Umbilical cord too thick?

[lunarsea]

I recently had an anatomical ultrasound at around 31 weeks and a few days later, I got a call from the Children's Hospital in my area saying that my doctor had referred me for another ultrasound due to an umbilical cord that looked "a little too thick".
They scheduled me for an ultrasound on September 5th with a specialist to "make sure everything looked okay".
I have an appointment with my OB tomorrow, so I'll be able to discuss what this means there, but it's just extremely unsettling.
I know it could just be a precaution, but I'm concerned it may be something worse as I've heard that a lot of babies with Downs Syndrome and other chromosomal disorders were born with thicker umbilical cords (I read this on a really shitty looking page I found on the web, so I don't know how true this is, but it's still worrisome.)
On the contrary, I've also read posts on random forums of womens' doctors observing an unusually thick cord and seeing no problem with it at all, dismissing it as a "really, really healthy baby".

Has anyone ever heard of or had this problem?

Any input would give me some peace of mind so I don't go crazy waiting for this ultrasound to take place.

 

[lunarsea]

No one?

 

[maisemoo]

Aw, I'm sorry that you have this extra worry... I have no experience so I'm afraid I can't be much help. I just wanted to send you some good vibes and say try not to worry...google is often the enemy when were worrying about something...people often use the Internet to say negative things and rarely for good things and so many sites can't be trusted because anyone can claim to be an expert so try to avoid it...as hard as that is! Try to do something nice to occupy your mind until you can see your midwife... Xxx

 

[lunarsea]

I don't even know why I Googled it considering how much unnecessary worry it gave me when I was pregnant with my son.
I've done some research on it, and a thick umbilical cord is not necessarily a sign of any chromosomal defect or any clear answer as to why my OB is concerned about it, but I'm guessing he just wants to be sure everything is healthy seeing as I didn't know I was expecting till I was around 18 weeks pregnant due to irregular periods.

I see him tomorrow (well, today, technically) so I'll be able to get some answers, but in the meantime, thanks for at least sending some good vibes my way

Still open to any knowledge of this, although I know it's kind of a vague topic.

 

[bunnyg82]

How did you get on with the doc? I've never heard of a problem due to thickness of the cord, didnt realise they even measured it. Hope everything is ok x

 

[lunarsea]

I've never heard of it being a problem prior to this either, but still concerns me. Haven't gone in yet, but will go in at around 2:00 p.m. PST, so I'll update then

 

[beagleowner]

I've never heard of this. I think if it were really a concern that there would be more info about it. Perhaps your doctor is just being really, really, really thorough.

 

[bekkie]

Hope everything goes well - I've never heard of it being an issue but I know that whenever I google something... one of the top answers is always cancer, so stop googling

 

[lunarsea]

Just got back from my appointment.
The doctor says that it's just a precaution because sometimes thicker cords indicate Downs Syndrome, but he says that he's not very concerned because of my age (21) and thinks everything will probably turn out fine, he just wants another ultrasound to double check.

 

[Atlmommy37]

My son's cord was thick and short. His movements slowed down at 33 weeks. Then he failed non stress test. Delivered him at 35 weeks. He's a perfect 19 year old college student. I was told his movements slowed because when the cord isn't as flexible it makes harder to move once the baby gets bigger. So they tend to slow their movements to conserve oxygen.

Best of luck