MOMS follow up, Day 1

Nate and I made our way to Nashville yesterday after church. Nate is such a big boy and so cooperative (most of the time) these days, so he's pretty fun to travel with. It's also a good thing he walks so well in his walker now--otherwise I would have been in big trouble trying to carry our bags and everything into the hotel! But he walked right in, getting lots of attention as usual. He's like a little celebrity wherever he goes. :) We went to dinner with my friends Kathryn and Scott and their two boys, so dinner was mayhem but really fun.

This morning we had breakfast at the buffet downstairs, and I couldn't believe how much Nate ate. He had a plate full of eggs, bacon, waffle, potatoes, and fruit, and I think he ate every bite. Then we headed over to the hospital, and I took a risk and didn't even take the stroller in! He just walked the whole time! Getting into the elevator, he was waving at everyone saying, "Hi, friends!" Ah, I just love him.

Nate first had his urodynamics test in the urology office. I put a little hospital gown on him and pulled out his Thomas movie. Turns out this was a life saver! I actually had to leave the room since I'm pregnant and the test requires radiation, but Nate was oblivious to me being gone with Thomas on the tv.

Time for the pee talk. So first they catheterized him to empty his bladder, and there was very little of anything in his bladder, which is a very good thing. That means that he must be emptying his bladder pretty well, also evidenced by the fact that he's never had a bladder infection or UTI. Next, they filled his bladder with fluid to see how it reacted. They were able to see that the bladder was very healthy as it filled up--it's very round and flexible, and it expands as necessary. And it didn't leak. All very good news. The problem is that once the bladder gets that full, most people get a little uncomfortable and then their brain signals for their bladder to empty. Nate didn't empty. They thought maybe it was cause of the catheter, so they took it out and put his diaper on him to see if he would pee. He peed a little, but didn't empty all the way.

What does all this mean? I don't really know. If he had a bad problem with not emptying well, we would have seen bladder infections by now. The doctor told me that Nate is one of those kids on the fence--he has really good sensation, but something is not quite right. So he recommended that we continue with the potty training to see what he can do. Maybe he can learn to push out the urine. Worst case scenario, at some point he'll start cathing every few hours just so he can stay dry and wear big boy undies, but that wouldn't be for a couple of more years. We think he has a good chance of potty training, but even if he doesn't, it's not the end of the world. He has a healthy bladder and kidneys, and that is awesome!

Next we went downstairs, where Nate could play with this huge model train set in the lobby, and he loved it so much that it was hard to finally pull him away. He had a renal ultrasound (looks at the bladder again and the kidneys) and he did really well. At first he fussed, but I got him talking about all the pictures on the walls, and he was cooperative. I don't have the results back from that yet, but he has had those every 6 months of his life and there's never been a problem so I don't foresee bad news with this one at all.

We went to have lunch in the cafe and met up with another couple who has a son with spina bifida who we had briefly met earlier in the uro office, so we had a nice chat during lunch. About this time Nate was getting really tired and cranky, so I pulled out his portable DVD player, and he was happy as a clam. He actually laid down on a couch with his movie while I had to do some surveys with our MOMS nurse, Mary.

Now we're back at the hotel, and Nate is napping at 5 pm, but I just hate to wake him up. We'll probably just go out to dinner and come back to the hotel to get things ready for tomorrow and hang out watching TV (and playing with trains). I'll update tomorrow night.