SUA (Single Umbilical Artery) Syndrome

I am 22 wks with b/g twins I was told my girl has SUA and this is common in twins. I looked through posts and didnt see anything on this has anyone experienced this?

 

:wavey: and welcome to twinstuff!! Congrats on your twins!! :Clap:

What has the doctor said about this? I'm sorry you weren't able to find anything, hopefully someone will come along to help you out. :hug:

 

Hey there :wavey:!

I don't have any info on SUA unfortunately, but wanted to welcome you to Twinstuff!! :hug:

 

QUOTE(The Poker Queen @ Jun 29 2009, 05:02 AM) [snapback]1373162[/snapback]
I am 22 wks with b/g twins I was told my girl has SUA and this is common in twins. I looked through posts and didnt see anything on this has anyone experienced this?
We are right there with you. She just had her 20 week Ultrasound and our Daughter is the same way.

This is some info on it...

About 1 percent of singleton and about 5 percent of multiple pregnancies (twins, triplets or more) have an umbilical cord that contains only two blood vessels, instead of the normal three. In these cases, one artery is missing (2). The cause of this abnormality, called single umbilical artery, is unknown.

Studies suggest that babies with single umbilical artery have an increased risk for birth defects, including heart, central nervous system and urinary-tract defects and chromosomal abnormalities (2, 3). A woman whose baby is diagnosed with single umbilical artery during a routine ultrasound may be offered certain prenatal tests to diagnose or rule out birth defects. These tests may include a detailed ultrasound, amniocentesis (to check for chromosomal abnormalities) and in some cases, echocardiography (a special type of ultrasound to evaluate the fetal heart). The provider also may recommend that the baby have an ultrasound after birth.

Now...our Doctor was TOTALLY unconcerned at this point. The main worry is the growth weight. They were both 11oz and the girl weighed only 3 grams less. The boy way 311 grams and the girl was 308 grams...SO...they were in pretty much perfect shape.

They will do another Ultrasound in 4 weeks. Where she only has 2 blood vessels (one to carry in the food and the other to crry out the waste), her 2 blood vessels were bigger.

Again...our Doctor was not concerned at all.

 

Read this...It is also know as a 2 vessel cord

http://www.twinstuff.com/forum/index.php?s...2&hl=vessel

 

Just curious. Did your Doctor go over any of it with you?

I know it seems to be pretty semi-common (5%), maybe he/she just felt it was nothing to worry bout at the time.

My DW Dr explained it all to her, but assured her...since the weights were both almost exact and her vessels (while only 2) were still larger than his.

Maybe your Dr. didn't just because he/she didn't feel it was anything to be worried about as well.

 

Jessy had SUA. If you have any questions feel free to pm me. I've heard it more commonly called 2 vessel cord

 

QUOTE(The Poker Queen @ Jun 29 2009, 03:02 AM) [snapback]1373162[/snapback]
I am 22 wks with b/g twins I was told my girl has SUA and this is common in twins. I looked through posts and didnt see anything on this has anyone experienced this?


Congratulations on your twin pregnancy!!

My Baby A had a two vessel cord and my doctors didn't seem too worried about it either. It wasn't discovered until we were at least half way through the pregnancy due to the irresponsibility of the technician who overlooked it because she had to hurry off to watch her daughter-in-laws ultrasound being performed. I was even called back to come in the next day to complete what she forgot to do. Anyway, that's another story!

We were sent to the genetics department for a very thorough U/S, Baby A checked out with no deformities and it was determined by the technician I was carrying mono/di twins.
At this point I don't think an amnio test would have changed anything, so that wasn't performed. We prayed for the best. I think this is when I started having more frequent U/S's.

Baby A seemed to be growing at a close enough weight to her sister for the whole pregnancy and the fluid levels were always good.

When they were born Baby A's cord was wrapped around her neck twice on the tight side. (thank God we had a last minute executive decision by the doctors to perform a c-section) Anyway, there were no complications after she was born, she had a clean bill of health and was ready to go home two days after she was born, unfortunately I wasn't so our stay after the birth was about 5 days. She weighed in at 5 pounds 10 ounces, 18 inches long, and Baby B was 6 pounds 3 ounces, 18 3/4 inches, so there wasn't a hugh difference in their weight and size (I delivered at 36 weeks, 3 days). Also, Baby A's cord was a lot smaller than Baby B's, we could see that after they were born.

They are just over 5 months old and have not had any major illnesses (just an occasional cold). Baby B still outweighs Baby A by at least a pound but their lengths are fairly close.
You can also follow my blog link to see pictures and read more about my experience with a two vessel cord.

Best wishes for a happy, healthy twin pregnancy!!

 

I wanted to say thank you all for the information & welcomes. I have already had an echocardiogram on both babies and the hearts looked good. We also had a anatomy u/s and their kidneys looked ok both present and all extremeties looked good as well. The doctor says the only other possible testing I could do for birth defects is amniosentisis which I declined because of the high mortality rate in twins for this procedure. I have decided if she is going to be special needs Im gonna love her anyways and no testing will change anything. The doctor said not much else to do but track her growth. I am thankful to hear positive news it was just such a blow at first but things are looking up. Well thank you all again Im glad I found this forum I was feeling so alone in this pregnancy as I dont know anyone with twins and there are just so many questions. I have been reading all the forums getting myself informed. Many blessings to all!

 

Perfectly Said. I agree 100%.

Our Doctor will do (but doesn't recommend) tests like that. We feel the exact same way as he does.

No need for invasive tests. Not going to change any outcomes and could cause damage.

The weight aspect is his ONLY concern at this point and so far, so good...

Keep us posted. I think my DW (or Babies' Mama...LOL) will be going back in just over 3 weeks for her next Ultrasound