Single Umbilical Artery

[Anonymous]

Does anyone have experience with this? This was detected at my anatomy scan and while the doctor said not to worry too much about it of course I read up on it online and am terrified of the horrible things that can come from this. If anyone had stories to share I’d be grateful.

[Anonymous]

My best friend’s son had this and was born full-term, completely healthy. No complications at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My best friend’s son had this and was born full-term, completely healthy. No complications at all.

Thank you for responding. Did your friend see a maternal fetal medicine specialist and receive additional ultrasounds or monitoring?

[Anonymous]

My SIL when pregnant with my niece had this.

Where they lived, the standard of care was more ultrasounds than the DC area.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My SIL when pregnant with my niece had this.

Where they lived, the standard of care was more ultrasounds than the DC area.

Sorry - hit submit too soon.

They did more monitoring in the last trimester and she was induced 2 weeks early as they were a little concerned about growth. The baby was on the lighter side at birth - just over 6lbs. But this is in the range for 2 weeks early.

Healthy child - and now at age 7 off the growth chart for height and weight (but proportional and healthy ratio)

[Anonymous]

Same diagnosis; currently 30+5 weeks FTM. Baby was underweight at 20 week scan and 33 percentile, and then 86 percentile at 28 week scan. Got told by MFM to eat more after 20 week scan and to focus on protein especially red meat as slower to digest. Organs all looked great on both scans. Next MFM scan is at 34 weeks.

From lab work at that 28 week appt, turns out I also have GD and early onset pre-E (my placenta sucks bad - nothing preexisting to cause this), so I'm getting extra weekly monitoring for those things starting at 29 weeks, but if I didn't have the other health complications, my MFM said he'd only want to see me one more time (three times total for SUA) given how good everything was looking on the scans. So far, SUA is the least terrible diagnosis I got, and the last thing my doctors are worried about given how good the baby looks in terms of size, strong heart rate each time, etc.

A friend of mine had SUA, and her DS 14 and massive. It really is only an issue if you have congenital issues, so get tested for those if you haven't been. Also check out Shawn Johnson; her daughter had SUA, and she was very vocal about the journal - all is good.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Anonymous]

My daughter had a 2 vessel cord too. She did eventually fall into the 10% for growth. We had many extra mfm appts to check on the blood flow of the placenta and the brain. That was around 31 weeks. We had many follow up growth scans and she eventually actually went up a few % which was not expected. She was born at 37 week and was 7 pounds. I remember being so afraid about it but she is now 2 and napping in her crib.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My daughter had a 2 vessel cord too. She did eventually fall into the 10% for growth. We had many extra mfm appts to check on the blood flow of the placenta and the brain. That was around 31 weeks. We had many follow up growth scans and she eventually actually went up a few % which was not expected. She was born at 37 week and was 7 pounds. I remember being so afraid about it but she is now 2 and napping in her crib.

Thanks for sharing your story. Did your daughter show any anomalies during the anatomy scan? Once she was born did they recommend doing an ultrasound of the kidneys or checking the heart? I read that they sometimes do that even in isolated SUA cases because there can be occult anomalies. Was she born at 37 weeks because of induction related to SUA or just early labor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Same diagnosis; currently 30+5 weeks FTM. Baby was underweight at 20 week scan and 33 percentile, and then 86 percentile at 28 week scan. Got told by MFM to eat more after 20 week scan and to focus on protein especially red meat as slower to digest. Organs all looked great on both scans. Next MFM scan is at 34 weeks.

From lab work at that 28 week appt, turns out I also have GD and early onset pre-E (my placenta sucks bad - nothing preexisting to cause this), so I'm getting extra weekly monitoring for those things starting at 29 weeks, but if I didn't have the other health complications, my MFM said he'd only want to see me one more time (three times total for SUA) given how good everything was looking on the scans. So far, SUA is the least terrible diagnosis I got, and the last thing my doctors are worried about given how good the baby looks in terms of size, strong heart rate each time, etc.

A friend of mine had SUA, and her DS 14 and massive. It really is only an issue if you have congenital issues, so get tested for those if you haven't been. Also check out Shawn Johnson; her daughter had SUA, and she was very vocal about the journal - all is good.

Hope this helps a bit.

Thank you! Very helpful! Luckily my NIPT results came back negative/low risk for chromosomal issues, so it appears to be an “isolated” SUA case. Even so it worries me that after reading online that 7% of apparently isolated SUA cases have anomalies discoverable at birth. Did your MFM recommend doing a fetal echocardiogram? Would you mind sharing who your MFM is? I’m currently seeing a regular ob-gyn but will need to transfer to MFM.

[Anonymous]

I had an SUA and was monitored weekly, by the end biweekly. Thank goodness for that, they caught something likely caused by it and delivered him early. He was very small, but healthy. Definitely insist on NUMEROUS ultrasounds in your third tri!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I had an SUA and was monitored weekly, by the end biweekly. Thank goodness for that, they caught something likely caused by it and delivered him early. He was very small, but healthy. Definitely insist on NUMEROUS ultrasounds in your third tri!!

Would you mind sharing what they caught? How is your son doing now?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I had an SUA and was monitored weekly, by the end biweekly. Thank goodness for that, they caught something likely caused by it and delivered him early. He was very small, but healthy. Definitely insist on NUMEROUS ultrasounds in your third tri!!

Would you mind sharing what they caught? How is your son doing now?

Was diagnosed with IUGR and low fluid at 38 weeks and had a c-section due to fetal distress the same day. He was born totally healthy, no chromosomal defects or time in the NICU. I had read that with most SUA pregnancies the doctors want to deliver early (38 weeks) so I wasn’t caught totally off-guard, but the fetal distress obviously worried me and I’m glad they caught it during a “somewhat” routine ultrasound. Without it who knows what would have happened, as I personally felt totally fine all the way to the end. They always say to be your own advocate and to be honest I really wasn’t because I didn’t know what to advocate for (first pregnancy). My doctor (not the MFM) was a rockstar and I credit her for being so proactive and almost what seemed over-the-top - I practically lived at her office the last few weeks. Biggest advice is to find a great doctor that you trust to tell you the right next steps and (hard as it is) don’t stress!

[Anonymous]

I had SUA with my 2nd baby. The doctor was like I know you're going to get in the car and start googling but try not to because I've never had a patient with this where things didn't turn out ok. He had me get an echocardiogram and the heart looked great in that so I was able to stress less throughout the rest of the pregnancy but it was still always in the back of my mind a little bit. I would imagine him being taken away for a heart surgery right after delivery. Everything turned out 100% completely totally fine. No issues at all. He's thriving. He made it to just about 40 weeks. The gymnast Shawn Johnson (Johnston?) had this condition too and the baby ended up being fine. Good luck!

[Anonymous]

I am dealing with this now. Caught it during the 20 week ultrasound. I’m now 25 weeks. Baby looks good so far. I’m trying not to worry too much, but any issue with pregnancy is scary!

[Anonymous]

Yes, had this with my first (who is now healthy and just turned 11). Saw an MFM and I also think it's very important to have extra monitoring in the third trimester. Had IUGR, low fluid, and distress like a PP. Born at almost 37 weeks. I went in for a monitoring appointment (at Inova Fairfax) and they wheeled me right upstairs for an immediate c/s. By that point I had prepared for this based on how things had gone. The c/s was fine, even though it was not my first choice. Went on to 2 have more kids via VBAC.