High fetal heart rate

[Lana23]

Hello
Again me and my silly questions hehe I'm sorry for posting about my concern all the time ,but i truly appreciate when u share ur own opinions and advices

I went in for monitoring last night coz i was contracting.False alarm.I did have contractions but they weren't regular and weren't affecting my cervix.
However at the beginning when they plugged the monitor my baby was moving so much and got upset trying to push the electrodes.Her HR went up to 200 for a second and was staying above 170-180 for few minutes while she was trying to escape.
It got me worried and i asked the nurse so she said i might have fever or infection.During the time she went to get the BP machine, the HR slowed down so she didn't seem concern enough to tell this to the doctor.
During the rest of the hour and a half the HR was normal (120-140).Sometimes dropped under 120 for second, but went back very quick.

Does anyone know why the HR was so high at the beginning and did it ever happen to u during the time u were monitored?
I totally forgot to ask the doc but now i'm bit worried.
Thanks

[katelove]

Without actually assessing you or seeing the trace I can't be sure of course but it sounds like a normal variation to me. Especially if the babe was particularly active at the time and it returned to a lower baseline within a few minutes and all the other signs were positive.

The nurse was right that a fever can increase the foetal heart but it would generally stay high as long as the fever was present. And, a foetal tachycardia due to maternal fever is very often associated with other nonreassuring signs like loss of accelerations and/or variability. So the trace looks quite flat. In my experience it is unusual for tachycardia to be the *only* response to fever.

The other possibility is that it was artifact. One of the known faults of CTG machines is that they can't tell the difference between maternal and foetal pulse so they just record the one which is clearest and, sometimes, if there is a lot of movment and it's hard to pick up they will double the pulse. So it may have been reading and doubling your pulse instead of picking up the baby's for that brief period. That's why you always take and document the mother's pulse when you start a CTG. Did you happen to notice what your pulse rate was at the time?

But, I think my first guess is the most likely - normal response of a healthy, active baby

[MsBlack]

I agree with katelove

Too bad that nurse told you that! What a silly thing for her to do. Or at least, she might have explained more fully (as kate did, above), including the much more likely scenario that a very active baby is going to have a higher heart rate just the same as you or me.

When we are at rest, we have a normal pulse rate (usually 60ish to 80ish, varying individually). If we stand up and walk to the kitchen, say, our pulse rate will rise a bit--maybe by 10-20 beats per minute (depending on how physically, cardio-fit we are). But if we jump up and start dancing wildly to fast paced music, well then our heart rate will rise much more steeply! Which is also normal--it is what a heart is SUPPOSED to do, to keep us well enough oxygenated when we are burning more energy than usual. It is no different for a baby in the womb--except that a baby's normal range for heartrate is 120ish--160ish.

So, what your nurse might have said is "no worries! That is probably a *good* sign, baby's heart rate SHOULD rise when active, as a healthy heart is meant to do. We'll just watch a bit, and I bet we'll see the baby's heart rate reduce as s/he calms down a bit. If it doesn't, well then we'll just ask the doc if there is a cause for concern".

I can only imagine that if *you* had not been given that dose of stress by the nurse , baby might well have settled down easier/faster....because babies do respond to our adrenaline, and all other emotional and physical factors of mamas.

So keep that in mind....breathe deep, release stress, send love to baby!

[mwherbs]

when are you due? I am thinking that at the time you went in for monitoring if you are still preterm that the tec or nurse who was getting you set up had that additionally on her mind. So if you are showing up in possible PTL and a bit of a fast heart rate is heard it would be on my mind that you might have an infection- like UTI which will commonly do both things. After further monitoring and doing some labs it all turned out that fast rate was transient and most likely due to activity and the possible PTL was just braxton hicks and hopefully someone did a little more like run a urine lab then those things are ruled out - so to be clear the things that were of concern at the moment are now ruled out .
Have you taken birth education classes? or hypnobabies? who is going to accompany you to the hospital for labor? this little taste you just had is what it is going to be like for you whole labor including incomplete answers. I would strongly recommend that you find a doula to accompany you a real live person who has some education and awareness and practiced in supporting families in labor it may help to relieve some of your worries. I would say call soon and not wait to find someone, I know locally the Doula group has an on-call doula program where women who cannot afford to hire a doula can still be supported in labor- so there may be a way to find support even if you can't afford it.

[jecombs]

I was having an NST and U/S in my MW's office and a similar thing happened to me. DD's heartrate went up toward the 200 range and stayed there. DD was also moving all around, being very active at the time. So, they sent me to the hospital for further monitoring (also with a newer monitor). By the time I drove there, walked up to L&D, and got hooked-up, DD had fallen asleep and her heartrate was back in the low/normal range. My personal theory at the time was that she just didn't like all the poking and prodding my belly was getting from the u/s and nst, so she got upset and active, which caused her heartrate to go up.

Try not to worry Mama! Things worked out just fine for me and I'm sure they will for you too.

[MsBlack]

I totally agree with mwherbs...having a knowledgeable birth buddy can really help reduce stress and help you have a more informed, relaxed pregnancy and birth experience, for sure.