Our Wonder Years: December 2011

Scarlett is growing up so fast. She had her "1 year check up" at 13 months and she weighed 20 pounds 15 ounces and is almost 31" tall! Her size 12 month pants fit great in the length but are little big in the waist - even with her fat diaper!

I'm going to back up a little and play catch up. So on November 16th (right before she turned 1) the doctor diagnosed her with a severe UTI / Kidney infection. He also had us go to Medical City Children's Hospital for some testing on her bladder and kidneys. We did that on December 13th. The first test she had done was a renal sonogram. That looked good. The second test was a VCUG. Chad & I got to stay in the room when they did this. Scarlett was sedated with gas because there is no way she could lay still for this. The sedation was fast and I cried watching her "go to sleep" because it's just terrifying to see my baby girl lay there limp. The nurse inserted a catheter and ran dye into her bladder & got it really full. On the large monitor you could see her bladder very full. A staff urologist was there watching everything and that was comforting. I thought the test was going to be done by a radiologist and we'd have to wait to hear from our pediatrician to know the result. The nurse explained to us that when Scarlett peed they were looking to see the size of her ureter on each side and to see if the ureter(s) were "refluxing" into the kidneys. She said if there was reflux we would see something that resembled "moose horns." So we waited for Scarlett to pee. AND THERE IT WAS....MOOSE HORNS ON THE RIGHT SIDE! The left side was perfect. The urologist said she would be back in a few minutes to talk. Scarlett was waking up as the doctor told us this: VUR - Kidney Reflux is graded on a scale of 1-5. Scarlett has a grade 5! She said that she sees Kidney Reflux all the time just not this severe. What makes it so severe is that the urine is back flowing out of the bladder, up into the ureter, back into the collection system in the kidney and then leaking into the kidney itself. The Urologist was going to call our pediatrician right away. (I am somewhat familiar with this because Courtney had VUR several years ago) So, we went to the recovery room for Scarlett to fully wake up and cough out all the gas. By the time we got home and I was putting Scarlett down for a nap, I had 2 phone calls from the pediatrician's office. We were referred to Dr. William Strand, Pediatric Surgical Urologist.

We met with Dr. Strand on December 15th. I did a lot of research on him beforehand and I really liked his credentials. In person, I like him even better and so did Swilly. She took right to him and even wanted him to pick her up and carry her around! He agreed that the VUR is a grade 5 and he said there is a possibility of her having 2 ureter tubes on the right side - this is called "double-tubed" and this is what Courtney had. If you do not correct VUR then the urine that back-flows into the kidney causes scar tissue and can eventually lead to the loss of the kidney. The only way to fix this is surgery. Her kidney function and growth will be monitored for many years. Dr. Strand also informed me that VUR is genetic! So, my family is 2 for 2 with both granddaughters / nieces having VUR. Thanks a lot Mom & Dad!!!! What this means for me and Chad is that if we have another child his or her kidneys will be monitored beginning in the womb. Scarlett was monitored in the womb too. My Perinatologist, Dr. Brian Rhinehart, saw that her right ureter was dilated about 1 month before I had her. The renal sonogram done right after birth showed everything to be fine. Dr. Strand said that she's probably been refluxing for the entire year of her life. So, Scarlett is scheduled for surgery on January 9th.

We attempted to see Santa this year at Santa's Village in Richardson but it didn't happen. We went on the last day and there were way too many people. But it wasn't a wasted trip....Papa Tom & Dede went along, we hung out with some awesome friends and got some great pictures!

We all had a wonderful Christmas. This year was so different than last year when all she did was sleep and eat. It was fun buying things for her and putting them under the tree. We spent Christmas Eve at Papa Tom and Dede's house with family. Scarlett loves all the attention. We joke that she thinks that everyone is there to see her - and they are!!! She loves Great Uncle Jimmy and was by his side most of the night. She was such a trooper being up so late. She opened up a big pink Minnie Mouse and hasn't let go of her yet! Christmas morning she paid no attention to the gift from Santa (unwrapped of course) and went straight for the tissue paper in Chad's presents! I intentionally wrapped her gifts in tissue paper hoping that she would be able to open them easier. She didn't care; she wanted the full, open sheet of paper. Then we headed to my moms house for lunch with my side of the family. Once again, she was wonderful. Scarlett loves all the boys in the family. She was the center of attention for all my nephews. We left my moms house and headed back to Papa Tom's and Dede's house for dinner with the other side of Chad's family. I was amazed at how well she was with all the stimulation and not getting her normal naps and nighttime sleep. Once again, she wanted to be with the boys! Jordan, who is 6, and Judson, who is 3, just love her and she loves them! Scarlett loves chasing Addison around and I see her trying to copy what she's doing. It is so sweet to see how gentle and loving they all are; I know they will all be best friends someday, just like Chad is with his cousins. We finally got home and settled about 8 pm. It was a great 2 day whirlwind and I'm really looking forward to next year!

Here are a few pictures from the last month:

These were taken at Prairie Creek and Swilly is sporting her "Queen Elizabeth" jacket!