Single Umbilical Cord (SUA)

joneka · April 2015

I went to have my A/S at 18 weeks....My umbilical cord has one artery and one vein. I was told not to worry as it is an abnormality yet not super uncommon ( 1 in 3). Baby will be monitored more closely to ensure proper growth, but he looks great at each ultrasound. Does anyone else have an abnormal umbilical cord? Have you had any problems, pre-term birth, preventative measures during pregnancy?

lisadonnalley · April 2015

I have SUA as well. No problems yet, I am 22 weeks.

kaseyeck110 · April 2015

I just found out yesterday I have SUA as well. Of course I am totally freaking out but the doctor just suggested I go get an ultrasound at a different hospital because the ultrasound that caught the abnormality was due to an emergency room visit and it wasn't my "official" ultrasound. I was curious to other moms experiencing this as well.

ashleywuli · April 2015

My good friend had this and she delivered a healthy baby boy! He was boy at 36 weeks and 5 days I believe. Good luck mamas!

brizer21 · May 2015

I had this in my first pregnancy and the baby was fine. We were seen at high risk to make sure growth was okay. My water ended up breaking at 35 weeks but baby was healthy and no labor complications.

So far I have 3 vessels with this pregnancy so we will see. I guess sometimes a vessel can clot off. They are monitoring me closely with this baby since I had no early labor signs before my water breaking but my doctor did tell me it could've been due to the cord.

Good luck!

innerbmom · May 2015

I had that with my youngest son. I got to see him more often on ultrasounds. He was perfectly healthy. I had to convince my Dr to induce me at 39 weeks. Otherwise he would have let me go full term. My mom was going to Hawaii on a preplanned trip and I wanted her to be there.

allielee2011 · May 2015

My son had a two vessel cord. I had to be monitored pretty closely to keep a check on his growth, fluid levels and had a fetal echocardiogram. Also dr thought a c-section would be best to not put stress on the baby. He weighed 9 lb 2 oz and is now a happy and chunky 7 week old! Don't google! You only see the worst case scenarios. That's the best advice I can give you! Ha

mac-n-cheesy · May 2015

I just found this after posting a few minutes ago. I was told my baby/I have this today and given NO counseling or explanation on anything related to the issue. I have a science background, so m first instinct was to seek out peer-reviewed articles published in scientific journals--my degree is in molecular, cellular and developmental biology--and they left me in tears. Your anecdotes above have somewhat calmed my nerves and I'm so thankful you ladies replied to the OP. I'm not a bit less on edge but still worried out of my mind.

joneka · June 2015

@lynem29 I am sorry that your Doctor did not go into a detailed explanation to ease your mind. I would not google because it will have you on edge for no reason. My advice is either speak to your doctor in detail at your next appointment, or find another Doctor that you feel more comfortable with that has a better bedside manner. I know having a educational background, we tend to want to "fact check", but there is so much information out there that might not pertain to your particular case, that you can end up exhausted, and overwhelmed for nothing.

Like I said in my original post, it is an abnormality, but it not uncommon. I am currently 28 weeks+5 days, and all ultrasounds continue to be great!

mac-n-cheesy · June 2015

@joneka thank you for the advice. I switched OB's and am now at Kaiser and my doctor there is amazing! He immediately knew I had a science background based on my questions and was able to communicate with me in a very straightforward and informative way. He could tell I'm a very proactive person and said he would allow so many ultrasounds if it put my mind at ease I'd be sick of them

Also, he was on the same page with the fetal echo, and weekly/twice a week monitoring and NST's once I hit 30 weeks. I'm 14w and still underweight for my height not accounting for the fact that I'm pregnant too so he said I'll need to be followed more closely to make sure I'm getting enough nutrients for the baby (my BMI was in the high 16's pre-pregnancy and I have HG so it's been a rough combination).
@joneka it's very reassuring to know that your pregnancy is going well even with the abnormality. I can only hope to experience the same.

heethers · June 2015

Full disclosure...I'm a pediatrician (and pregnant). You are all right, this is very common and does not usually cause any ill effects for babies. You do want to ask for a kidney ultrasound on the baby after delivery though because (rare) there can be some structural kidney problems that aren't always picked up prenatally. The majority of these cause NO problems for the baby, but are good to be aware of. A lot of moms don't even know the cord only has two vessels until after delivery, so don't let it stress you out too much!!

mac-n-cheesy · June 2015

@heethers thank you so much for your reply it is very reassuring. I'm so scared of baby having a congenital heart defect, kidney problems, urinary tract issues or IUGR later on. Your post calmed me crazy nerves a bit and I appreciate that.

libbysroka · June 2015

I am 21 weeks and told yesterday I also had this. The doctor said that everything else on the scan looked perfect and released me back to my normal OB . I was sent there for my ultrasound because I am 38! Just scared and having a hard time being excited about my baby GIRL news! All the what if's are killing me. I hope if he had seen other soft markers or areas of concern he would have said something

mac-n-cheesy · June 2015

@libbysroka it is scary to hear especially since it's something that I wasn't even aware was a possibility. Hopefully everything else looks great and you are one of the majority of women that this has a minimal impact on as my OB has mentioned! Congratulations and finding out you are having a little girl

Since it's something we literally can do nothing to help, I've tried to calm myself a little about it and just make sure I'm eating really healthy nutrient-dense foods and following up with my doctors and pushing for every available extra monitoring, US, and test. I'm only 15w but I am seeing my doctor, his NP, or the perinatologist every week.
I'm sure if you were released back to your normal OB that you and baby are in good shape!

aggiebaby787 · July 2015

So glad to hear these success stories. I have been freaking out! I just need to pray and trust God. These post are reassuring! Thanks ladies.

erincjackson · August 2015

I'm so glad that I found this thread. We just found out baby has a SUA this week at my MFM appt. I've never experienced anything like this or known anyone who has experienced with it. So we are relying on the research we've done and trusting our Doctors to guide us through the rest of this pregnancy. I am 18+1 and waiting on Panarama results to come back. We have a follow up sono in 4 weeks and then a fetal echocardiogram at 24 weeks. Then monitoring will depend on the results, but looking at weekly NST/ bio physical profiles starting 3rd tri. We have 3 perfectly healthy kids so being hopeful that baby #4 will be just fine also.

blueyz71978 · August 2015

I am 20 weeks and found out a week ago that my my baby boy has a two vessel umbilical cord. They wanted me to make an appointment with a high risk pregnancy Dr, but didn't tell me much else. Of course I was freaking out and doing way to much online research which didn't help my nerves. I had my appointment yesterday and there doesn't seem to be anything wrong. He has a very strong heartbeat and is estimated at about a pound already. I will have more frequent ultrasounds so that they can monitor baby and I more closely.

erincjackson · August 2015

@blueyz71978 that is great news about your lo. The frequent monitoring sounds pretty common amongst us other mommas.

jennlo11203 · September 2015

I'm 25 weeks and found out at my 20 week scan that baby had a 2 vessel cord and a pelvis kidney with cysts. Anyone have experience with a pelvis kidney? The two are associated. The 2 vessel cord can affect the kidney or the heart and in my case it was the kidney. We won't know until baby is born if it's a functioning kidney or not.

mac-n-cheesy · September 2015

My LO has a two vessel cord too but they did not find any abnormalities with the kidneys or heart. From my understanding having a two vessel cord/SUA can be associated with a chromosomal abnormality or heart/kidney defects (or in my case the cord is the only abnormality and it's called an "isolated" SUA). The association between the cord abnormality and the heart/kidney defects are due to their initial development all being timed right around the same time.
I hope that your baby is born healthy and the kidney is functioning. Most SUA babies are born completely healthy so you do have statistics on your side.

jennlo11203 · September 2015

Thank you. That's exactly with the dr said. They also said that baby can live a totally normal life with just one kidney. Just can't play any intense spots. It's just really stressful and kind of takes the fun out of being pregnant.

mac-n-cheesy · September 2015

@jennlo11203 I was going to mention as well in my original reply that even if one kidney is not functioning your LO can lead a completely normal life and would just likely have to make a few lifestyle modifications to stay healthy--just didn't want to seem like I was minimizing the fact that one might not be functioning because I know no matter what it still would be hard to cope with.
I know personally I'd be more scared with a heart defect because there is no back up. I don't think any of us are in the clear, per se, until delivery and monitoring after our LO's are born. I was given the "looks good" after our fetal echo but that it couldn't catch every single small problem that could occur. I worry to this day!
Just glad that my LO went from 33rd to 42nd percentile from week 19 to week 26. The IUGR risk was of big concern because I started underweight and still haven't gained much despite being 28w today.
It's a lot of worrying involved but I think it's also a sign of strength to be able to cope with such an "out of our control" situation with patience and resilience.

AWPH · September 2015

I just gave birth on the 30th of August to a healthy baby boy who had Two Vessel cord umbilical cord.. He was on the smaller side but so was my first who is extremely healthy. He has zero issues with kidneys and growth wise is doing very well. I did give birth vaginally and unlike my first pregnancy my water broke at my house and two hours later hug rant was born. Barely made it upstairs and on the bed before I delivered. So my labor was extremely stressful on him and so they watched him for a couple days to make sure all was ok.. He is home, loves his food and is very vocal.

mac-n-cheesy · September 2015

Thank you @AWPH for the positive birth story and sharing your outcome. I'm hoping to avoid a c-section too though my doc has said having the two-vessel cord can increase the risk of fetal distress so it's kind of just "wait and see."
Glad you and your LO are doing so well!!

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