Subsequent pregnancies are so full of fear, but they also bring hope. I hate that we have to have fear with the joy.
I lost my daughter Faith due to a true know in her umbilical cord. With my rainbow Hope, she was born with it around her neck but no other visible sign of abnormalities. Since I have been on DS the last two years, there hasn't been any subsequent stillbirths from cord issues. Either it is a fluke or maybe it is because we get so much extra care with subsequent pregnancies that the chance of loss is even more rare. I think there is a special ultrasound to detect cord issues. Maybe, you could ask your OB for one to ease your mind. Keeping you and your rainbow in my prayers. xoxo

* true knot

My doctor said there are high tech ultrasounds and Dopplers they use to look at the cords of babies. I haven't had it yet because were aren't pregnant yet but she did tell me there are special machines they use to watch them. She however did not tell me what they do if there is or appears to be an issue with the cord.

I'm also terrified it will happen again, even though I was told each pregnancy is different (including the makeup of the placenta and cord) all I can do is hope and pray and rely heavily on God and Modern Medicine. I hope you are able to find some peace and answers. Like crwtom mentioned, you will receive extra care so hopefully that will help. Best of luck

I recently read this paper by Dr. Jason Collins at the Pregnancy Institute that provides more information about cord accidents in one place than I have seen anyplace else. It is a highly technical paper, full of jargon, but I was able to understand the gist of most of it. I think. Might be worth reading or maybe discussing with your doctor. I plan on printing it and bringing it to my upcoming appointment with my perinatologist to discuss what may have happened to our daughter and what our risk for future pregnancies may be.

http://www.preginst.com/UmbilicalCordAccidents2.pdf

Sending prayers your way.

Like Brennasmom had mentioned--Dr. Collins is a cord expert. He monitors women everyday with readings submitted remotely. He has had babies delivered early when he has seen the cord developing a problem. He works with the ob. I have spoken to him and he is very nice. I also lost my son at 19 weeks due to torsion in June 2009 and I do have other children that had no cord problems (that I know of). I think that if I become pregnant again, I am going to talk to Dr. Collins for my piece of mind about monitoring me since he does it everyday. He can tell you the stats on reoccurance but since you have had 2 normal pregnancies it is very hopeful. I wish you a healthy pregnancy and saying a prayer for you.

Hi I juat wanted to give you some comfort. I also like you had 2 great preagnacys with no issues then I lost my 3rd 12/17/10 due to a cord issue I was 18 weeks 5 days. he was perfect, no signs of any other issue showed up just the cord tightlly wrapped 3 times. 2 1/2 months latter in surprise I was expecting again. I was so fearful that something bad was going to happen. I bought my own doppler and daily checked him. I didnt tell anyone until week 20 that I was expecting. well in faith yet a stressful and fearful preagnacy I deleverd a healthy litlte boy 12/18/10. Excelent health care from my OB and support from my husband is what got me threw it all. Im not saying it was easy or even that it is easy now as I still greve my son but it is a blessing to hold your rainbow

I highly recommend that anyone that has had a stillbirth (or even a close call) - contact Dr. Jason Collins of the Pregnancy Institute (www.preginst.com) with subsequent pregnancies. He is very compassionate and has devoted his entire career to preventing stillbirth. Yes, stillbirth can and does repeat itself. We talked to a Mom this week that has lost 3, yes THREE babies to stillbirth. I know of others who have lost two and Dr. Collins has monitored subsequent pregnancies where babies quite likely would have been lost had it not been for the home fetal monitoring program he offers.

More information: www.starlegacyfoundation.org
www.seemefeelme.org
www.preginst.com

I have Dr. Collins' phone number - and would be happy to give it to anyone interested in talking to him. Email me at shauna@starlegacyfoundation.org

I recently lost my 2nd son to stillbirth and though i have no proof from my ob's that i lost them to torsion i believe that was the case with both of them. I believe this because from the last ultrasound pictures i have of both of my boys it is very obvious torsion. Contact Dr. Collins from the pregnancy institute for home monitoring. There are no "flukes," babies die for a reason...their hearts do not just stop. If my doc didn't believe in flukes my baby boy Cade would be here today.

I lost #4, our Destin. I then had our Rainbow baby afterwards. If it wasn't for the daily monitoring and constant care we would have lost him too. I had 15 pregnancies altogether and if it wasn't for them finally taking what I had to say seriously after Destin we would have had more losses. I fully beleive that we need that extra care because our Rainbow was an emergancy c-section due to sudden drop in growth rate and distress. My doctor didn't know if we'd get him out in time. He even got stuck half way out do to cord issues. If you feel you need extra care, don't stop looking until you find it.

My son died from the same exact thing. My mid wife said it can ne genedic because its more likely to happen with babies who have longer cord or shorter cords. And they length of the cord can be genedic. I also have one child who was born perfect and healthy and full term. I wonder if I ask my mid wife if she can tell me how long my daughters cord was. I don't know if they keep it on record. I know my sons (my angel) cord was pretty long.

Dr Collins is a cord expert. My husband and I joke that he is obsessed. You should call him. He will talk to you on the phone. My angel Lily died from a cord accident at 39weeks. We used and his monitoring for our rainbow who was born in June. It was a great help.

Thanks everyone for your replys and for the thoughts and prayers. I did end up losing my second little baby on Jan. 14th. He had a long, hypercoiled cord with narrow spots that cut off the blood supply to him. This was exactly what happend 8 months ago first my first loss. At that time they told me it was a fluke but obviously not. I was in contact with Dr. Collins after my first loss and every couple days with my second loss. With the type of cord accidents that I am having the babies do not go much beyond 19-20 weeks before they die. There is no monitoring at that early that can be done, the babies are too premature to take them out anyways even if something was wrong. They are completely sure why this happens but it does tend to recurr. Ive found a handful of other girls who have had this same exact problem. They have some living children and some losses all around the fifth month. For more info do a search for the website: cradles and graves
All bloodwork that I have had done comes back totally normal, the babies are totally normal too. It is just a cord that is way too long and too coiled that it twists on itself and kinks the bloodflow. There is nothing that can be done to stop it. It is a 50/50 chance with each pregnancy that it will happen, I got lucky the first two times and had two living children at full term. I did not even know I had this problem until after the first loss in May 2010. Anyways, thanks again everyone for your support and take care.

Wendy

Wendy - I am so unbelievably sorry to hear the news about your rainbow. My heart broke when I read about your loss.
Please know you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Brenda

I just want you to know that I am thinking & praying for you & your family.