Kidney dilation

aigarrett · December 2014

Hi all. I apologize in advance if someone has already posted a similar thread, but I am so upset and worried and wanted input from the community. We just had our 20 week ultrasound and the Dr. said our baby has mildly dilated kidneys (2mm). Has anyone else had a similar ultrasound result? I am so worried.

mp03jp · December 2014

Two other posts with pretty much the same thing so far:

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/comment/85924011/#Comment_85924011

and

https://forums.thebump.com/discussion/comment/85817505/#Comment_85817505

I hope those help

amalama · December 2014

Two of my sister's children have had dilated kidneys. Her son's was mild (I don't know numbers off hand but I think it was higher than 2), and it totally resolved on it's own. He had regular ultrasounds (I think every 6 months) until he was 3, and never needed any medical treatment for it beyond that.

My niece's numbers were higher and kept going up throughout the pregnancy, she ended up needing surgery after she was born for the blockage. She is 1 now and doing great, she will probably need to continue to have hers checked for longer than my nephew did, but they are hoping she won't need any more surgeries.

Did you doctor schedule extra ultrasounds for you? My sister had at least monthly ultrasounds, I think more as she got further along with my niece. I'm sure it's just something they will want to keep on eye on for now, if your doctor didn't go into any more detail with you than they probably aren't worried.

michiejeet · December 2014

Our baby had 4mm dilation, we were recommended to have the quad genetic screen blood test done to try and make the finding more definitive. The test came back negative, and we have been told not to worry. If they stay enlarged, baby may antibiotics after being born, but most cases resolve before birth, or within a year of being born. Apparently unless they are 5mm or larger they shouldn't be considered a concern... But as we know, any little thing can be a very big worry. Baby also had an echogenic bowel.. With was later deemed a non concern. I know it's so stressful waiting for results, but try not to worry and just create as many positive vibrations for your little bean. Whatever happens happens, nothing you to change anything right? Think positive, positive things happen

ElleMuffin · December 2014

PPs had great storiea about positive outcomes. Hoping for the same for your baby!

bubear · December 2014

We went through this with our first. His kidneys dilated when we had our 20 wks anatomy scan. We were told that it happens often with boys and they advised us to come back for another scan at 32 wks. Those 12 wks were the most stressful of my first pregnancy.. At 32 wks we came in for the scan and it turned out our son's kidneys were no longer dilated. Most of the time these things resolve by themselves. I know you must be worried and stressed out about this! I'm thinking of you!!

CorryS12 · December 2014

T&P your way. I have not dealt with this but I hope things turn out ok.

aigarrett · December 2014

Thank you for the advice and support. We have a follow up ultrasound in four weeks, so we are hoping and praying that it will show we have nothing to worry about. This community is such a great support.

EmLove61 · December 2014

We are experiencing the same thing. One of our baby's kidneys is at 5mm.

I was so freaked out at first especially when our doctor mentioned doing the quad screen, however we opted out of that. Our little one has no other signs of Downs or anything else.
And really the main reason we decided not to do further testing is because of the fact that false positives are so common, thus could stress us out possibly for no reason.

We have another ultra sound in a few weeks (4 weeks after 20 week US) to check if the kidney is better. I talked to two nurses (one who is a good honest friend of mine) that both said it is very common and almost always resolves on its own. My nurse friend said she has never seen it turn into an issue. That made me feel SO much better!

Hopefully all works out for the both of us and that we have safe and healthy babies!! Best wishes to you!

aigarrett · December 2014

@emilyjmeier, your post made me breathe a small sigh of relief! Thank you! And sending best wishes to you and your little one.

rivieramaya · December 2014

I don't have any experience but T&P's for your baby!

sbride68 · December 2014

We are experiencing this as well with our little girl. It was discovered at the 21 week a/s. They have us scheduled to have another us on jan 21st so we will see if it has cleared itself up then. The nurse assured me that it normally clears itself up but of course with LO being our first I am naturally extremely worried. They said everything else looks great though. We had opted out of genetic screening too due to chances of false positives. I am just trying to stay calm until the next us. Hopefully all of our babies that are experiencing this clear up on their own and we all have healthy happy babies.

TaraW524 · December 2014

My first son had this! They monitored him via ultrasound every 6 months and it eventually cleared up on his own! I'm on my 3rd pregnancy now. Baby boy 2 didn't have this and so far they see nothing on this baby either. I have heard it's more common with boys. We took the wait and see approach and it was fine! He was cleared at 3 years old. Good luck!

odawg · January 2015

Is it 2mm over normal? My little one has one mid dilation (at19weeks) but shes 4.9. I was informed and researched anything under 4mm is considered on track,4 to 10 is mild and 10up is hypo dialation. Again, as most said apparently this resolves itself which is super exciting. Apparently tons of families go through this since the past 5 years ultrasounds have become super awesome. Most of this stuff would not have been seen unless it was very obvious so we all freak out because we dont many people personally who have had it. I think my ddoctrssaid like 1 in 50 20 week ultrasounds get this result. Hope all goes well!

EmLove61 · January 2015

EmLove61 said:
We are experiencing the same thing. One of our baby's kidneys is at 5mm.

I was so freaked out at first especially when our doctor mentioned doing the quad screen, however we opted out of that. Our little one has no other signs of Downs or anything else.
And really the main reason we decided not to do further testing is because of the fact that false positives are so common, thus could stress us out possibly for no reason.

We have another ultra sound in a few weeks (4 weeks after 20 week US) to check if the kidney is better. I talked to two nurses (one who is a good honest friend of mine) that both said it is very common and almost always resolves on its own. My nurse friend said she has never seen it turn into an issue. That made me feel SO much better!

Hopefully all works out for the both of us and that we have safe and healthy babies!! Best wishes to you!

Quoting myself here but at our follow-up it was found that our baby's kidney had actually gotten a little bit bigger

my Doctor now suggested another follow up with a specialist and genetic counselor...I'm stressed all over again! We don't have that appointment for 6 more weeks...6 more weeks of worry.

ElleMuffin · January 2015

Hoping the appointment goes well and that the next 6 weeks go by quickly. We had to get genetic testing done for my oldest when he was 4 and even that was brutal , I cant imagine what you must be feeling. Please know that you and your baby are in my thoughts ans prayers

EmLove61 · January 2015

Thank you @ElleMuffin‌!!

Mari621 · January 2015

Like the other women have said most cases the dilation resolves on its own. My son was born with only his left kidney and it was dilated. We did an amnio and everything checked out fine with it. When he was born he had a test called a VCUG. That test determined that he had reflux (vesicoureteral reflux) of urine from him bladder up into to his kidney. This makes kids more prone to to UTI's. Because we knew this when he was only a couple of days old he was stared on prophylaxis antibiotics daily to prevent a UTI. Good thing is that he never had a breakthrough infection. He has had 6-12 month ultrasounds of bladder/kidney and yearly VCUG. At his 2nd year testing his reflux got worse so we ended up having surgery to protect his one kidney from further damage. Most kids grow out of the VUR but if they have reoccurring UTI's or high grade reflux then they opt for daily antibiotics or surgery. If you met my son you would never know he had these issues. My baby has bilateral 4.5/4.6 dilation. He may or may not grow out of it before he is born but either way he will have a VCUG prior to going home due to the fact that if a sibling has it it is more likely that the next child will. If anyone has specific questions please feel free to PM me! Don't stress out too much about this. Most of it is monitoring during and after birth.

sbride68 · January 2015

We got the results of our last us last week and baby girl's kidneys have resolved themselves and are perfectly normal now!

best news ever!!! Fx for op and anyone else going through this!

aigarrett · February 2015

So glad to hear some people have had some positive updates! Unfortunately, our little guy went from 2mm dilated to 4mm. We have yet another follow up u/a at 33 weeks...back to the waiting/worry game

sbride68 · February 2015

Fx for you and praying for positive results!

29katy11 · February 2015

I went for my 20 week scan the begining of january and was told the same thing had a follow up scan 2 days later . After two days of worrying myself sick I was told everything was fine and it must of just been on the day. I was told that if they still saw a problem they would re scan at 30 weeks but by this time most babies kidneys were at what they should be and if

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