It's Positive!

 

October 15, 2013

Positive Results
The Hughes family discovered it was about to grow from 2 to 3 (yeah, the cat is not included in these numbers. . . ) as Mrs. Hughes discovered she was pregnant!

She shared this with her husband and after a week of pregnancy tests- all positive, by the way- they scheduled the appointment for doctor confirmation.

Dr. R. Ryan of Women's Health confirmed the pregnancy late October and the family began their journey.

November 20, 2013

The First to Christmas
After a swamp of tests, the family had their first sonogram. Seeing the child for the first time, they were in-love. Nevertheless, it still was not real for either of the to-be parents.

From this sonogram, the family discovered a small complication in that the cervix could not be accurately measured. Everything else, including the sweet heartbeat was a perfect 170.

A sonogram was redone a few weeks later and the cervix was measured at a perfect length.

Baby Hughes 12/23/2013

The next doctor appointment was two days before Christmas.

On December 23, 2013, the family received a fabulous Christmas present: two great sonogram pictures of their child.

The cervix was measuring perfectly as was the rest of the baby, as far as could be seen on the sonogram. A bonus? The heartbeat was around 160 bpm which was great for the baby's age.

Baby Hughes Sucking the Thumb

Then, the family was blessed for the baby finally stop moving so that the ultrasound technician was able to capture a beautiful moment: Baby Hughes sucking his/her thumb.

At the new year, Mommy Hughes was weighing around 173, a whole 14 pounds less than at the start of the pregnancy. This concerned the doctors a bit, but the baby's heartbeat was strong and the mother was measuring well. Doctor ordered for mom to eat, eat, and eat hoping she would gain around 1 to 2 pounds per week.

By the February appointment, Mom was weighing 182 and the doctors were satisfied. However, a new problem arose.

Hydronephrosis

Mommy and Daddy's silly announcement.

At the February appointment, the ultrasound technician discovered a slight anomaly with the child though she did not express this with the family. What the technician did share was that the child was in fact a she!

Dr. Ryan later came in to tell the family that the child's kidneys were slightly larger than they should be. He then referred the family to one Dr. Thigpen of Obstetrix.

A couple of weeks later the three met with the doctor who did an in depth sonogram. After much review, the doctor determined that the child's kidneys were indeed enlarged. He stated that this was common in pregnancies with female children. He further explained that there was a blockage that was causing the kidneys to hold in the fluid. This condition is called Hydronephrosis.

SIDE NOTE: Do you know what that condition is? No? Look here! 

Dr. Thigpen recommended a monthly check-up to monitor the situation. He also referred the family to a Dr. Pugach, a pediatrician urologist who has much experience with issues of this nature.

Then, the busy month of March was here.

In March, the mother was given the test for gestational diabetes and was found to be negative. The family named the baby girl Claire Marie. Most importantly, the baby was doing excellently. The kidneys were smaller and looked to be on the mend as much as they could.

As the month blended into April, the transition so smooth, the family moved from their one-bedroom apartment to their new two-bedroom home.

Multicystic Dysplastic Kidney
Tired from the move, the family rushed to make all the doctor appointments needed to check on baby and mom. Missing one appointment with the mom's doctor to make an appointment with the baby's doctor, the exhausted couple discovered from Dr. Thigpen that one kidney looked to be non-functional. In addition, the amniotic fluid looked lower than normal though still in the normal range. This was on April 16, 2014.

One week later, the family returned to Dr. Thigpen's office only to discover that the amniotic fluid was gone. Immediately referred and sent to the doctor's partner at the bigger hospital downtown, Mom Hughes was admitted with baby Claire to the hospital. The doctor's partner, a Dr. Bleich, had concluded at the end of the referral sonogram appointment that Claire's left kidney was Multicystic Dysplastic and the other was enlarged. To top this, there was not enough amniotic fluid to be safe.

SIDE NOTE: Don't know what Multicystic Dysplastic kidney is? Neither did we! Click here for more information.

Now in the hospital for observation, the mom was tested to ensure she was not leaking the amniotic fluid. The test came back negative which led to confusion among the doctors. Where was the fluid? And what was the next best step?

What does the future hold?
On Tuesday, April 29th the doctors came in and created with the family a plan for Claire once she was born. The plan: once born, if Claire is able to breathe she will be immediately transferred to Cook's Children Hospital for the usual newborn tests in addition to being put onto dialysis. If she is unable to breathe then the family will go to plan B.

Plan B includes contacting the local funeral home, much used by and very familiar with the mother's family. Afterwards, Claire will be placed on the mother's family's plot on her grandparents' land having been given a small funeral.

The family will supposedly discover on Thursday, May 1st any plans made for delivery by the doctors. Until then, it is the dreaded waiting game.