Heartbeat irregularity at 18 weeks

[Mommyintraining2]

About 4 days ago, when I woke up in the morning, I noticed that every 30 seconds or so, I could feel my heart beat extra strong, so strong my insides would shake. It went away after a few hours. This has happened every morning since. Today, it hasn't gone away and is now happening every 5-7 beats. It goes like this:

da-dah
da-dah
da-dah
da-da-DAH
(pause)
da-dah
da-dah
da-dah
da-dah
da-da-DAH
(pause)
da-dah


I know my blood volume has increased due to the pregnancy. This is my third pregnancy. But I've never experienced anything like this. My blood pressure is 108/57. I'm thinking about going to a doctor tomorrow. Have you ever heard of this being normal during pregnancy?

[PuppyFluffer]

Not a birth professional...
I had weird palpitations around 19 weeks in my current pregnancy. I followed up with a cardiologist as I had had this problem before when not pregnant. They didn't find a cause the last time and didn't find one this time either. My bouts of it were sporatic, at most occuring about 6 times an hour for a few hours, then not occuring for many hours. The cardio told me it not uncommon to experience irregular palpitations during pregnancy.

My midwife and my family practitioner suggested I increase my mineral intake and supplement with a magnesium supplement. As soon as I did this, it all went away! coincidence, maybe, maybe not!

[Mommyintraining2]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Interestingly, I did let up on taking my minerals, including magnesium, the day before it all started up. I was traveling and got lax. I'll make it a point to get back on track. It will be interesting if it makes a difference.

[PuppyFluffer]

Not a birth professional...
I had weird palpitations around 19 weeks in my current pregnancy. I followed up with a cardiologist as I had had this problem before when not pregnant. They didn't find a cause the last time and didn't find one this time either. My bouts of it were sporatic, at most occuring about 6 times an hour for a few hours, then not occuring for many hours. The cardio told me it not uncommon to experience irregular palpitations during pregnancy.

My midwife and my family practitioner suggested I increase my mineral intake and supplement with a magnesium supplement. As soon as I did this, it all went away! coincidence, maybe, maybe not!

[MommaLauraRN]

I had that in my 2nd pregnancy but not my first...I think it started around 13-14 weeks and tapered off somewhere near the end of 2nd tri. It was mostly in the evening time for me when I would lay down to relax...I browsed the internet at the time and it sounded like premature atrial contractions or premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). One of my friends got them during each of her pregnancies and will still get them if she has too much caffeine.

[limboland la la]

extra heartbeat with pregnancy usually normal

Hi-- you probably don't have to worry-- although it's always good to get it listened to by a professional first (especially if you have a paying insurance.) .

I had/have the same thing...an extra heartbeat is actually very common (if you do a google search, the numbers on the internet state about 5 percent of the general population have one.... and what's more by and large not considered dangerous.)

Most of the time the reasons for an extra heartbeat can't be found... but pregancy can be a factor for inducing it. A little stress on the body and perhaps our increased blood volume makes it more noticeable.

The first time doc's noticed was when I was in college and had an EKG and holter hook up for 24 hours (records and graphs your hearts on this little machine attached to your body)... not surprisingly they didn't find anything. And there's no reason to be concerned. Since then, at my physicals some doctors hear it, and others don't.

Almost all of the time it's not serious, but can be bothersome. So some people choose to go on medication to regulate it.

Here are a couple of websites that I found informative, and let me breathe a bit easier:

http://www.healthandage.com/Home/gm=...414C6E2FFB479B

http://books.google.co.th/books?id=3...6s2qquAo&hl=en

look at the section "pregnancy and palpitations"

[limboland la la]

.

P.S. I agree with MommaLauraRN that from your description it sounds like PACs or PVCs... but of course a doc would know for sure.

[courtenay_e]

I had it with both of my pregnancies and have it on and off now, too. I, too, had a holter for 24 hours. Basically they said that it can be caused by:

stress
lack of sleep
increase in hormones
caffeine
artificial sweetners (actually Splenda is my biggest trigger...for the longest time I didn't know that I was injesting it...it was in the GUM I was chewing)

and/or any combination therein. I agree that it can't hurt to get it checked out, but I would bet that it is being caused by an increase in hormones and possibly a diminishment in the amount of sleep you're getting (are you up a lot to pee?)

[Mommyintraining2]

Wow! Great info! Thank you everyone. I did have a substantial lack of sleep at the time it started from travel (jet lag), and a teething nine month old. Makes a lot of sense.