With my first I had one episode where I woke up in the middle of the night and my heart was absolutely racing and I couldn't get it to stop. I'm not talking 120 or 130bpm, but way faster and harder. I called the doctor on call and she told me that it happens sometimes because of the increased blood volume but it corrects itself (which it had by the time she called me back.) It was still scary, and her level of calm felt dismissive. Of course it was 2:00am and I'm sure she deals with it all the time, but I didn't.
When my second child was a year old I developed ppd that went undiagnosed by my doctor for months and got so bad that I began having panic attacks, including that horrid pounding/racing heart. That is an awful feeling. Normal heartrate is considered to be anything under 100bpm not pregnant, but when you're pregnant your heartrate increases anyway. I normally have a non-pregnant heartrate in the low 60s, and I'm now 27 weeks pregnant and my heartrate is always at least in the 90 range and higher. Just walking up stairs will push me well over 100bpm.
I would mention it to your hcp, but not worry too much about it. If you have any other symptoms like chest pain, excessive (not just pregnancy) shortness of breath or any of the other cardiac type symptoms, contact your doctor right away, but chances of it being anything other than a minor pregnancy nuicance is slim.
Edited to add after I reread your post, I notice the racing heartrate after I lay down at night too. By arrhythmia, do you mean your heart feels like it skips a beat? I have premature ventricular contractions (PVC's) where I feel like my heart is skipping a beat, but in reality it is beating prematurely and the pause is the rythm getting back on track. It can run in families ( my mother has them sometimes also.) I have noticed them more often during this pregnancy than I do when I'm not pregnant, and strangely, I notice them when we eat at two particular restaraunts. Strange isn't it. I drink caffine in moderation and I think that it's their soda that does it. I don't know if there is more syrup in there soda or what, but I can count on feeling PVC's when I'm there.
When my second child was a year old I developed ppd that went undiagnosed by my doctor for months and got so bad that I began having panic attacks, including that horrid pounding/racing heart. That is an awful feeling. Normal heartrate is considered to be anything under 100bpm not pregnant, but when you're pregnant your heartrate increases anyway. I normally have a non-pregnant heartrate in the low 60s, and I'm now 27 weeks pregnant and my heartrate is always at least in the 90 range and higher. Just walking up stairs will push me well over 100bpm.
I would mention it to your hcp, but not worry too much about it. If you have any other symptoms like chest pain, excessive (not just pregnancy) shortness of breath or any of the other cardiac type symptoms, contact your doctor right away, but chances of it being anything other than a minor pregnancy nuicance is slim.
Edited to add after I reread your post, I notice the racing heartrate after I lay down at night too. By arrhythmia, do you mean your heart feels like it skips a beat? I have premature ventricular contractions (PVC's) where I feel like my heart is skipping a beat, but in reality it is beating prematurely and the pause is the rythm getting back on track. It can run in families ( my mother has them sometimes also.) I have noticed them more often during this pregnancy than I do when I'm not pregnant, and strangely, I notice them when we eat at two particular restaraunts. Strange isn't it. I drink caffine in moderation and I think that it's their soda that does it. I don't know if there is more syrup in there soda or what, but I can count on feeling PVC's when I'm there.
