We received some good news about Noel today. Most of you probably don't know that, three days before my scheduled c-section, I had an ultrasound to check the baby's size, and during that ultrasound, the technician noted that there was some extra fluid on the baby's right kidney. Since birth, Noel has been on prophylactic antibiotics, and we were waiting for him to have an abdominal ultrasound and VCUG (an x-ray, essentially) to determine the severity of the hydronephrosis. He had those tests on Friday morning. Noel did really well during the whole process, and even Dominick was remarkably well-behaved, except when he twice pushed the power button on the huge x-ray machine. (Who decided to make the power button red and put it at toddler level?)

Fortunately, Noel's case is mild, so he can stop taking the antibiotics as of today. There's nothing else we need to do right now. In six months, he'll have another ultrasound. I'd asked the doctor what would have happened if I had not had that ultrasound late in my pregnancy, and she said there are probably lots of kids who have level 1 or level 2 hydronephrosis but don't know it. Those mild cases are generally outgrown without intervention. A good description of the condition can be found here.

After reading this information, I started getting worried about what could happen, so I was very relieved to hear the test results today. This uncertainty had been hanging over us for 5 1/2 weeks, but now it's gone.