Advice please. Baby boy only has one functioning kidney

[Cali909]

At my 18 wk scan it was discovered my son had a kidney full of cysts. I was referred to maternal fetal medicine where they did a level 2 ultrasound and confirmed my fears. The kidney w cysts is not functioning and didn't develop properly. I assume he's been with one kidney since conceived. The specialist said it was multicystic dysplastic kidney. He does have a kidney working that is cyst free, thank god. Just wondering if anyone had any experiences w this and can give me more piece of mind.

 

[mo0nangel]

I'm sorry I have no experience with that, but I do know that we can function 100% with just one kidney. So your baby should be fine

 

[Boo44]

Yes my son has this. The exact same thing. Let me see if I can find a reply I wrote to someone else to copy and paste into here...

 

[Boo44]

The exact same happened to us at my son's 20 week scan. They told us his left kidney was abnormal but they 'thought' the right one was ok. They booked us an appointment at a specialist fetal med hospital but it was 6 days after. I worried myself sick for those awful 6 days

Turns out at the next scan he had a big cystic left kidney, a 'multicystic dysplastic kidney' which meant that at like <6 wk gestation the kidney and ureter didn't form properly. Thank god his right kidney was totally normal and he had plenty of fluid

We were told that children with this condition on both kidneys don't make it. It's the BEST news ever if it is only one, as these people live completely normal lives. Try to remember that. You only need one kidney to function completely normally

Through the rest of the pregnancy we had to have anther scan at 34 wks to check his right kidney was 'still normal' as they described it. You'll never know how much I obsessed over that choice of words and worried that maybe they meant something could happen to his good kidney to make it bad?! But if the kidney is normal right now it will stay that way. And our scan was fine

When he was born he had to have prophylactic antibiotics for 6 wks. They did a couple of scans to check his good kidney wasn't refluxing. It got the all clear and he stopped the antibiotics. Nowadays he just needs a check up at age 5,10 and 15yrs! He's a big healthy chunk and you would literally never know

Antenatal scans are really worrying. These days people think all they go for is to find out whether they are having a girl or boy. But so many of us come out worried half to death. My dr said in the past they didn't scan, so babies like ours would have been born and led completely normal lives and nobody would ever need to know they had one kidney as it doesn't affect them. When he told me that it made me feel better!

Pm me any time if you need to xxx

 

[ckylesworld]

I don't have experience with this specifically but my brother was born in 1982 before ultrasounds and about 5 years ago found out he only had one kidney. He had lived 25 years or so not even knowing he only had one kidney. So I am sure it is possible to live with only one kidney from birth, assuming it dosent have cysts. I hope this helps you and I really hope your little guy will be ok.

 

[Cali909]

Thank you so much for all the kind words. And thanks Boo44 for sharing your story with me, it literally just took a huge weight off my shoulders. I know he will be fine w one kidney but my fear is that his other kidney will just start to develop cysts or not work as well, normal mom worries lol good kidney is completely normal and my fluids were great. This was at my 18 wk scan and he's measuring 10 days ahead! Hoping that's a good sign! Did your sons bad kidney get bigger as the wks went by? If you don't mind me asking. thanks again

 

[Boo44]

Thank you so much for all the kind words. And thanks Boo44 for sharing your story with me, it literally just took a huge weight off my shoulders. I know he will be fine w one kidney but my fear is that his other kidney will just start to develop cysts or not work as well, normal mom worries lol good kidney is completely normal and my fluids were great. This was at my 18 wk scan and he's measuring 10 days ahead! Hoping that's a good sign! Did your sons bad kidney get bigger as the wks went by? If you don't mind me asking. thanks again

So pleased I could help! I could hardly find anyone around who had been through the same thing last year so I know what it's like. No I think his cystic kidney stayed the same. I obsessed over his good kidney more as I knew that that was the only reason he was going to be ok. But it stayed normal and fine and the fluid stayed fine because of the one good kidney. I think one of the cysts on jack's multicystic kidney was quite big and so hes had some ultrasound scans since birth, but he is just a normal healthy boy you'd really never know!

Also - and this is far down the line - it has caused a lot of panic and worry re my second pregnancy (in my head!) but I can tell you our second child has 2 normal kidneys on scan. You can remember that too when you're planning a next!! X

 

[Cali909]

I think that's why I'm so paranoid as well. I know if the good one stays like it is everything will be fine. The maternal fetal medicine specialist doesn't wanna see me for 10 wks?! Seems like they would monitor it a little closer? I have a reg OB appt in few wks so I'm anxious to make sure it's still working great. Our first (daughter) didn't have any issues through out pregnancy and I'm sure this will be our last lol I do remember them saying it would be very unlikely to occur again just like you said.

 

[meli1981]