Single Umbilical Artery

Well I finally had my big u/s!! I was 21w 5d and I found out I'm having identical boys Both are measuring 1 lb. 1 oz. which is good! They will be monitering me closely for TTTS though b/c baby B has what they call a single umbilcal artery. Most babies have 3 arteries in the umblical cord, one that brings in nutrients and 2 that take away waste. Well baby B has only 2 arteries- one to bring in and only one to take out.

Does anyone else's babies have this and has it been a problem?

 

My sister just had her second child and he had SUA and she had no complications at all. He was born at 41wks weighing 8lb 15oz and is perfectly healthy. I don't have any experience with SUA in twins but I wish you lots of luck with your pregnancy and I hope that it is uneventful for you

 

I don't have any personal experience, but I have a friend who's little girl had this issue and is a perfectly healthy, normal 3 year old right now. Good luck, hope all turns out well for you!

 

I'm 31 wks with ID girls. Found out baby B has SUA about 3 wks ago. I read some nasty articles online that really worried me. Then I spoke to my ob and my peri just the past few days, they assure me that it is gonna to be alright. They told me that we've been monitoring the babies very closely, and there is no problem with thier kidneys or hearts or anything else. They took me in for one extra ultrsound between the regular scheduled ones to monitor the blood flow of baby B. So far the docs made me believe that SUA is a problem only when there is other indications of abnormalities.

 

Thanks so much everyone! I've tried to avoid googling too much b/c it just worries me then. Glad to know things can turn out alright!

 

I've known several moms where they've had this issue and everything has been fine with the baby. One friend's baby also had a chorion plexus cyst which along with the SUA can be an indicator of a trisomy problem...so she was on pins and needles for months, but her baby was just fine. I agree that googling is probably a bad idea unless you only look at the positive stories!

 

My baby B was a SUA baby. At 24 weeks she was only a little more than half the size of her sister. We don't know is the SUA caused her her heart problem or if her IUGR was a result of her heart problem. It's very much a which came first the chicken or the egg problem. As pp mentioned most SUA babies are monitored more for healthy flow in the cord (watching for absent or negative flow). We had low to absent flow on a couple of occasions. Also as mentioned SUA can be a road sign for other issues

 

I had SUA in one of my mono/di boys. he is just fine now, doing great, but was born in only the 3rd percentile at 34 weeks weighing in at 3lb5oz. when they sent my placenta for analysis they said it was not placental share as they had thought that caused the IUGR but the SUA (they prev told me it was not causing any issue). it can cause growth restriction in approx 25% of cases. but even so, at 6 weeks adjusted he is about 10lbs and smiling, cooing, rolling over, doing everything he should be doing and then some...good luck with your pregnancy!!

 

My dd had SUA...the worst thing I did was google it...
The dr said that as long as everything else was fine it wouln't be a problem (we did heart test, etc)
My twins were born at 32.5 and are prefectly healthy. My little dd..was 3.9...now is 29 lbs! and
ds who was 4.9 is now 26 lbs Enjoy your pregnancy and relax (well at least enjoy the kicking..that
is the only thing I liked about being pregnant!)