Heart rate in early pregnancy

[MissHoney85]

Did anyone track their heart rate during pregnancy, especially the first few weeks? I wear a Garmin watch so keep a track of mine. I'm currently 4 +3 and in the last week my resting heart rate has gone up steadily from 53 to 62. Did anyone else notice this? When did it level off / go back down?

I wear a Fitbit and am 28+3. Mine has not gone back down and has only gone up. My BPM was 45 pre pregnancy and is currently 64.

I didn't check but know my heart rate goes way up. Starts stabilising (or may be I get used to it) in second trimester

Mine sits around 70-80 on a daily basis and 20 weeks pregnant.
I'm struggling with my breathing at the minute so that's probably why.
However I have a BP machine and thankfully it's perfectly normal so I'm not concerned

Heart rate goes up because your blood volume actually goes up during pregnancy so it has to work harder to pump or blood around your system

Mine has always stayed high during pregnancy but fallen if the pregnancy wasn't viable

Yes mine went up about 10bpm according to my fitbit fairly early on and and has gone up to 15bpm over my non-pregnant HR now I'm at 38 weeks. :)

My normal resting HR was about 55-60 9 months ago.

@ivfgottostaypositive thanks for that. I was wondering whether it going down word be a bad sign. It's been pretty much the same today as yesterday but I've noticed a few random drops. I think I'm going to have to take the watch off tomorrow, it's becoming another source of stress!

I’m doing the exact same thing! I’m about 5 weeks and I’ve noticed this last week it goes up 2bpm. Today it’s only raised by 1bpm and I’m worried that’s not a good sign (but I’m also spotting so I’m freaking out about that too).

Mines gone up to over 100bmp now and I had an echocardiogram and ecg In the hospital and they’ve decided that it’s just pregnancy that has caused mine to increase dramatically. No idea if it’s meant to go back down afterwards but the tests didn’t show anything very significant.

I have an Apple Watch and have in the past monitored my BPM, which was really low (low 40’s) and the occasional time an alarm went off because my BPM dropped below 40 . I am really fit but since pregnancy, although I’m still really active, my heart rate has continued to increase. For instance I’m currently at rest and it’s 71BPM - I’m almost 29 weeks pregnant. If I go for a challenging countryside walk, I can get that up to 140BPM. Previously it would have taken a weight-lifting/HIIT training session to get me in that range
To be honest, I have largely stopped monitoring my heart rate - I’m not concerned because I believe the higher BPM reflects the hard work my body is putting into growing my baby, not to mention all of the extra blood that’s circulating/been produced. It’s an extraordinary task to grow another human being and I can only imagine how hard my body is working in the background. All of my midwife checks with blood pressure etc are all spot on and I feel great so I’m stepping aside and letting my body do what it’s clearly very capable of doing without any scrutiny from me!

Hi, I have a Fitbit too and it’s easy to get sucked in to the HR data. If you can take it off you are stronger willed than me! I will say this, last year I had MMC and looking back at my data my HR did plummet around when the baby died.

However I will caveat this with the fact that all can be well even if it drops. I have been diagnosed with Hypermesis, thankfully it’s under control now but at my worst I was in hospital and extremely dehydrated. Before pregnancy my HR was 52, it had steadily climbed to 65, and when I was in hospital it dropped back to 57, I was terrified as I thought the same thing was happening all over again. Turns out dehydration will affect your rHR. As can many things, medication etc. It’s climbed right back up now I can keep liquid down. Just writing this I know it would be better to hide the Fitbit in a draw, but I just can’t.

@IShineAShoe fingers crossed for you! I'm sure a 1bpm rise is nothing to worry about - it's not an exact science, and it has to level off some time or you'd have an insane heart rate by 9 months!

My heart raced for the first five months of my last pregnancy, a much wanted but surprise conception, I had a 24 hr heart monitor and it was just put down to stress in the end, eventually it calmed down and baby was delivered on time and healthy

@MissHoney85 thank you. I had a loss last year and I just feel this one is heading the same way.

My heart is racing constantly too its 89bpm when I’m just sitting down doing nothing

Mine went up till 6weeks and then started dropping back to normal which for me is 58bpm. I was pretty worried at the time having had a previous miscarriage but I spoke to the midwife and it's your heart adjusting and coping with extra demand. It's a sign you are fit and healthy. I'm now 14 weeks and it's gone up to 65bpm and has been dropping slowly again the last few days so try not to worry =)

@Kelpies thank you for that reassurance. My heart is still racing most of the time but I think a lot of that is stress from worrying about it in a lovely vicious circle! I've taken the watch off today.