# Umbilical Cord EDF occasionally absent...



## Eager_Fairy

Can anyone offer any advice or experience on this? 

We had our 16 week scan today and the doctor would like us to come back next week instead of in 2 weeks. Twin B umbilical flow was weaker than Twin A and although the doctor said it's nothing to worry about at this stage and it's something they just need to monitor more closely, you can't help but want to find out more. 

I'm just wondering if anyone can offer anything or has heard of anyone experiencing this? 

Thanks all x


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## lizziedripping

Hi hun. I have no direct experience of this, but I have heard of it. At this early stage it may well be 'something and nothing', but as the pregnancy progresses it may be that if twin B were to continue with a weaker flow, he/she might not grow as well as twin a. Often this simply means that one twin is smaller than the other.

Easy as it is for me to say, try not to worry. Things could look much improved by next week, and the brilliant thing is, your team have spotted it and will now monitor the babies even more closely. That is never a bad thing. 

Identical twin pregnancies are slightly more complex than frats my sweet, you are not unusual in that respect. To the medics this is probably very routine, and not an immediate cause for alarm. It is crucial however to keep a close eye on things so that they can be dealt with before they become an issue. Take care xxx


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## BeckyD

Hi, 

This was also measured for the first time at my 16 week appointment. 
At that stage they recorded:
Twin 1: EDF intermittent but mainly present.
Twin 2: Enddiastolic flow: intermittent absent EDF.

They told me it was quite common at that stage, especially with identicals.

At 18 weeks, the sonographer said she never measured it that early as the babies were frequently to small to read it properly. However, as it had been an issue at 16 weeks, we were sent back in for the scan by the consultant to check it again. 
At that stage, we then had
Twin 1: Enddiastolic flow: positive
Twin 2: Enddiastolic flow: Intermittent absent EDF.
so the larger twin was now showing steady.

At 20 weeks and from then on the flow has been showing fine every time.

Try not to worry. They are monitoring you and that is the main thing - they are just trying to check that risks don't turn into issues. 

x


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## Eager_Fairy

Thanks so much for your reply both of you :flower: it really has put my mind at ease. And especially as my situation is so similar to what you had Becky. And to read of you now at 28 weeks getting on so well...

My husband and family were all saying if they really were concerned they wouldn't wait til next Thursday to check things again too so you're right Lizzie, it can't be something to cause alarm.

I have always kept a positive head about this pregnancy - I just guess I was naive to think we would never have any stumbling blocks to get over but like you say Lizzie, twin pregnancies are complex and the important thing is it's been spotted straight away. 

Thanks again x


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## MinneGirl

Eager Fairy, thanks for posting in my journal...this is so great to see that there have been some similar stories with a good outcome!!!

My twins are about 25% different in size and baby a has been looking great...perfect blood flow...baby b is the smaller one with AEDF. It has been absent since for the last three ultrasounds. I sure hope it returns to normal! In the meantime, you may want to try drinking Ensure/Boost high protein shakes throughout the day and laying down whenever possible. We spoke to a doctor here in the USA over the phone who specializes in this exact thing. He said our best chances of getting improved blood flow back to baby are to increase protein and lay down a lot.

Just curious, did either of you have bad morning sickness? He said often times this is correlated bc the mother is protein deficient and slightly anemic due to bad morning sickness (mine was terrible). 

Anyhow, please keep me posted, I will do the same. Nice knowing I am not alone.


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## Eager_Fairy

Bless you, and hope the situation improves for you. 

I've read a lot into the protein and resting thing. I can't help but feel that the last couple of weeks I've been lax on the resting part and not been eating as much and as well. For example my day will always start with porridge, and a pro biotic yoghurt drink - I've not been having this. Then the protein rich foods I was having regularly, I haven't been having. It's hard not to draw a link between the two. 

Since the scan, I have definitely rectified this on my part so hoping that on Thursday things have improved or regained normality. And if they haven't, like you, I know I'm in the right place with some of the most experienced doctors. 

Has Baby B been growing at all the last few scans for you? Its easy to say and hard to do but definitely take the positives from BeckyD and focus on it. I'm a true believer that being positive, and remaining stress-free can help sitautons too....

The other thing I looked up was water intake - drinking lots of fluid can help amniotic fluid and also umbilical flow. I know there could be hundreds of 'may helps' out there but I'm willing to try anything. 

Even if things have or have not changed this week for us, I will definitely be asking about protein shakes. Everywhere in the UK says to check with doctor first so I just want to gage his opinion on this. 

I also never had any morning sickness? The doctors were surprised. I did have nausea but I found if I ate something bland it kept it away. Do your blood results from the beginning show this had affected you in any way?

Look forward to your update, and will definitely keep you posted x


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## BeckyD

I was physically sick a couple of times but bad nauseau up until about 14 weeks. 
Even though we were getting problems with EDF the babies were still growing really well up until 20 weeks and the consultants said that the blood was obviously getting through fine. 
We have had problems with the smaller one getting too small around 24 weeks but she seems to have caught up lately and we are finally going pram shopping today... at 29 weeks!


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## MinneGirl

Happy to be in touch with both of you. Eager_Fairy, I hope our situation follows Becky's and we can make it that long. If I can make it to 34 weeks with this pregnancy, I will be THRILLED! 

We haven't had a growth scan in two weeks. I think next week we get a growth scan, which is always the telling one. I PRAY, PRAY, PRAY that our little one has continued to grow at an okay pace. 

Let's keep each other updated. And Fairy, let me know what your doc says about the shakes.


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## MinneGirl

Eager Fairy, how did you ultrasound go today?


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## Eager_Fairy

Hi there, 

Thanks for checking in with me. 

The consultant said there was no change but that he was really pleased with seeing that. He said that it would just continue to be closely monitored every two weeks now. But it was a short appointment yesterday purely to check for that so no measurements were taken and our growth scan is on Tuesday. We'll know a bit more if it has had an effect on growth but he was really pleased with the flow, that the situation hadn't got worse and the fact that Twin B's tummy was full.

We actually thought ourselves that the flow seemed much much better and maybe he was erring on the side of caution saying 'no change' rather than putting on our notes that it's 100% back to normal. We have shared care between this specialist hospital and another hospital and he'll want our other hospital to keep an eye out for it. Whilst it was dipping out a tiny bit, it was much stronger and more regular. So we were pleased with yesterday.

How are things with you?


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## BeckyD

Glad they are happy with things. As you can see from my previous note, it wasn't until 20 weeks that the EDF part of the flow remained positive all the time.


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## Eager_Fairy

I feel much more positive about things - particularly because your experience offered some reassurance whilst I was waiting to be seen and now having had the check yesterday and the doctor saying he was pleased, I'm happy it's not of concern to him. 

They'll check it again Tues just because I'm there then at the 20 week scan a fortnight Tuesday. 

Thanks again for your advice! x


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## MinneGirl

Ugh, I wish I had better news. We just got back from an ultrasound and our baby with the blood flow issue is now showing signs of reverse blood flow. So we are looking at surgery early next week. We go in again tomorrow am for a level 3 ultrasound to make a final assessment. They said our small baby has a very little chance of surviving post surgery :( It is so heartbreaking. Please pray for a miracle for us.


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## BeckyD

Thinking of you Minniegirl. 
Try not to give up hope - they can do wonders these days. xxx


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## Eager_Fairy

Please do not give up hope, and I'll be thinking of you and the babies, and hoping everything goes well. 

Over here in the UK, I've heard so many success stories about the surgery to treat TTTS x


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## darkNlovely

MinneGirl said:


> Ugh, I wish I had better news. We just got back from an ultrasound and our baby with the blood flow issue is now showing signs of reverse blood flow. So we are looking at surgery early next week. We go in again tomorrow am for a level 3 ultrasound to make a final assessment. They said our small baby has a very little chance of surviving post surgery :( It is so heartbreaking. Please pray for a miracle for us.

Hello,

is there a update? I am going through the same thing and did a search then found this post. I pray everything had worked out for you.


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## Eager_Fairy

Hello darkNlovely, 

Here is a link to MinneGirl's pregnancy journal - things didn't turn out as well as we all hoped but she is carrying a healthy baby and blossoming.

https://www.babyandbump.com/pregnan...ission-accomplished-my-pregnancy-journal.html

What is your situation if you don't mind me asking, PM me if you like? I went through an awful time with it but by 20 weeks everything had rectified itself. One doctor was about to give up on our babies though and talking about all sorts of horrid outcomes for the one with absent EDF despite the fact they were still growing... Just keep hope!!

x



darkNlovely said:


> MinneGirl said:
> 
> 
> Ugh, I wish I had better news. We just got back from an ultrasound and our baby with the blood flow issue is now showing signs of reverse blood flow. So we are looking at surgery early next week. We go in again tomorrow am for a level 3 ultrasound to make a final assessment. They said our small baby has a very little chance of surviving post surgery :( It is so heartbreaking. Please pray for a miracle for us.
> 
> Hello,
> 
> is there a update? I am going through the same thing and did a search then found this post. I pray everything had worked out for you.Click to expand...


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## BeckyD

Seems like 20 weeks is a turning point on edf.


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## annie111

I have an EDF story to tell which I thought might provide a bit of hope for those having problems.

At 22 weeks it was found that twin's EDF was intermittent and that he was 20% smaller than his twin sister. 

At 24 the EDF was absent and he was 28% smaller.
At this stage we had an amnio to check for problems and were offered a selective termination. (we declined)

At 29 weeks exactly the EDF reversed and we were given 10 minutes to decide whether to let him die naturally in the womb in the hope of carrying his twin sister to term or to deliver them both.

We chose to deliver them both and at 29+0 they were born. He weighed 1lb 8oz (699 grams) to her 3lb 4oz (1475 grams?). She came home after 7 weeks in NICU and he joined us after 10.


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## kirstiyoung

hey, i have twin girls born 14/06/2010
at all my utrasounds from week 16 (tho they didnt tell me till my 28th week one) twin two was not growing very well. twin 1 was on the 25th percentile and twin 2 was on the 5th. 
my advice to all twin expectants, to ask, cos they dont usually tell you unless something is wrong. i would always ask if everything was ok, and all i ever got was one is smaller than the other, but that is normal. so it came to quite a shock when at 28 week scan they started to make a fuss, and cause me to stress and get angry that i was never told. especially if what some of you say is true that protien could of helped.
they were also unsure if they were identicle or not because the people who did my initial scan at 12 weeks, never said, even tho i asked them, they just ignored me.
i had 2 steriod shots, and was monitored in the hospital daily from 28 week. the flow got better, but that was a false positive due to the steriods, once they had worn off, and the flow straed to get bad again, they sliced me open just in case twin 1 started to take from twin 2.
if they knew if they were non identical, they would of waited but just in case they were identicle, they didnt want to take the chance.
at 30 weeks my twins were born
twin 2 was, and still is 30% smaller than her sister
they were born, 1280g and 893g.
now, at 12 months old, they are 9.8kg and 7.7kg
both are doing well.
i hope this story can help others and if you require more detail i can help :):flower:


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