VCUG

Daddy was trying to take a picture of E's anklet as well.

Ethan had his VCUG (Voiding Cystourethrogram) this morning.  I have been dreading it ever since his urologist recommended we have this procedure done.  Ethan was diagnosed with bilateral prenatal hydronephrosis when I was 20 weeks pregnant.  Hydronephrosis is a condition when there is dilation in the renal pelvis and/or the kidney.  Sometimes that happens when there is an obstruction preventing the urine to flow freely from the kidney to the bladder.  Other times hydronephrosis occurs when there is reflux, meaning there is urine backtracking from the bladder up to the kidney.  There was never an obstruction in E's urine system, so we were concerned that the cause of his condition was the latter explanation.  If that was the case, his risk for having damaged kidneys, even without us or the doctor realizing it, would be very high.

We did extra ultrasounds during my whole pregnancy to monitor his condition.  After he was born, there were more ultrasounds.  His dilated renal pelvises never fully resolved themselves so the doctor thought it was time for a VCUG.  A VCUG involves having Ethan catheterized.  The doctor (or nurse, in our case) then fills his bladder with an radiocontrast agent and watches for any fluid that flows from the bladder back into the kidneys.

The hardest part of the whole procedure was having to hold Ethan down while he cries because of the pain.  The doctor said that the VCUG is not going to hurt him but I know when my baby is in pain.  You think that after being his mom for a year, I wouldn't know whether my baby is crying because he's hungry, in need of attention, or because he's in pain?  I know his cries when I hear them like I know the colors when I see them, and he was in pain.  The most important thing I could do right then is to be brave and to try to calm him.  I've learned it's true that babies feed off of your emotions so I tried my very best to appear cheerful.  Luckily, everything went well and after what seemed like an eternity it was finally finished.  Ethan was very brave and stopped crying as soon as he was in our arms.  And the good news is that there is no reflux, meaning that his kidneys are safe and he won't have to do another VCUG ever again.

Disclaimer: I've never been professionally trained in the medical field.  The only thing that even come close is an infant CPR class that I took.  All the above information is what I collected and understand from talking to doctors and from my own reading.  Therefore, please don't quote me on any of it if you're currently writing a medical textbook.  Thank you.