Pls advice a worried first time mommy2be

[Lana23]

Hello
I'm Lana and I'm 32 weeks pregnant with a lil girl.
Lately I've been very worried coz of something I read on the internet.It's actually an article talking about fetal hiccups and cord problems.
My lil girl has hiccups every single day since 28 weeks,4-5 times a day,each time lasting up to 20 minutes.
I spoke to my doctor about my concern but he basically laughed it off and told me those are breathing movements and aren't worrisome.

However, I did have another u/s and baby's cord wasn't wrapped around her or such.I'm having another one done next week to check for the blood flow but i was wondering if u can give me ur opinion in mean time.

I've also noticed that baby's heart rate had slowed down.It used to be 130-140 when she wasn't moving and now it's 120-130 at those resting periods (it does go up way to 170 when she's rolling around ).
This HR change got me even more worried,so I would GREATLY appreciate your advice.

Is there such thing as too much fetal hiccups?Is 4 times a day,20 min each time,too much?

Thank you in advance and have a happy holiday !

Lana

[sunfish21]

Not much help here....but DD had hiccups quite often inutero--got to see them on an u/s once--and no-one was concerned about it.

In a situation that I did (and still do) believe to be unrelated, I had a very short cord with a velemenous (sp?) cord insertion....butmany people saw the placenta/cord and no-one thought it had anything to do with anything I experienced during the pregnancy.

[Lana23]

Originally Posted by sunfish21

Not much help here....but DD had hiccups quite often inutero--got to see them on an u/s once--and no-one was concerned about it.

In a situation that I did (and still do) believe to be unrelated, I had a very short cord with a velemenous (sp?) cord insertion....butmany people saw the placenta/cord and no-one thought it had anything to do with anything I experienced during the pregnancy.

Thank you for the replay.
I've noticed from my u/s reports that there is no comment about the cord insertion so i guess no one checked.About the cord,i know it's long enough-i was told.
I think I might ask my doctor to check for the cord insertion during my next u/s.

[MsBlack]

It all sounds normal to me, every bit of it.

It seems you are not trusting your care providers on this one--are there other issues with them that make you doubt they are being honest with you, or doubt that they know what they are talking about? If so, maybe you can see another provider for a 2nd opinion--let them hear your report of things, and see the u/s report too.

[Lana23]

Originally Posted by MsBlack

It all sounds normal to me, every bit of it.

It seems you are not trusting your care providers on this one--are there other issues with them that make you doubt they are being honest with you, or doubt that they know what they are talking about? If so, maybe you can see another provider for a 2nd opinion--let them hear your report of things, and see the u/s report too.

Thanks for the replay
I do trust my doctor, but someone told me that those excessive hiccups can be a sign of cord compression so I can't stop thinking about this and what "if" my doctor's wrong.
I tried talking to him about my concerns but he keeps saying that those r breathing movement and r normal.And even if they aren't this,it's nothing worrisome.
I have my u/s reports.There r no comments about the cord nor the placenta insertion.Only that it's a 3 vessel one..

[nikirj]

Oh FFS, what will the internet come up with next?

That all sounds totally fine to me. Not sure why you're upset about an ultrasound report with a normal 3v cord and no abnormal insertion or location.

There's a difference between mama intuition and anxiety. Can you sit with your thoughts for a while and see if you can sort out which is happening for you?

[Lana23]

Thanks

Originally Posted by nikirj

Oh FFS, what will the internet come up with next?

That all sounds totally fine to me. Not sure why you're upset about an ultrasound report with a normal 3v cord and no abnormal insertion or location.

There's a difference between mama intuition and anxiety. Can you sit with your thoughts for a while and see if you can sort out which is happening for you?

I would say anxiety.If I haven't read all those stuff I wouldn't be worried lol

[Phoebes*mom]

I had really bad anxiety with my first pregnancy. I just read all the stuff out that that could go wrong and drove myself crazy with the "what ifs," so I totally understand where the fear is coming from. I agree with PP that if you've mentioned your fear to your HCP, you trust their judgment, and they've assured you that things are fine, you should try not to worry (easier said than done, I know ).

My DD2 had hiccups all the time while pregnant and she's fine. Glad I didn't know it could signal a problem, lol.

Hang in there!

[SpuglyRoo]

From what I understand, the hiccups would be caused by swallowing the amniotic fluid. Maybe she's thirsty ;-)

And the only thing I ever heard or read that "excessive" hiccups in the womb might indicate is that your baby may have a lot of hiccups out of the womb. It certainly was true with my son! My belly jumped nearly all day long with his hiccups and he had them a lot for the first several months after he was born.

[Kailey's mom]

My dd had hiccups it seems all. the. time. LOL... I miss that feeling, it was so neat. She was a preemi because I had pre-e.. but the hiccups were unrelated.. I wouldn't worry, really. Enjoy the feeling I thought it was so cool

[Materfamilias]

Seemed like DD hiccuped all the time. I never read anything about it being a problem, thank goodness. She turned out great

[Tiffanoodle]

All 3 of my children have had hiccups nearly constantly in utero and after birth also. None of them had any problems at all with their cords or placenta or anything. 100% healthy at birth.

[Theoretica]

Well, here's my antecdata for ya

My first pregnancy had a TON of hiccups, baby was born w/no cord issues. Second pregnancy had zilcho hiccups, not a single one that I recall, and had the cord around her neck and shoulder.

I don't think there's a correlation mama

[staceychev]

My daughter had crazy hiccups in utero--and still is very prone to hiccups at a 4.5YO. No cord issues with her.

[onlyboys]

One of my four had hiccups more than the others. He hiccuped so much that it literally kept me awake at night. One of the PP mentioned that hiccups mean that they are drinking amniotic fluid, which I had also read. When he was born, he was BY FAR the hungriest baby I had ever had. He latched on before he was a minute old and stayed latched for hours. He nursed pretty much 24-7 until my milk came in. I don't know that there's a correlation, but it was my experience. (He's still a little piggy and he's 6 years old. )

[Italiamom]

Hiccuping was always explained to me as being a side-effect of diaphragm growth, meaning your little one is just growing fast!

FWIW, I had cord issues, and my LO barely hiccuped. Usually he'd have a bout or two a day, for maybe a few minutes.

Also, if it puts your mind at ease, cord insertion is a standard checkpoint in routine ultrasounds. It's not something you have to ask for "special." Most technicians won't tell you that they're checking because they know that mamas worry. But if you don't see comments on your LOs cord insertion, it probably means that there's nothing wrong which is why no note is made. Much in the same way that your doctor's office will only call you back after a physical if something is wrong. If there's no problem, there's no use writing a note about it

[Bokonon]

I spent 3 weeks in the hospital before DD was born at 34 weeks. I had twice-daily non-stress tests (fetal monitoring). During those times, DD often had hiccups which knocked the monitor out of place, so the nurses knew when she had hiccups. They never said anything negative about it, just laughed at my bouncing little girl! And her heartrate always ranged from 120s-170s, just depending on her activity at the time.

It's all normal! I was in the hospital and delivered early for preeclampsia, and cord flow was checked regularly, but she was never in distress.

[MammaB21]

I'm confused about why hiccups in the whom would signify cord problems. I'm assuming the link would be lack of oxygen, but that isn't logical. A baby in the whom isn't 'breathing' like we are. They wouldn't 'try' to breath (ie: get hiccups) if there were lack of oxygen. If they weren't getting enough oxygen or nutrients through their cord, there are lots of other signs that would show up. I just don't see how hiccups could be the one and only sign of a cord problem. Not to mention that cord 'problems' aren't usually problems. My friend just had a baby last night who had the cord wrapped around his neck twice. Her doctor let her push normally and stayed very calm. He did have to clamp early because he couldn't unwrap the cord. Baby came out with a bit of a blue face. But doc handed baby to mom, rubbed his back a bit and guess what? Baby was just fine

If everything on your u/s is looking good (cord is of good length and structure) I wouldn't put too much more thought and worry into this. My DD had hiccups every day, all day (or at least it seemed) and there were no problems. I've never heard of it meaning anything negative.

[azmomtoone]

My DS would hiccup for hours at a time, literally....he had lots of hiccups after he was born too. No cord problems.

[_betsy_]

DD1 hiccupped all the time in utero, and had a totally normal cord and no problems whatsoever.

DD2 never had a single bout of hiccups in utero that I can recall, and had the cord wrapped around her neck (loosely, posed no danger) twice.

Try not to let it worry you. Maybe ease up on playing Dr. Google for a while, huh?