wwyd in this situation?

[Barbie1]

Hello

A have a heart condition which effects me more during pregnancy.

Every day I have episodes of palpitations which make me feel very close to passing out. This can occur any number if times throughout the day and last about 2-4 minutes a time.

There seems to be little trigger apart from the heat or if I move too quickly.

I have been offered medication to control some of this.

Here lies the problem...

Both my previous babies have experienced a slowing of growth from 34 weeks.

Dd (c section) at term weighed 5lbs

Ds (c section) 37 weeks due to breech and cord wrapped around neck 5.2lb.

Both heathy but small.

My doctors thinks I'm just someone who carries small and suggested closer monitoring from 32 weeks again in this pregnancy.

However the heart drugs pose a risk of premature birth and low birth weight.

With my history of low birth weigh anyway I'm concerned.

So now I'm stumped. Do I look after my own health first or risk continued palpitations and stress to my heart and potentially place dc3 in an difficult position?

I'm 20 weeks now and from past experience the palpitations will only get worse at I progress.

Sorry for essay

Thanks for the reply.

I didn't take medication throughout the last two pregnancies I like you I try to take as little as possible.

My heart doctor was keen for me to take them but my obstetrician wasn't so keen.

I lived in the M.E at the time and decided the way to go was constant monitoring of my heart and to get additional help at home.

After the birth I was strongly advised not to have any more children which I was happy to follow as two children were enough.

I was booked for an operation to correct heart problem.

However we relocated to Asia and I had this unexpected pregnancy....

This is by far worse of all the pregnancies, I'm really struggling.

The only saving grace is that I can feel an attack coming on so always make sure my children are save, and I can sit until it passes.

So far I haven't had one while resting or sitting, including driving.

Obviously it's effecting my grammar and punctuation

If you were to have a severe case of your condition, it would harm you and baby right?

I think you need to go to your specialist and ask for a second opinion or explanation given that you 'carry small' with regards to dose.

I do not think you should avoid taking meds though. Allow them to sort you out a suitable dose.

I have booked a flight back to the uk and will have further test done there.

Part of the problem here is the communication issue.

I would be willing to take something as long as I had constant monitoring as would the baby.

If I knew there was a chance of early c section then at least I can prepare myself.

I suffer with heart palpitations too. I've been under the cardiologist for years but when I fell pregnant they stopped all my medication.

I lasted until 24 weeks before I gave in and saw the cardiologist again. I have been on the medication for 6 weeks, and had it increased about 10 days ago as I was still struggling. I've had growth scans booked, but due to gestational diabetes, baby is anything but small.

Every decision that has been made by the cardiologist was with my input. He told me what the risks were, and I could weigh up the options myself. For me, I needed to be quite active as I have had exams for the last month, and will have for another few weeks. I suffer awful side effects but it's better than the palpitations. I saw him again today, if it keeps getting worse, all he can offer me is bed rest on a ward until 38 weeks. That's 7 1/2 weeks away!

It is all down to what is best for you and your family. I've opted to take the meds and manage at home, try and take it easier because I need to be at home. But I am open to changing my mind if circumstances change.

Just keep your options open, it may be that you can cope for a little while longer, and start on a smaller dose, gradually increasing it as it gets worse. Whatever you decide now is not the final choice, things can always be altered.

I'm not sure what it's like where you are, but I've got an open door to my cardiologist and obstetrician so can always call up if I have questions or change my mind. But just remember you still need to look after yourself, even if that just means putting your feet up a little bit more.

selly thanks for taking time to post.

Sounds like you have excellent support and are taking things slowly.

Unfortunately for me the country I'm currently in makes it very hard to even get an appointment let alone with an 'English speaker'

I have been giving 5 days of medication, to be used when my symptoms are especially bad or for when I travel back to the uk at the end of this month.

Sadly there is very little chance of putting feet up, I have to travel back to the uk as my dm has had a recent cancer diagnoses and on top of this we have a huge international move to do before I get to the cut off date of 28 week to be able to fly....

I have arranged to see the heart consultant while back in the uk and will take his advise.

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy x

Hello, what a difficult situation for you. Do you know whether the risk of premature birth with the medication is because the deliveries are induced due to growth restriction, or is it linked to spontaneous premature delivery? You tend to be watched quite closely when on these sorts of meds and they do intervene if the baby looks growth restricted, so this might explain why more babies are born early in women on these medicines. The other q I might ask the heart consultant is whether your previous smaller babies may have been linked to your heart condition. factors that affect blood pressure and circulation in the mother can be linked to IUGR although I'm not sure if heart conditions per se are, but definitely worth an ask. If this is possibly the case, I wonder whether it would be more unlikely that the effects of the medicines and any predisposition would be additive, because the medicines would be hopefully correcting any effects of the illness. I am not a doctor so these may be ridiculously simplistic thoughts. Good luck with everything, I really feel for you x