quite worried because he's so small and vulnerable.

Thanks in advance,

Greetings, Berry and Natasja

Hi everyone! I'm 24 weeks pregnant. At my 20-week ultrasound, they also noticed enlarged kidneys, and I have stable amniotic fluid, which hopefully means the lungs will develop properly. How was it for you guys? Did they say anything about the amniotic fluid?

And yes, I see it's been a while, how are the little ones doing?
Hopefully everything is okay.
I'm nervous about the next ultrasound, hopefully the amniotic fluid is still there and I hear from you that the kidneys can return to their normal size at 28 weeks? While I didn't hear anything like that from my gynecologist.
Hopefully I hear something from you.

Hi there,

My pregnancy actually went without any problems. At 30 weeks, I still had a growth scan because my son was growing quite a bit ahead.

One Tuesday I went to the gynecologist. He got quite quiet and I kept asking, "Is something wrong?" No answer. Eventually, it turned out I had to get a second opinion from another gynecologist at the hospital because he thought he saw an enlarged kidney. On Thursday I went back. This second gyn also saw it, and I was referred to an academic hospital, the AMC. I could go there the next day already. Another scan was done, and the result was the same. I had to come to the clinic for pediatric urology and pediatric nephrology. This took 4 weeks... in the meantime, you know nothing and have no idea what's going on. From then on, it became a stressful pregnancy.

When I arrived at the clinic, another scan was done together with the pediatric urologist. After a lot of doctor-speak, they explained to me exactly what was going on. But too much was going through my head to retain it properly; the only thing I understood was that in the meantime, his bladder muscle had also started to thicken and his ureters were somewhat dilated. (If you're going through this too, have them write it down or bring your own notebook). I had to stay under the control of the AMC.

In the meantime, I also had to do sugar tests from my local midwife... the result was that I didn't have gestational diabetes. I had a final appointment with my midwife and asked her what would happen next. Then she said, "You know what, let's do another scan because this can go up to max 36 weeks." During the scan, it got quiet again. But because I had so much experience by then, I already saw it... I had very little amniotic fluid. The AMC was called again, and I had to go back the next day (more than an hour drive each time). There, it turned out I had very little amniotic fluid again, but enough to not take any action. I now had to come for check-ups every week. I got a standard scan and CTG, plus regular midwife check-ups. The midwife told me they were going to induce labor between 39 and 40 weeks.

During the last midwife appointment, she checked me and I turned out to already be 2 cm dilated. This was on 8/10/14. We scheduled the induction for 14/10/14. On 10/10/14, Mr. Himself announced himself. I was supposed to give birth in Amsterdam, but I couldn't make it. We were transferred by ambulance later that day. My son was initially in my room... and suddenly he was taken away and had to go to the high-care unit. In the afternoon, a scan was done on him, and it turned out his right kidney had burst, and his ureters and bladder were also enlarged. A nephrostomy tube was inserted and a catheter. After two weeks, the kidney had healed itself, and only the catheter needed to be removed. He was operated on at 3.5 weeks for posterior urethral valves in his urethra. These were removed, and three days later we were allowed to go home.

Now we have to come for check-ups every six weeks. The last check-up showed that his kidneys have become a bit smaller and his ureters narrower. These are good reports, and we only hope for progress!

Hi!

With my son, an enlarged kidney was also found on the 20-week scan... They said this is quite common, especially in boys. Nothing to worry about, but I did have to go to the OB-GYN at 36 weeks to see how it had grown. The OB-GYN also told me it wasn't serious... the kidney was 10 mm, and I think that's exactly the threshold to refer you to a pediatrician... anything under 10 is fine, and over 10 you get referred, I believe... When my son was four days old, he had tests at the pediatrician's office. He had to be on an IV where they injected a special fluid so they could clearly see what the kidney was doing with urination on the scan. He had to lie still for half an hour in a kind of tunnel. That breaks your heart! He also got antibiotics just in case, because it could also be that urine was staying in his urethra, which could cause an infection (reflux). When he was 10 days old, he got a catheter to see how his bladder and kidneys worked together and whether urine was flowing back into his kidney... After a week, we got the test results, and unfortunately, it turned out that the enlarged kidney wasn't functioning at all... The other one, fortunately, was working 100%... The first time I heard this, I was very scared, but the pediatrician really reassured me... Fortunately, he can live a very good life with one kidney... My pediatrician also told me that we know this now because 20-week scans exist, but there are a whole lot of people walking around with bad kidneys, and you only notice something's wrong with your kidneys when they're working at 30% together... If there hadn't been a 20-week scan, he might never have been diagnosed. (Unless his other kidney had also deteriorated)

At our 12-week scan, they saw an enlarged bladder. Lots of uncertainty now. Dad will have another scan in 3 weeks.

In my grandson, three kidneys were seen on the 20-week ultrasound. The right one is doing fine. The left kidney isn't, but the third kidney is working well. The NIPT test was good, but because this phenomenon occurs very often in children with Down syndrome, she had amniocentesis done the next day. Results next week. I would have NIPT or amniocentesis done if there was any doubt. Don't let them send you away.