When Nelson was born, he was attached to a ridiculously long umbilical cord! I did a little research about "typical" cords and cord lengths. This is what I found.....
V. Umbilical cord length and twisting
Analogous to how a kitchen phone cord becomes longer with increased use, umbilical cord length is dependent on fetal movements—the more movement, the longer the cord. The converse is also true—less intrauterine movement leads to shorter umbilical cords (as attested to by animal experiments where induced fetal muscle paralysis led to shortened umbilical cord length). Normally, the human umbilical cord reaches a length of
60-70 cm at term. Although the length of the umbilical cord has no intrinsic effect on fetal blood flow, a longer cord is more susceptible to knotting, entanglement around the fetus (especially the neck), and even prolapse out of the uterus during delivery any of which can lead to intrauterine fetal demise.
The Umbilical Cord
(from the Encyclopedia of Reproduction)Harvey J.
Kliman, M.D.,
Ph.D.
Yale University School of Medicine
Nelson's umbilical cord was 115 cm long!...and it was LOOSELY wrapped around his neck FOUR times! No worries on that, though. He never showed signs of distress during the delivery and, again, it was wrapped loosely. Our doctor said it was a record for her. Previously, she had only ever seen three wraps and that was always with a cesarean. This does justify all the activity this little guy displayed in utero!!
