Poor Thing

Poor Caden has had a problem with his left kidney since before birth when it showed up on my 20 week ultrasound. He had an ultrasound a few weeks after birth, which showed the same problem so we were referred to an urologist who had him undergo a VCUG (results were fine) and today he had a kidney nuclear study to see what the problem could be.

A kidney nuclear study is an outpatient test that involves administering small amounts of radioactive substances into the body and then imaging the kidneys and bladder with a special camera.

They said it was going to be a tough procedure since he would have to stay still for an hour while they took pictures of his kidney, but it broke our hearts to see him cry so much.

First, the NICU nurse came in and gave him an IV, which took him THREE times to finally get it in. *eye roll* If he hadn't gotten it that third time, Brian and I were both ready to walk out. Then, poor guy had to get a foley catheter put into his bladder. Ouch.

He calmed down after that and I was able to nurse him before the radioactive isotope was put into his IV and the cameras started to take pictures. He even laughed as we read a book and played with "Sophie" the giraffe. Then, he got fussy again and I don't blame him, he had pooped right after nursing him, but they wouldn't let us change him due to fear of the catheter coming out. Plus being held down on a table for an hour isn't fun, especially when you're three months old. Poor thing. I asked that we turn the lights off in the room and then he finally fell asleep while the pictures continued to be taken. Here is a picture of the poor guy that I snapped from my phone...


Long story short, we were there for 4 1/2 hours and it was a rough day for all of us. I nursed him extra and gave him a nice bath and massage this evening and he's sleeping soundly now. Brian and I had a "date night" at home after Caden went to bed at 7. We had a delicious candlelit dinner and a couple glasses of wine, which was much needed!

We will get the results from the nuclear study next week. Hopefully it is all fixed and we can rest easy. Worst case scenario, he has to get surgery on his left kidney at the Army hospital in Hawaii. Please pray for him! Thanks!