Irregular heartbeat detected at 24 weeks

nellin-2

Hi everyone,
So in the last couple of weeks I've finally relaxed and started to let myself enjoy this pregnancy. 
I'm 24 weeks and my scan today showed my cervix has shrunk from 3.5cm to 2.7cm in the last 2 weeks and even more worrying is that they picked up on an irregular heartbeat. I was so shocked that I barely asked any questions and it wasn't my normal specialist and she barely told me anything! 
I have a follow-up appointment next week and I'll be very prepared with questions but I was wondering if anyone here has had this experience and hopefully has some reassurance? Or just regular supportive words...

Colleen0516

Im sorry, @nellin! I unfortunately have no experience with that, so I can't say anything help ease the worry. But I can understand the how you're feeling! Since they didn't say anything to you about it right away, I would assume that it's someothing normal and something they see a lot. Usually, if it was something that they were very concerned about, you would have an immediate follow up appointment- they wouldn't wait a week. That's what I would think at least! But I think writing down all your questions sounds like a good plan. I always have a million and then my mind goes blank when I'm at the doctor. Write it down and ask!! I'll be praying for u in the mean time!

hopeby2015

I have no experience with this but just wanted to say you will be in my thoughts and prayers!  I hope it all goes well.

JWatt5

@Nellin - I'm sorry you're going through this. Like Colleen I dont have any experience with it but I wonder the same, with a follow up appt a week later hopefully it's something they feel can be controlled - thinking about you and hope some of the other girls can help you out with this! 

kdanjou

Thoughts and prayers to you!  Hopefully it all looks normal at your next appt.

byrneme

Like PP, I don't have any experience but think that if it was super concerning they wouldn't make you wait. I'll be thinking of you @Nellin

janejane-2

@Nellin - my prayers are with you. I don't have experience w/ this. I understand about going blank though. At my fetal echo the dr. noted that one twin had mild kidney issues (forgot the medical term). I basically walked out w/ no real questions. When I told my husband he asked me like 100 questions. We sent the dr. an email the following day w/ my husband's Qs and she sent us a very long response. Does your doctor allow emails? It was a relief to get some answers so quickly. Maybe a phone call to ease your concerns? I'm w/ the other ladies that if it was such an issue they wouldn't make you wait a whole week for a follow-up appointment. 

wifeinraleigh28

I'm so sorry and you're in my thoughts I know you must be so worried, but hopefully it is nothing!

tvh1982

I'm sorry you've got to hear that.
Very often it is nothing, and currs itself. As the heart is developing in your 2nd trimester it still has some errors that'll freak a mother out!
As they let you wait a week, it is probably because they didn't see anything major and expect it to be gone or better by then.
Yet none of that will stop you to worry. As you want to hear/see it for yourself.
Hang in there!

flanners1

Hi @Nellin unfortunately I don't have experience with the irregular heart beat but I do know a thing or two about shortened (or incompetent) cervixes! 
If they were really seriously worried about your cervical length, they would have put you on immediate and full bedrest. Even admitted you right then and there. 2.7cm is not a great length but it's still ok. Others get at admitted at below 1 usually. 
My cervix has gone from 3.5 to 2.5 in 1 week, then back up to 3.2 and down to 2.2 and is now at a 3. I have lower measurements when I'm stressed out or have been walking around too much. Take it easy, rest, sleep and treat yourself well. Get your doc to give you a medical certificate to work from home if that helps.  

As they mentioned above, they wouldn't have let you go home and stay away for a week if they were seriously concerned. But I agree with @JaneJane, email or call your regular OB to get some answers. 1 week can feel very long... hang in there 

kelrauh

@Nellin - I dont have experience with heart issues, but when something showed up abnormal on our scan for baby boy I didnt know what to say at first, but as I had questions I reached out to the doctors. They are there to help you and give you all of the information. 

Your cervical length isn't too bad. I would have them watch it close as it can change fast if something is causing it. I had 3.5 cm cervix at 19.5 weeks and then no measurable at 22.5 weeks and I'm still laying here on bed rest at 30 weeks with twins. Just keep an eye on it and if you feel cramps or alot of tightening slow down and make sure to tell your doctor at your next appt. 

nellin-2

Thanks so much everyone for the kind words, I don't know what I'd do without this community (be more of a nervous wreck probably!).
I think I'll give my regular nurse/midwife a call today as a start. 
Part of the problem was they could see there was an issue but she wouldn't stop jumping around so they couldn't get a good reading. But you are all right - if they were really worried they wouldn't wait a week. 
Thanks again, you guys are the best!

ZoeFer

I do not have any experience either but I can totally understand your worry. I remember there was one or two ladies having some heart issues in their second trimester but of course I cannot remember exactly what the issues were. I think the heart or the kidney problems usually cure themselves in time. You can reach out to birth month clubs if you want to talk to someone who experienced this ? 
I hope that you will find out that everything is resolved until your next appointment ! Best of luck

nellin-2

I had a good chat with my midwife who calmed me down. I love my midwife she is so level-headed and knowledge about the system (she worked as a nurse and midwife in the delivery suite at the local hospital and then managed the hospital delivery department).  She had spoken with the specialist and didn't seem to be a fan of her.

 I have a follow-up ultrasound in a week and depending on the results of that they may send me to get an echo. Unfortunately they can't do that where I live so it'd be a 2 hour drive. She said this is reasonably common and most of the time sorts itself out well before birth.
Same deal with the cervix, it's not a dangerous length yet but I just need to take it easy and they will monitor it and intervene if they need to.

Thanks again for the support! Feeling low level worried but much more calm now

wifeinraleigh28

@Nellin I'm glad your midwife was able to calm your nerves! I second the recommendation to reach out to your BMB since this is a much smaller (though more awesome IMO ) group, and there may be plenty of other ladies with your experience over there. As for the echo, I had one of those done and it was pretty straight forward. They'll definitely be able to see everything that's going on with the heart at that appointment! Good luck, I hope everything evens itself out!

byrneme

@Nellin I'm glad you were able to get some reassurance and peace!! I have my fetal echo today - is this not done standard for you? It's something I was told they do for all IVF babies (sorry - I can't remember if you were IUI or IVF!). Regardless,  I'm glad you have some peace of mind!

babylonghorn16

@byrneme I haven't had a fetal echo and I'm 36 weeks. They only checked heart during our anatomy scan. Said it was fully formed, so that was it! Makes me wonder though...

@Nellin I'm glad you got some peace of mind from your midwife! Prayers for you and baby!

byrneme

@Babylong16 - I wish docs would use evidence based medicine on things like this so it would be standard! Our a/s showed everything was fine but, bc it's an IVF baby and there's a SLIGHT risk of abnormalities, they do the fetal echo to get a closer look. So bizarre.

tvh1982

That's lovely to hear. Glad your midwife could calm your nerves a wee bit.

wifeinraleigh28

@byrneme My doctor does an echo on all IVF babies too because of that risk!

teebric

Glad to hear your midwife was able to calm your nerves a little @Nellin, I too love my midwife and the advice she has given me along the way. Hopefully the problem sorts itself out with your LOs heart, as for you cervix, make sure you look after yourself and take it easy! 
I also didn't have a fetal echo, but being over in Australia, we have a different system of care. At my AS they did focus a lot on the heart and blood vessels so I'm wondering if there was anything unusual if they would have had me do further testing. 
Also, I thought that it was IVF with ICSI that had the risk of the heart problem?

nellin-2

I'm in New Zealand so I guess they do things a bit different here too, there are only three cities you can get an echo done in the country! 
My 20 week AS took over an hour and they spent a lot of time checking out all the heart chambers and the red/blue view which shows blood flow. Everything apparently looked perfect then so hopefully this is just a blip.
Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that next week brings better news! 

teebric

I'll be keeping fingers and toes crossed for you also!! 

nellin-2

Thanks so much for all the support - it really makes a difference!
We haven't told our families or friends about it yet (in-laws are just about to go on holiday for a few weeks and I don't want to worry them unnecessarily until we know more).

teriulbricht I think a number of factors increase risk for heart defects including family history, age, IVF, ICSI, multiples. I'm 33 (32 y.o. eggs) with a singleton, no history on either side of any heart issues and we didn't need ICSI.
It's all just statistics and probabilities but sometimes numbers can be reassuring. 

kelrauh

@Nellin when we found out our little guy had mild ventriculomegaly we didn't tell our families. We waited until we knew more. It turns out that they didn't get a good measurement on one side of his brain and the other is very minimal so they deemed he probably won't have issues he just probably has a big head and brain. I'm glad we didn't tell our family and make them nervous because it ended up being nothing. Hopefully this is the case for you too where it was just a scare and nothing to worry about.

nellin-2

Thanks @kelrauh, I'm really hoping next week will bring better news!