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High-Risk Pregnancy
Single Umbilical Artery/Two Vessel Cord...any advice?
I was recently diagnosed with a SUA ( Single Umbilical Artery), and wondering if anyone else has experience with this? Most cases turn out fine, but I am still so worried! I am 21 weeks now. Any input is appreciated :-)
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Re: Single Umbilical Artery/Two Vessel Cord...any advice?
I was diagnosed with this at my anatomy scan at 22 weeks. There are a few things that they look at with the single umbilical artery:
1) Kidney and heart defects. Occasionally, a SUA can be caused by a birth/genetic defect, in which there is only 1 kidney, partial kidneys, or heart problems. If you haven't already had your anatomy scan, they will check closely for all of these things, and may also refer you to a specialist for a more detailed scan.
2) The SUA can cause growth issues, so most likely your OB will keep an eye on baby's growth throughout your pregnancy.
However, I have this - and baby is perfect
They referred me to a specialist who did a detailed anatomy scan, and said all looks well. They always double check her kidneys/heart at each growth scan (I've just had my 2nd one, they do mine about once a month). At first baby girl was only in the 37th percentile for my gestation, but today she measured in the 50th! Of course, I'm on modified bedrest for a completely different issue, and they attribute some of her growth to that. BUT, basically, just go with what your OB/specialist says, and relax!
My midwife sent me to the high risk doctor to check her heart (as per the normal course of a diabetes pregnancy) and at the peri was diagnosed with an SUA.
I had a follow up fetal echocardiogram with a pediatric cardiologist and babygirl's heart is perfect. She also has two kidneys and a bladder.
Sometimes SUAs can be associated with a slightly higher risk of Down's Syndrome. Try not to google, though, because you will scare the pants off of yourself.
Diabetes can cause bigger babies and the SUA can cause smaller babies. I'm hoping the two work together to give me an average baby
I was dx with SUA at the anatomy scan and I also have diabetes (type 1), I was wondering what size the baby will turn out to be too. Maybe she won't end up being too big
Otherwise my doctor said he would mostly be checking on her growth with a few more additional U/S later in pregnancy and some NSTs as well (which I was going to get anyway because of the diabetes). My doctor didn't seem too concerned so I've been trying to follow his lead and relax.
I decided it was best NOT to google this, far too many scary things out there!
SUA now scares the sh*t out of me (don't read on if you are looking for a happy ending)
I had SUA with Madeline. I was diagnosed at 18 weeks at our anatomy scan, went to a specialist at 19 weeks, where they said that it is a soft marker for tri18 but they didn't think my baby had tri18. my pregnancy was considered normal still at that point because EVERYTHING else was normal. They discussed the possibility of doing an amnio, which we declined because of the risks; however, we scheduled another appointment with them for 30 weeks and told them that if they felt an amnio was necessary then we would do it then. At the 30 week appointment the only concern was the small size of the baby so I had to go back at 34 weeks. In those 4 weeks the baby gained less then half a pound and went from being in the 16th percentile to the less than 1 percentile but EVERYTHING else looked perfectly normal. At that point I was considered high risk because of the babies size and the SUA. I had to go for nonstress tests and ultrasounds twice a week to check on everything. All looked great at every appointment. Then one day my kick counts weren't what they should have been. I went to the hospital and gave birth to a beautiful baby girl with trisomy 18. Her heart was the size of her chest cavity and was restricting one of her lungs; all of her heart valves were deteriorating. We went to the hospital that day prepared to bring home a perfectly healthy baby and left planning a funeral. She lived for 5 days. Never came home.
NOW the chances of this happening to you are like 1 in a million. SUA is found in 1 out of 100 pregnancies. I just happened to be every statistic that went along with SUA (1 in 100 out of another 1 in 100 out of another 1 in 100).
Talk with a genetics councelor if your insurance will cover it and if one is available to you. They can tell you about all of the statistics. Don't listen to stories you read on google...infact, stay away from googling anything the doctor tells you. You'll just scare yourself with a bunch of false information.
Actually as far as Trisomy18 goes, DH and I got very lucky. Most babies don't make it out of the 1st trimester. Those that do make it through rarely make it to term and most who do make it to term are still born and most of those who are born alive don't live past the first 24 hours. we were given 5 whole days.
Like I said, not wanting to scare you, just wanting to share my story with you. We are pregnant again (11wks along) and so far everything looks good. We're not considered high risk but are going for a bunch of extra testing (still against the amnio--just not willing to take the risk)