single umbilical artery

i am 30 weeks pregnant and i was just told that i have a single umbilical artery cord and the ultrasound said that everything looks normal the baby weight is 3 pounds 4 ounces and the organs all look good my doctor is sending me for a level 2 ultrasound i am so worried all i do is cry does anyone know what could be wrong with my baby or could she be just fine has this ever happened to anyone out there please help me ease my mind and does anyone know exactly what a level 2 ultrasound his is it a 3d ultrasound some people have told me that it is i don't know i am 17 years old and very,very scared  thank you and god bless

[energy_train]

Hi!  Level 2 ultrasound is also known as a targeted ultrasound and is usually done at a perinatologist office. I just had one done 4 weeks ago and I wouldn't know about the arery thing except they kept looking because she could only see two and needed to see three.  They did find it, I have two arteries close together which is why it was harder to find but they found them both.  Here is some information on a website I found.  From what they told me, sometimes it can mean NOTHING and the baby is totally fine and other times, it can cause problems.  If you google    how many umbilical artery   it pulled up a lot of information.  I played around with the words that I used to search and this pulled the best results,. Here is a sample of one of the articles below, I wish you the best of luck.

During a normal single pregnancy, the umbilical cord will contain three blood vessels:  two arteries and one vein.  One umbilical artery is all that is needed to handle blood flow to the placenta, so the other artery is functionally redundant.

Sometimes (between 1 and 5%) an umbilical cord may contain only two vessels, one artery and one vein.  This condition is called "Single Umbilical Artery."  This is the most common umbilical malformation.  The cause of this abnormality is unknown.  If an ultrasound examination shows that the baby appears to have no other abnormalities, the baby is likely to be born healthy.  

Some studies have suggested that as many as 25% of babies with single umbilical artery may have chromosomal or other abnormalities.  If your baby is diagnosed with single umbilical artery during an ultrasound, you may be offered additional testing including additional ultrasounds or even amniocentesis.  Even if the baby appears to have no other abnormalities, you will probably be monitored more closely during your pregnancy.  While Single Umbilical Artery may not in itself cause other abnormalities, it is often a flag that other abnormalities are present.

[peekawho]

From my personal experience, the handful or so babies I've seen with a single umbilical artery have been fine.

Hardly scientific, but more likely than not, your baby will have no problems.  Listen to your doctor in regards to monitoring and ultrasounds.

Good luck, and try not to worry.