Thanksgiving, here I come!

We are having 3 Thanksgiving dinners over the next 3 days. I've been a bit concerned that my diminished stomach capacity will prevent me from enjoying these dinners the way they are meant to be enjoyed. Of larger concern, though, was the glucose tolerance test (for gestational diabetes) that I had at my last appointment. Would I have the results in time to know if I should be watching what I eat extra carefully?

I "passed" the test! So now I have a free pass to eat whatever I want this week. Until my stomach reaches its capacity, that is. So hopefully no one will feel offended if I only take tiny portions. It's not because I don't like the food, it's because I only have room for a little at a time!

27 weeks and a new position

On Friday night, I started feeling more than kicks and punches. This was squirming and flailing that made my belly move on its own. Then the squirming seemed to change to stretching, and I could feel it on both sides at the same time. Kind of uncomfortable, but it was always brief. Suddenly, my entire belly moved and I actually felt the baby move into a head-down position. I know the head is down because now I have tiny little feet kicking my ribs.

This sudden transition caused me to "grow" overnight. A baby lying sideways doesn't stick out as much as a baby that is vertical. I'm relieved because now the nerve in my back that was being pressed by the baby's head can go back to normal, but now I have to get used to the outward growth. Balance has been a little tricky the past couple of days, but it's getting better.

Depending on whose calendar you go by, I am either in the third trimester now or I will be next week. It's hard to believe that we only have 3 months left until the due date! Time is going to go really quickly, and we have a lot to do around the house before then. Where is that "nesting" instinct when you really need it?

Everything you never wanted to know about kidneys

I wasn't sure if I was going to post about this, but since we've received promising news I figured it's good information.

At our ultrasound last month, it was discovered that our baby had enlarged kidneys. The fancy medical term is renal pelvic dilation. Apparently, this is the most common "anomaly" that is picked up on routine ultrasounds, with about 50% of babies being referred for a follow-up scan.

In the picture above, the gray-colored section inside the kidney is the renal pelvis. It's basically the holding area for fluid in the kidney. When this area is enlarged, it often means that fluid is being retained in the kidney instead of emptying to the bladder. Depending on the cause of the fluid retention, it can cause urinary tract problems in the baby and possibly lead to infection after birth. Detecting the enlargement at 20 weeks does not mean the baby will be born with dilated kidneys, because ultrasound cannot tell us why the kidneys are enlarged, just that they are. We were referred for a follow-up to monitor the size of the kidneys.

In our case, the enlargement in each kidney was the same, which is supposedly promising. That was a sign that even though they were slightly larger than average, it could be completely normal. What you don't want to see are measurements that are significantly different. Anyway, we had our follow-up on Tuesday. We got promising results. The enlarged areas have gotten smaller, which is what they want to see. It is very common for the enlargements to correct themselves as the baby develops, and resolve completely before birth, so this is what we are expecting to happen.

The radiologist recommended another follow-up next month, but I am waiting to hear from my doctor before we schedule it. The current measurements indicate that they are right on the border between "normal" and "mild enlargement." They would be checking to see if they measure completely within the normal range next time. I'm expecting that my doctor will say to skip the follow-up and wait until the baby is born. They would do an ultrasound on her then, and if they are normal we have nothing to worry about. Even if they are still slightly enlarged, it won't necessarily affect her health. There are several options for treatment if needed, but right now we are encouraged by the decrease in size, and it is very likely that it will be resolved before she is born.

Congratulations if you read the whole thing. I warned you that it was more than you ever wanted to know!