High RHR in early pregnancy - Is this normal?

[Lilybow]

Im currently 4weeks+4. Before I was pregnant my RHR was between 59-63, last week it crept up to 67, yesterday was 68 and now it's 69! Is this normal or should I be worried?
I'm an anxious person anyway but it's never been this high...

It’s normal.. it’s actually how a lot of women find out they are pregnant. My RHR was high 50s pre pregnancy and went up to 80’s in pregnancy!!! I’m 7 weeks post partum and it’s only coming down now but still in high 60’s.

Yep, normal....I found it really disconcerting. Mine was usually around 65 but went up to late 70's in pregnancy and it felt like it was racing a bit. Settled quickly postnatally.

Early pregnancy hormones can lower your blood pressure , which in turn can cause your heart rate to rise in order to compensate. They usually wouldn't worry unless bp became very low or hr became very high. Keep hydrated and it should help.

Mine started high 50s and crept up and up. I am 26 weeks with twins and about 2 weeks ago decided to take off my Fitbit because it was too much pressure seeing how few steps I now took compared to before (from like 13k a day to 6-7k a day), and how high my RHR had gone (mid to high 70s.)

I know once they're here, I will get back to it but for now I am just proud of my body for doing what it's supposed to do.

Yeah, there’s an interesting thread on the Conception board where people have posted their Fitbit RHR charts. Fascinating! (I got my hopes up last cycle when mine jumped up to 4bpm higher than it had ever registered, but unfortunately got a BFN. So I guess it’s not foolproof!)

Mine went from an average of 52 BPM up to 65BPM when I got my BFP. I'm now approaching 10weeks and my HR is now around 55BPM.

I'm still physically active (running a half marathon today) and still very fit. I don't think there is a link between HR and pregnancy after the initial 2-4weeks post conception.

There definitely IS a link! As your pregnancy progresses you have massively increased blood volume and flow, your heart rate has to increase accommodate this. It happens more
In the second trimester and into the 3rd. I’m fit too, ran a half marathon at 6 months pregnant but my RHR has increased by about 20bpm. It’s normal and there’s a physiological reason for it.

My RHR has definitely increased and it's something I always looked out for at the end of each month to work out if I was pregnant. I learned when I did get pregnant, however, that it doesn't shoot up suddenly like I was expecting. It actually wasn't until the second trimester that it really started rising significantly and I'm now just entering the third trimester and am all the way up to 87 from a pre pregnancy range of around the high 50's! I'm worried about how high it's going to go considering there's another 3 months left 😂

This is more for anyone that may stumble upon this thread and worry about if their pregnancy RHR is normal.

I've just come back from my MW appointment where I raised (no pun intended) the question about raised RHR during pregnancy. I mentioned that the internet and MN were talking about RHR increasing during pregnancy and some people were quoting going >80 BPM. I said mine was only 2 BPM above pre pregnancy and that it has dropped significantly since getting my BFP at 4 weeks. We spoke about my fitness/activity levels where I said they haven't changed in my first trimester vs pre pregnancy.

She said:

• All women are different. Many women do not experience LT increased RHR and have very healthy children
• if RHR increases too much they'd bring you in for more tests as there could be an issue
• in her experience seeing 17 pregnant patients a day 5 days a week for >15 years. A key cause of the elevated RHR especially in the first trimester is that some women change their food intake (due to being too nauseous to eat), stop moving regularly (due to being fatigued) - these things increase your HR. In most cases if you remain as active as you were pre pregnancy and always had a balanced diet that remains balanced during pregnancy after the initial elevation your HR should start to return to normal as placenta takes over. In the 2nd trimester and onwards as you physically get bigger you likely move (on average) less and then your RHR elevates again. As you find your new normal movements wise your RHR plateaus again.

I say this not to make those with elevated RHR worry or to discount what you are experiencing - instead I say this to offer balance as we all continue on our pregnancy journeys.