SUA Single Umbilical Artery

[san fran shan]

My scan went well yesterday. I found out that my boy's placenta is low, but not covering my cervix! And their long bones are measuring within range, although at the low end, but what flags it as something to look at is that their heads are measuring a little ahead. My husband and I have talked about it and think that they are just taking after us. I have a big head and so does everyone in my family. My husband is a couple inches taller than me, but our arms are the same length...so he gave them the short arms!

I am going to have this eat away at me until they are born, there is no way around it. Sometimes I want to get the amnio just so we can know for sure...but then I always go back to the worst case scenario and miscarrying both twins...then finding out they were perfectly healthy. I get bitter and angry that I have to be going through this at all. Not how I pictured my 1st pregnancy going.

 

[BabyDust04]

My scan this morning went great! My son's CPC cyst has disintegrated. The Dr. did confirm the SUA, however he did say that the artery that my son's cord does have has enlarged to compensate for the missing one. All of his organs look perfect, everything is measuring within range and date and he gained 3oz in a week!

My Dr. did not seem concerned about the SUA, as everything looks good in the ultrasound. He scheduled me for another growth scan at 28 weeks to throughly check everything out again, but did not refer me for any further testing.

He also said that, based upon the ultrasound results, he has ruled out trisomy 13 and downs syndrome. Based upon his growth being on target and all of his measurements he also does not feel that he has trisomy 18. I will be taking a blood test just for reassurance.

Needless to say, I feel much better today than I did a week ago!

 

[san fran shan]

That is great news! So happy to hear the cyst has disintegrated. Sounds like your appointment was full of great news all around. YAY!

 

[san fran shan]

Another update for me...I know how it is important to update these things for others looking for answers.

I had a growth scan at 30 weeks. Everything looks good except my boy was about 1 pound smaller than my girl. I had another growth scan at 33 weeks and he is a little over a pound smaller. At 33 weeks he was 3 pounds
9 ounces and she was 4 pounds 11 ounces. Otherwise, they both look good and healthy. My perinatologist and OB have decided it is best for me to be induced at 36 weeks as my boy is falling off the growth curve. He is in the 13th percentile which also means I need weekly NSTs (hooking up heart rate monitors to make sure they are doing OK). My induction date is November 26th.

Any other updates from anyone???

 

[sadie]

Hi san fran.
I posted months ago on this site so I follow along from time to time!

Yay for Nov 26, which happens to be my birthday!

When they say your son is 'falling off the growth curve', is that necessarily a reason to induce? I am asking to educate myself.

I had the NSTs too, because of the SUA as well as my age!

 

[san fran shan]

Hi Sadie - so I had a growth scan at 30 weeks and again at 33 weeks. My girl is gaining weight at twice the rate as my boy. Twins usually come early as well at 36 to 37 weeks anyways. The high risk doc is the one that wants to induce at 36 weeks. He said my boy will thrive better on the outside. I am not going to question it as I am in a lot of pain as it is with both babies head down.

I guess what makes it interesting is that with twins, we can see exactly how a baby with a normal cord is doing. If I was only pregnant with the boy, we wouldn't have this direct comparison, so his slow growth maybe wouldn't be so obvious.

 

[sadie]

Got it! Thanks for the clarification. I also didnt realize it was is your boy who has the sua.

Two weeks to go from yesterday! Woohoo! Sorry to hear you're feeling some pain. Home stretch!

 

[kelly1973]

hi ladies i just got told at my 20 week scan that i have sua they told me not to worry and the only thing they would check is growth rate i have to go bak in 3 weeks as they couldnt see babys face and then at 28 weeks for growth scan and to see an consultant, when i got home and scared the life out of me now im worried sick. they did lots of measurements at my scan would they of said if something wasnt rright i havent been offered any more bloodtests i had my nt measurements at 12 weeks which came back less then 1 in 50,000 for downs i really am worried sick

 

[san fran shan]

Kelly, I know exactly how you feel. It is scary and hard. Not knowing. We decided not to have amnio done. Are you going to? I think when no other abnormalities are found, then everything will be ok. I have 10 days to go til birth and it's really on my mind a lot lately if my boy will be ok. 1 in 50,000 for downs is basically like no chance. So that is really good.

 

[kelly1973]

hi sfs thanks for the reply silly question what is the aminos? i havent been offered this wow how exciting your guna meet your lo real soon

 

[san fran shan]

Amniocentesis is a procedure to remove a small amount of amniotic fluid from the sac and test it for most genetic abnormalities. There is a small chance of miscarriage from it but it will tell you for sure if your LO has something like downs syndrome.

 

[kelly1973]

oh ok dont think i will have that did you find out at your 20 week scan did the scan anything up other then the sua?

 

[sadie]

Hi kelly,
Try not to worry and please stop looking on the internet for info. It all sounds so negative, but in fact it isnt nearly as bad as it seems. Usually babies that developed from an sua are exactly on track, if not beyond, their growth scan expectations. Please try to stay positive. So many of us wasted so much energy being scared.
Hugs.

 

[kelly1973]

thanks sadie so much i feel like im wishing my life away at the min just want our little boy here xxxxxxxxx

 

[Emma867]

I've just been told our baby has a SUA but we also had a 3.5mm NT reading in our scan. I've had the CVS today and await the results.

If anyone has had a SUA with other problems, please let me know x

 

[AllieCat]

Emma, HI! I started this thread and i wanted to let all you worried pregnant ladies know that everything will likely be fine with your babies. Like sadie said many of us put too much energy into worriying and in the end it was all for nothing. Focus your energy on learning all you need to know about taking care of a newborn. If you need to worry.. then look up things to worry about with a newborn. That way you will be as prepared as you can be when that healthy little baby (who will come with a whole new set of things to worry about) makes their first appearence. Good luck! and healthy happy pregnancy.

 

[san fran shan]

Although a lot smaller than his sister my boy with the SUA was born totally healthy. My girl actually was the one in the nicu the 1st night and he stayed with us the whole time.

 

[Emma867]

I think if it was just the SUA I had to contend with it could relax a bit but its the NT result too x

 

[Sunshine24]

Just dx with SUA ( 2 vessel cord instead of 3 ) at my u/s last week. Due November 2013

Was completely panic stricken, of course like any new mom would be, but the doc and sonographer were so reassuring.

The doctor said 95% of the time this cord issue amounts to a whole lot of nothing and to just look at the diagnosis as an opportunity to get to see my baby more on ultrasounds.

The sonographer said she has been doing this for 24 years and has seen many cases of this and all have turned out fine and not to worry.

The doc also said it was considered a "normal variant" and up until a few years ago they couldn't even detect it on the ultrasound. He also said it was especially encouraging that I had no other issues found on the sonogram.

Worst case scenario they said ( ABSOLUTE worst... ) is that the baby stops growing right towards the end of pregnancy and I just have to go a few weeks early. Best case ( and most likely ) scenario is NOTHING.

But, all that being said, I would love to hear any positive stories from other SUA moms or moms-to-be!

 

[kayyheyy]

I was so happy to read this thread! Just found out about my sons SUA at our anatomy scan...appointment for level 2 scan with high risk doctor on Thursday. My doctor said everything else looks great except that... Measuring right on schedule according to my dates.. I can't help but be scared especially because I don't feel much movement yet but I do have a larger stomach and carry my extra weight there