Umbilical cord accident? 20 weeks

[thendricks]

I'm currently 20 weeks pregnant(tomorrow) with a baby boy, my question is that I lost a baby girl 6 1/2 months ago due to an umbilical cord accident, the cord was wrapped around her neck 3 times, we went through extensive genteic testing and chromosonal testing, it all came back normal and they gave uys OK to tryb again. The doctors said it was a freak accident and not likely to happen again, so I want to know if you or someone you know had this happen and go on to have a normal healthy pregnancy again? Thanks Tracy

[who_dis]

I worked with a girl who lost her first baby at 37 weeks to a tight knot in the cord.  She has had 3 healthy, normal children after that.  I hope everything goes well for you.

[misseltoe]

I have no experience with this personally.  But your doctors are right.  It was just something that happened.  It could not have been prevented.  I'm so very sorry for your loss.

There is no reason to believe that it will happen again.

I hope that you have extra support right now as I would imagine this pregnancy must be very difficult on an emotional level.

[jociadam]

A dear friend of mine was pregnant three years ago with her first child.  She went in for her 36 week visit and hadn't felt her little boy move since the day before.  He had the cord wrapped tightly around his neck twice.  Ashley is fairly petite and she thought that may have had something to do with it, although her doctor told her it didn't.  She had a little girl almost two years ago and her doctor checked the baby's lung maturity at 36 weeks and induced her.  She's pregnant again and is going in on November 6 (again at 36 weeks) to be induced with this little girl.  The doc said the first occurrence was purely accidental, but they didn't want to take any chances.

I'm sure you'll be fine.

[casey22]

I have a friend that was pretty far into her preg. not exzactly sure how far but she had the same thing happen. The cord was wrapped aroung the babys neck twice.

Has anyones doctor ever told you all when your preg. to never lift you hands above your head? Some one told me that but with my two preg. my doctor never mentioned it?

[duehring]

I was told that the umbillical cord is like a power hose with fluid/blood going through it. If it knots up it is because of something wrong with the cord and the fluid not going through it like it should. A normal cord should not be able to kink or knot up. I am not sure if that is correct of not but that is what I was told.

I am sure you will be fine this time. From what I understand it is a freak thing that happens once in awhile and doesn't usually ever repeat on the same person.

Once we go through something like that I don't think we can ever make it through a pregnancy without worry. I have lost several pregnancies with one being a molar preg and I worry myself sick each time I get pregnant even though I have had healthy pregnancies  now, too.

[MomofAlmostFour]

A good friend of mine lost her first baby at 30+ weeks -- he strangled on the cord. Her doctor equated it to being struck by lightning; having it happen once has NO bearing on it happening again.

Happily, she went on to have two perfectly healthy, wonderful children.

Good luck!

[Tam9096]

Hello my name is Tammy And on Nov.6th will be a year that we have buried our little baby boy Connor. I was 37wks and he was all tangled up in his umbilical cord and died. He was 8lb 3oz. The only thing they said was his cord was more then 5ft long and that was longer then it should of been.But all test came back normal. I want to try to have another baby but i do not know if my body or mind could handle it. I am 35 and have 2 sons that are 16 & 10. Even though it has been a year I still have to force myself to get up out of bed everyday. There is nothing i do or nowhere i go that i am not thinking of baby Connor. My beliefs are no longer the same....I sometimes feel guilty wanting to have another baby...But somedays i believe that is what it is going to take for me to get on with my life. i am just scared of loosing another baby and I do not think me nor my family could handle it. If you do decide to have another baby i would educate yourself in knowing how many baby kicks you should be having also invest in a baby heart-beat monitor. At least that is what i am planning on doing and also i am going to ask to be put in the hospital at 36 weeks...My 10 year old son was being strangled by his cord at 36 weeks and they had to do a emergency c-section on him. So yes it can happen twice...It did with me but one lived and one did not.

[staceyrex]

my name is stacey and three months ago my fourth son, Rex, died when the cord wrapped around his shoulder twice when i was almost 37 weeks pregnant. my pregnancy was uneventful all along and Rex  and i were perfectly healthy. my doctor has encouraged us to try again and we are. my doctor tells me it was a freak accident like getting struck by lightening and it wont happen again. i am mourning the loss of my beautiful baby son while i am trying to get pregnant again and take care of my three living sons. its scarey heartbreaking and lonely. i hope i am as lucky as you and i get pregnant again fast. i wish you all the best and im sorry for your loss. id like you to know that since my loss, ive made a new friend who also lost a baby to a cord accident and went on to have another baby. she encourages me to do the same and tells me it helped her heal although she will never forget the baby who died. good luck

[Cheyenne_08]

I read this and feel so horrible for all of you whom have lost a baby to the cord being around their neck. My son was born at 31 weebs via c-section when they found the cord around his neck 4 times during a biophysical profile. When they pulled him out, all I hear was "OMG" from 4 different doctors. At that moment, I knew that it was too late and Ashtyn was dead. I didn't hear any crying or anything and doctors started to scramble all over the place. Finally, after what felt like years, I heard a very weak cry.... The doctors told me he was almost a dead baby and that the cord was around his neck 6 times. They said it was the first case their hospital had ever seen of a baby surviving with the cord around their neck that many times. Ashtyn is my miracle, and my heart goes out to all of you.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

My first son was born at 37 weeks.  I had an uneventful pregnancy and even had a check up and heard the heartbeat the day before.  I went into labor...got to the hospital and there was no heartbeat.  After giving birth to him they did testing but everything looked normal other than the cord being around his neck twice so tight it was almost flat.  I'm happy to say tho that I have gone on to have a beautiful little girl and another son and i'm currently 14 wks 4 days pregnant.  

[Jennifer0601]

I have never had this happen to me i gave birth to a healthy baby boy 17 months ago the cord was around his neck but it wasnt a problem at all..... now 19 weeks along with baby number two this is something I worry about! I had never known anyone to have this happen im just worried so I did some looking into it and it is more common than I thought. I dont know if hearing these stories makes me feel better or worse? It oppens up the possibility that this can happen to any one at any time.... Good luck to everyone out there and god bless all of the families who have had to endure such a random and tragic loss!

[Yoong69]

I can't stop crying when I read Tam9096 experience. I would like to share with you my experience.... I just lost my baby boy a month ago, he was 30+ weeks when it happened! The umbilical cord strangled around his neck 2 times and entangled under his armpit! He had no way to escape!
I had my routine check-up at 29 weeks and told the Dr. that the baby's movement has not been the same as before but when the Dr. performed ultrasound scan on the baby it was no sign of complications, the baby was fine then, so I was relieved. I remember I only feel him 'turning' one time in the morning, at lunch, at dinner and when I go to bed. He did not kick like before and I did not take note since Dr. said he is ok.....
When I had my check-up at 31 weeks, the baby is gone!' How can it be? I still feel him 'turning' at lunch about an hour ago! I just can't believed what I heard and the Dr. said it happened at least 48 hours ago!!!!! But.... I really feel him moving! How can I be so careless? If I were to be more alert on his movement I would have saved him from this! I can't stop blamming myself for this..... I cry everyday like Tam9096, I understand how she feels, I had 2 m/c before thisn and my son is 10, is very similar to Tam9096, imagine... after 10 yrs of waiting, he is still gone! I wouldn't hope to be pregnant if I knew he is going to leave me like this!
For expectant mother out there, please always pay attention to your baby's movement, study the patterns, if you feel that the movement change, eg. from kick and punch to 'turning', alert the Dr. and if possible seek for second opinion! If you can, get a hearbeat monitoring device to monitor the heartbeat..... Learn to count baby movement, for my case, it was a mistake I did not take note on the counting, the normal count is 10 movement within 12 hours..... I am not expert but my experience told me if the baby does not kick or punch between an hour, watch out!! If you feel your baby 'turning' be very very careful.....
I do not know how long will the grief last..... Hopefully time will heal...... For mother who has similar experience like me, please be strong and think of your love ones around you, they will give you strength to go on with your live......