14months post-op and 4months pregnant

I'm starting on a new journey. I am pregnant with our first child, due June 2012. I've wanted to share this news here for quite a while, but I kinda figured I needed to tell my family and my boss before telling this world (as I know there is a bit of overlap).

I was a bit nervous when we first found out (heck, I still am - this is a big change!), as I had assumed that I would be high-risk, due to my surgery. According to my doctor I am not high risk! I am young (25yrs now), and quite healthy (as I had to be in order to donate) and thus I am at the higher end of normal risk, but still normal.
I have to say, this was a bit of a relief to find out! They will still keep an extra eye on my blood pressure and do a bit of extra monitoring but other than that they anticipate this being a normal and healthy pregnancy.

Being pregnant did bring to mind all of the risks they warned me about prior to surgery - the increased risk of pre-eclampsia, hypertension, pre-term labor, and low birth weight. What I have been thinking about is that this 'increased risk' took me from less than 1% chance to less than 3%. Which means that I have a 97% chance of no complications.

This is one of those things - it's one thing when being pregnant is an abstract thought of something that may happen at some undetermined point in the future, and another when that second line comes up on the pregnancy test.
Granted, I am still early in the pregnancy, and June is still 6 months away, but from where I stand now, if I could know what I know now back then, I would totally do it all over again. I am young, I am healthy, and the 3% chance is still not enough to balance out the good the my kidney has done for someone else (and their family!).

I know this might be silly, but I kinda figure that since all the organs get squished and pushed out of the way, having only one kidney gives this kid some extra room to grow/move around.

I will continue to come back to this blog, to share updates on life with one kidney, and to let you know how being pregnant with one kidney is going. If I haven't posted, chances are that means things are going so well I don't really have anything to report.

I know this is a new can of worms, so please let me know if you have any questions on life with one kidney, the surgery, recovery, and now how it is having an impact on this new journey. I don't think I am the only person to get pregnant with one kidney, but in this new digital age, I may be one of the few that is willing to blog about the experience. If you would like me to post more frequent updates, let me know as well - I'm happy to post if it will help someone out there.

How are you doing?

I've had several comments from people that are going through the process of donating (either to someone they know, or in a non-directed way). How are you doing? Have you had your surgery yet? How are the tests going?
If you've had your surgery, how are you recovering? Was it what you expected it to be? How is the recipient (if known)?
Have you had any challenges or bumps along the road?
What has life been like for you? Including the reactions you have gotten from friends and family? Was it different post-op as compared to pre-op? I know it was for me!

I would love to hear how things are going with you.
It's been almost 7 months since my surgery, and life is great. It's very much back to the way it was before and some days I hardly think about it. All in all, life is great - and I have heard the recipient is still doing great.

Thanks again for reading and commenting - you guys are one of the reasons I started this blog to being with.

Update

I've been in touch with my Transplant Coordinator recently - they do post-op follow ups including a 24hr Blood Pressure test, additional blood and urine work, and a questionnaire regarding your health. Of course, me being me, I lost the questionnaire part and had to get in touch to get it resent. While I was chatting with my Transplant Coordinator I did inquire as to how the recipient was doing and they are doing very well... my kidney has not been rejected (I'm not sure they would tell me if it was, but it's good to know that it hasn't been) and they have recovered beautifully.

For whatever reason this almost made me cry. I know this person has a family and just knowing that they are not on dialysis and are able to live a normal life again... I feel really good about what I did.

From my end things are going really well. Life is back to normal in pretty much every way. I do make a point to watch what I am eating and to really keep the drinking to a minimum, but other than making those healthy choices life is as it was pre-donation.

The other thing that came out of my conversation with my Transplant Coordinator was that I am looking to get involved in the peer support program. I have been in touch with the Kidney Foundation and will be meeting with the peer support coordinator next time he is in town.

I know there are not a lot of anonymous donors out there (however the number is growing - yay!), and as such, not only have I offered myself to this program, but I will extend the same offer to anyone reading this. If there is anything you would like to know, any question you may have about the tests, the surgery, the post-op, what life is like, please do not hesitate to comment with questions. I promise to answer any question you may have regarding living organ donation. I know I was the first of this type in my city and as such the only support programs out there were based upon directed donations (typically friends or family), as were many of the questions/procedures. Personally, I was hesitant to connect with these other donors as prior to my decision to donate, I had no connection to kidney disease or organ donation and felt this was a major difference in the donation process.

Having gone through it, I know I would have loved to have spoken with another non-directed donor. Hence, my offer to you. I look forward to hearing from you.