Final Visit

Our last visit with Dr Sangalli was last Thursday 5th April 2012 at the MFM clinic in Wellington.

After our last visit with Dr Tuohy at 28 weeks I was really confident that we would walk in there, get the scan done and be sent on our merry way to let nature take its course and deliver in Masterton. Oh how wrong I was!

The scan started off really well, we had a student sonographer which didn't bother me at all - until she went to get a college to get a second opinion...... The experienced sonographer came and picked up where the student left off and had a troubled look on her face. It was then I knew something else wasn't right. The sonographer advised that it looked as though the baby had a blockage in its ureter (the tube that carries urine from the kidney to the bladder) but she wasn't 100% sure and she wanted the specialist to have a look.

We then sat in the waiting room for what seemed like an eternity (really it was about 45 minutes) before we got called in. You can always tell the severity of a meeting by the amount of people in the meeting. There was our specialist, an obstetrician, an intern, the head specialist wife midwife and me and Cody.

Dr Sangalli is really lovely, he always makes sure to start the meetings off really positively and asks how I am doing throughout the pregnancy etc. Secretly I am thinking just get to the bloody point!

He starts off with the good news first, the cystic kidney has not gotten worse - in fact it has improved slightly in that the cysts have gone (this is good because it means there is nothing there to get infected) so this means the kidney is just a dud piece of tissue.

The bad news? This kidney also has a Ureterocele which is swelling at the bottom of one of the tubes (ureters) that carry urine from the kidney to the bladder. The swollen area can block urine flow. Now my first question was "well that doesn't matter because that kidney doesn't work anyway!" the Dr then goes on to say that this indicates that potentially a piece of the cystic kidney is still functioning because if it wasn't at all there would be no urine to cause the blockage. Great.

And the treatment for Ureterocele? Surgery.

Due to this issue the Dr then goes on to advise that he wants me to deliver in Wellington, as soon as those words left his lips I could feel my eyes tear up - they must of seen it to because the midwife left the room and came back with a box of tissues. I’m not 100% sure why this news upset me as much as it did. I held it together for the scan outcome and then he mentions me delivering there and I lose it. I guess it was because we had a plan, and delivering in Wellington was not part of that plan - but wait it gets worse. He then goes on to advise that a complication of this condition is infection and irreparable kidney damage, because of this he doesn’t want to risk me delivering in Masterton so will be inducing me in 2 weeks! (1 week before due date)

Induction and C-Section were the 2 main parts of labour I wanted to avoid like the plague. Everyone I know who has had an induction ended up with a C-section. Induction is such an invasive procedure and goes against everything I have read on pregnancy and labour.

But what will be will be. The Dr didn’t seem to have much confidence in the Masterton Maternity teams so wants me in Wellington in fear of being 'lost in the system'. I mean, it’s great that we will have the best possible care and that they know our history when I arrive, but it does mean that my dream of a nice natural water birth are totally out the window. Baby will need to be monitored very closely and with its now 2 existing health concerns they don’t want to risk it.

Being in Wellington is such an inconvenience for us. In Masterton we are literally 2 minutes from the hospital. If I have forgotten something, if Cody needs a sleep etc he can pop home. Being in Wellington means being overly prepared for everything, packing up bags, arranging childcare (for the fur-babies) Cody will also need accommodation sorted - the list goes on. Pros? Family travelling from out of town can book flights and arrange coming up/down to see baby. It also gives us a due date which is mega exciting! (although really baby could come any day now!)

How do I feel about the whole thing? Like Shite. I know being in Wellington is the best place for me and Baby and I should be grateful we have a baby at all - so many couples are dying to have a baby and here I am moaning about ' inconvenience'. But this is our first baby, my first pregnancy - everything is supposed to be sunshine and roses.

Again I am left with more questions than answers and there are still so many 'could be's' could be's don’t help me sleep at night!

In one week we will travel over to Wellington, the next day I will give birth to our baby....the rest is in god’s hands....