5 Months Pregnant Baby May Only Have One Working Kidney

I can say I never had that problem, but for answers I always go to webmd.com. Then type in something like child with one working kidney. Or what should I do with a child with one working kidney? Or just something along those lines. I love webmd.com. I have found out so many things for myself. Things I needed to know about me. For instance, about bradycardia, or slow heart rate, and then about pacemakers. It's a wonderful site, I think.

H.

My son in Law is 26 and only has one kidney. evidently he was born that way but he didn't know about his condition until he joined the military and he had a complete physical. Obviously if he didn't know about it it must not have caused him too much trouble. I hope that this helps to ease your mind a little. Try not to stress to much about it, I really believe that the baby in utero feels our tense feelings and is effected by it. It seems that parents that are less stressed and uptight have happier babies. Good Luck, I hope that everything goes well with your pregnancy and you have a beautiful healthy child......T.

One of my closest friends found out during her 20 week ultrasound that her unborn child had a tumor in one of his kidneys, and that kidney was not working. A week or two after birth, the kidney with the tumor was removed, and he has always been a perfectly healthy kid. He is now 11 years old. The baby sailed through the entire ordeal, and healed from his surgery very quickly. The whole situation was hardest on his mom. She worried throughout the pregnancy, and the surgery was very stressful for her even though it went well. Try not to stress out, stay positive, and congratulations on your new daughter!

We only need one kidney to survive and do well. If the only problem is one functioning kidney it won't be a problem at all. they will only remove the kidney if it is causing infections. My son was born in kidney failure due to Prune Belly Syndrome. I was his kidney donor when he was 19 months old. Both he and I are fine with one functioning kidney.
Blessings,
JanW

Hi there.

I don't have advice for you, but I wanted to share that my cousin was born with one kidney, but she didn't even know about it until she was in her 30's. Life was normal for her, still is, no big deal. She found out because she felt a lump on her side and the dr. did a scan and found out that she only had one kidney. It was swollen with a kidney infection, but they gave her medication, and she's fine. That's the only problem she's ever had, and she's 40 now!

Don't worry. It will be fine. You're lucky that the Dr's were able to see that, and now you know, so you can keep an eye on her.

Best,
L.

My 9 month old son only has one functioning kidney. They missed it on the ultrasounds but discovered it when he was born. He had to have some tests when he was 1 day old and the doctors diagnosed him with multicystic dyspastic kidney. So basically his left kidney is full of cysts so it doesn't work. He just has to see a nephrologist twice a year and get bloodwork and ultrasounds done for the first 3 years and then again when he's a teenager (that's when they grow the most and the kidneys work the hardest). He also can't play contact sports because his good kidney can't be hurt. But besides that, there's no other restrictions. His doctor said they won't remove his kidney unless it causes him problems (like high blood pressure, or pushing on the other organs and causing him pain),and usually the body will just grow around the bad kidney. He has a normal diet, and is a very HEALTHY and happy kid. You would never know he only has 1 kidney. Please let me know if you have any other questions or if you just need to talk. I know how scary it can be.

My daughter has three partially functioning kidneys -- you would think that would be better than two but it isn't. I am not aware of anything that they do in utero for kidney problems, my daughter is now 16 and this wasn't detected until she was born.

The first thing they will likely want to do after she is born and confirm the function of the "good" kidney is to sort out whether the "only one kidney" is an isolated issue, or if it is part of a larger syndrome. Sometimes this will be obvious from other issues that may be visible or easily detectable when she is born, sometimes it won't be. Kidney problems are frequently associated with hearing loss, and can also be associated with issues with the spine, jaw, heart, and balance. A full work-up will probably include back and neck xrays, a CT, and an ABR (which is a sedated hearing test for infants) if the newborn hearing screening turns up anything wonky. If she has any these issues in addition to the kidney problem then you will likely want a full craniofacial team assessment if the ears/jaw are involved as well as a genetics workup.

You can't tell my 16 year old from any other sixteen year old by just looking at her. With some assistance (she is hearing impaired) she does extremely well as a junior in a mainstreamed school. She is on a low-sodium/low animal protein diet. They told me when she was born she might be "short" and she's 5' 8" == granted in my family that might BE short, as I and her older sister are 5' 11" In her case, the kidney issues were the result of a syndrome, so she's had ear surgery, jaw surgery, and back surgery and come through all of them with flying colours, the kidney issues we only monitor at this point. As a point of reference, her unrelated grandaunt lost a kidney in a car accident almost 55 years ago and has never had any major health problems as a result of that.

Good luck and try not to stress.

S.

You will probably be sent to a perinatologist. They have gone to school longer than a normal OB doctor and are prepared to deal with all high-risk situations. I had to see one for my last pregnancy because there was a "white spot" on my son's liver on the ultrasounds. They monitored me very closely and made me do non stress tests every few days my last month or two. The pereinatologist would even be able to do surgery while the baby was inside of you if he/she had to. You will be in good hands. You'll want to make sure when the baby is born your pediatrician is there as well as a special high-risk team. You can request this in your birth plan, but it will most likely happen without you asking because of the situation. Since a lot of people donate their kidneys to loved ones and strangers, it proves we only "need" one kidney to function. You'll want to make sure the baby doesn't get sick as much as you can and take extra precautions, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Be prepared for her to be in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) after she is born, possibly immediatly after she is born. That will be the safest place for them to monitor her if her APGAR scores are low. Don't worry, it won't affect you being able to bond with her. They will probably do an ultrasound the day the baby is born or the day after. Do research online, pray, and try to relax. If it was an emergency, you wouldn't be waiting until the 19th, you'd be admitted into the hospital. My baby's "white spot" is still there, they think it was just a calcification build up when he was being formed. He is healthy, happy, and you'd never think anything was wrong. There may be NOTHING wrong. That is why they are sending you for further evaluation. The wait-and-see part is the hardest. Have a list of questions ready for the 19th. Please let us know how it goes and good luck.

Hi B.. I have no advice for you. But I just wanted to drop you a line and wish you the best of luck. I hope everything turns out ok with your little one.