I'm 22 weeks and was told at my 20 w ultrasound that my baby has a 2 vessel cord. I go see a perinatolgist Thursday to have another ultrasound. I'm so glad i found this site and to learn that this is not uncommon. I'm still nervous, but I'm glad I'm not alone! ↑
hi, i have had (2) pregnancys with a 2 vessel cord. i was terrified when i heard the news with the first one. the doctor didnt give me much info. both of my children were born healthy. and just a so info that may be usefull, with both pregnancys the kidneys were enlarged with the 2 vessel cord, it goes down after birth, and is very common witth boys, noone told me this until they were born. it is stressful, but, it seems to be more common than we know. good luck to everyone:) ↑
my girlfriend had a 2 vessel cord and had about 7 ultrasounds, he was born w/only one kidney.and its only working at 30%. why didnt they see he only had one.from what ive found the kidneys are very easy to see. ↑
My daughter was born 10/21/05. She is perfect. She does have what they call urine reflux and swelling on the other kidney. The doctors are being very aggressive and are treating with hopes she will grow out of it. They have given her amoxicillin to prevent kidney infections. Although it seems as if we have problems, she is just wonderful sweet baby who is now 10lbs after 4 weeks and seems to be growing and loving and I couldn't have asked for a better gift!!! Good Luck and keep the faith!!! ↑
I am now 39 weeks and have just found out the our baby girl has two vessel cord and nobody will give me the information that we need to deal with this not even the hospital. I have got more off here then 5 doctors and 3 hospitals thankyou this is a start! ↑
Last week at 19 weeks I went in to have my scan and the midwife has just called to say everything looks fine but that the scan could only detect one umbilical artery and one vein when usually there is two umbilical arteries and one vein...apparently sometimes there is a link with defects, particularly the heart or kidneys. I'm sure much of the time there is nothing to worry about but I have been advised to have another scan at 28 weeks to check the baby is growing well. I am a natural worrier and worse than ever since this news and since I had a missed miscarriage with my previous (and only other) pregnancy. Reading the posts here has been helpful but I would love any other advice, reassurance, truth. The midwife said they used not to even tell mothers this as it so rarely is a problem. I guess I am just stressing that she was not telling the truth in that she said everything else was okay. I guess I have also had a huge education in that I thougt thte reason they did scans at 19/20 weeks was that if there was a problem it would have made itself obvious now, whereas now I know lots of problems still can develop. I wish I was religious so I could pray for a healthy baby. ↑
At my 19 week scan last week and the midwife has just called to say everything looks fine but that the scan could only detect one umbilical artery and one vein when usually there is two umbilical arteries and one vein........apparently sometimes there is a link with defects, particularly the heart or kidneys. I'm sure much of the time there is nothing to worry about but I have been advised to have another scan at 28 weeks to check the baby is growing well. I am a natural worrier and worse than ever since this news and since I had a missed miscarriage with my previous (and only other) pregnancy. ↑
i found out I was diganosed with toxoplasmois and today they stuck my stomach with the needle and i was so scared for nothing. It didn't hurt but the thought of a needle piercing your stomach is scary. My son will be fine because of this test. ↑
I just wanted to respond to the above 2 posts, Josh, thanks for your response, I am sorry your son's health is not the best but I wanted to say to everyone else who may have heard they have a SUA I have spoken at length with my doctor and a midwife about this and in the vast majority of cases there are no issues at all especially when everything else looks fine on the ultrasound. My docotr referred to it as "a variation of normal" and the midwife siad heaps of SUA are not discovered until helathy baby is born and cord is analysed after birth. Ther point being it is not necessarily something to worry about even though the info you can get on the net, can be scary. If youm want to see more on this subject, inclduing heaps of information from people whose babies were SUA and in the huge majority are fine, go to BabyCenter and search on a thread called BBS - Placental Disorders - Single Umbilical Artey (2 vessel cord). It is very helpful and for those of you who may be worried it is great to read so many posts about positive outcomes from a SUA diagnosis.
But I appreciate Josh's input. I would suggest if you are angry with a possible withholding of information during an ultrasound, that you complain to the hospital or organisation that provided it. Lisa, your post is nothing to do with this thread, I am glad your baby is fine though. ↑
I agree about the lack of information out there about this issue for the general public. There are quite a few medical articles, however these are over the head of the general public for the most part. Many health care practitioners, unfortunately don't paint an accurate picture of this situation as well because they know what a serious diagnosis this can be and they don't want to worry patients. This may be deceptive, but in a way it is humane.
It is difficult ot tell the outcomes because the whole situation is like "what came first, the chicken or the egg?"
So many of these babies born with cord abnormalities may have been concieved with defects or they could have developed due to the toxin build up due to lack of one artery. And there aren't enough prospective studies to make a strong correlation regarding learning disabilities and subsequent health problems as the child gets older.
As with parents who smoked during pregnancy years ago before the dangers were know; did these individuals have sequelae that was undiagnosed i.e. learning disabilities, "unhearty" health, low energy etc.
I do think that there should be more research as to the posibility of vessel transplant to facilitate waste removal for the fetus. ↑
Just wantefd to share my experience. My daughter was born with a two vessel cord. She is now almost 9 years old and is perfect in almost every way. She does still have a problem with not being able to hold her urine for long, not sure if it has anything to do with the cord issue though. We are going to have it checked it out soon. ↑
Hi guys - just another update, I have now had 2 ultrasounds and both have shown that the heart and kidneys (which are the most likely sites of abnormalities) appear just fine. Thank you Nikki for your story of yet another healthy SUA baby. I'm sure the doctor will tell you that the toilet issue is nothing to do with SUA and that it will resolve itself in time. My cousin had a similar problem as a child and he is just fine now, in that area and all others. Wolfin, thanks for your input. Are you a doctor or a health professional? I agree that perhaps some doctors do not advise patients of issues like this, however I can also see from my own research on the net (the articles did not go over my head, I can assure you) and from further consultation with my doctor and others who have been diagnosed with SUA, that is is a problem sometimes, but many SUA babies are born healthy and hearty just as there are many babies born with all manner of problems who had a "normal" cord. The reason I was advised to get a second ultrasound was the possibility of problems with heart and kidney due to SUA and also the possibility of IUGR (growth retardation) due to insufficient cord. As it turns out after scans of the heart and kidneys, as well as limbs, fingers, toes, stomach, bladder head etc, everything appears normal and baby is actually in the top 97th percentile for growth for its age. Good luck to all you new mums and dads who have just heard you have an SUA pregnancy, but it doesn't mean bad news necessarily. ↑
Just an update....my little boy was born Dec. 28th - and is just perfect. We did go in to have an ultrasound done on his kidneys and they are functioning normally. To all of you dealing with this for the first time, try not to get too freaked out by what you find online. The majority of babys with 2-vessel cords are just fine. ↑
At our 19 week scan this week we found we've got a 2-vessel cord too (I'm 39 - increasing maternal age is a risk factor). After looking at the latest research I've settled my anxiety a little (85% of babies are normal - the rest may have congenital +/- chromosomal problems). The scan showed an otherwise healthy male fetus. They advised we have another scan at 32 weeks to check for IUGR (intrauterine growth retardation). I'm seeing my GP next week and will ask for another detailed scan at 24 weeks to check that our little boy is doing OK in everyway possible - and if he ain't, it will give us time to adjust to what to expect. We've declined all the standard earlier tests (nuchal/ AFP/ amnio etc) as we can't change the outcome if they're abnormal (we'll take our baby as he comes) and I didn't want any invasive tests or tests that came back with false positives. Praying for all your beautiful babies, and ours! ↑
Just found out my daughter has two vessels..i go for the fetal echocardiogram on tuesday. Readin gall these stories of people having children that are fine really helps. ↑
I was diagnosed yesterday after our 19wk ultrasound with a two vessel umbilical cord also, and have been worrying ever since. The medical information certainly seems to be concerning, so it is nice to hear some positive stories and feedback about SUA to balance it all out. We have a secondary scan next week just to check again that there are no associated abnormalities, and hopefully all will be ok. Fingers crossed for our baby and each of yours. ↑
Hi Melissa, I have been looking on here hoping to see someone else with a similar situation. how did your secondary scan go? I am 31 weeks and just found out yesterday from a 4d ultrasound that we have sua. I have been so worried ever since! Everything else looked good except for that and I have some excess fluid. I hope you are doing ok--I have read lots of posts from other forums and seems they never had problems, I would love to hear from you, its nice talking to someone going through the same thing! ↑
i had posted a while back and delivered a healthy 7 lb. baby girl. they did a renal ultrasound when she was born and did discover one of her kidneys was slightly enlarged. i don't know if this is related to the 2 vessel cord because i do know other babies that have the same thing having a normal umbilical cord. but she is taking antibiotics every day to prevent a UTI. the pediatric urologist said that in most cases this will just fix itself as she gets older. but other than that, she is completely healthy. ↑
My EKG went great today, dr said everything looks normal with her heart =) Good luck with everything ladies. Try not to read too much online about this... babycenter bbs have a great support section for moms pregnant with two vessels. Try checking it out sometime. Its in the pregnancy complication section...placental disorders. Good luck. ↑
Our little girl was born on 3/08 with a two vessel cord. Everything appears to be normal at this point except for her hearing. She has failed the hearing tests 3 times. We go tomorrow for a more detailed hearing screen that takes @ 11/2 hrs as well as an ultra sound for the kidneys. We feel pretty sure that the kidneys will be fine but are really worried about the hearing. We had numerous ultrasounds during the pregnancy, does anyone know if that is a contributor to hearing loss? ↑
Dear Chris, Congrats on the arrival of your little girl. From my internet reading, the main problems most often linked to SUA are heart and kidney problems. I've read some reports of hearing problems but thought it was a typo (hear versus heart). I hope that your little girl will be OK. All the best! ↑
We had our 24 week scan today and it went VERY WELL. We still have the 2-vessel cord, but otherwise bub is beautiful, active and growing and developing right on track. No signs of anomalies, so hopefully Trisomy 18 is out of the picture. Growth scan and OB review in 6 weeks. ↑
Thanks so much to everyone that has written about there experience!!!
I'm 21 years old and my fiancee and I are both really worried since I found out that our baby has a two vesssel cord. I was told I have strep b bacteria a month ago on the same day I went for the ultrasound and thought everything went fine. At my midwife apt, she told me that our baby only has two vessels and is about a week behind in size. Which makes no sense to me since I've gained 20 lbs. Im just wondering if anyone has any sites that helped them get some more information, I've found everything to be lacking. Thanks and best wishes to everyone!! ↑
Hi Amy A - just do a google search on two vessel cord or single umbilical artery and you'll learn heaps. Try to ignore the bad reports because chances are your baby will be fine. And I'll pray that your midwife/ob are able to give you the reassurance that you need (although I found it lacking at my end, probably mainly thanks to my age - 39). ↑
