I wonder if anyone has any experience of having seen an irregular slow heartbeat in a baby during the second trimester? Either parents or perhaps a resident fetal medicine expert!
We had an ultrasound Friday at 18w+1 and the consultant identified that although the average was 157bpm there was more than one short episode of 30-40bpm. He did not spend more than 30-60s monitoring the heartbeat and all other scan indications are good (heart/brain structure, growth etc.). We only realised things were bad when he called another consultant into the room and they discussed this with us. We will have another scan early next week with the most senior consultant and they prepared us for the worst (we could find no heartbeat) whilst putting no likelihood on any particular outcome. They do say they have seen good outcomes from scenarios like this, but below 40bpm is very low.
The internet has limited information on this, the scientific type papers do not indicate a terribly high likelihood of losing the baby. But clearly that's our fear and may well happen :-(
Background is that we are having 4-weekly scans throughout this pregnancy, attending a special clinic as our second daughter was lost to pre-eclampsia at 39w+2, this very week last year. And our eldest and sole surviving daughter had UGR and was delivered small but safely at 37+5 by induction. We seem to manage to hit every niche and terrifying pregnancy possibility.