So worried about baby after a&e palpitations trip :(

[rach971]

I'll start by saying I am a worrier anyway. I had a missed miscarriage at 7 weeks back in August so I'm also well aware that if anything was wrong with baby, your body doesn't always recognise that, which just adds to the anxiety :( I'm 16 weeks pregnant now

I ended up in a&e last night for heart palpitations. I do get them occasionally and I've ended up in hospital once before back in December with them.

When you're there, they get you to blow super hard into a medicine syringe until you nearly pass out and then tip you right back on the bed at a vertical angle. They tried this twice and it didn't work so they had to give me a drug called adenosine twice to bring it back down. The drug is supposedly safe in pregnancy though.

I just can't see how a super fast heart rate, having to blow into a tube for so long (so I was essentially holding my breath/I'm worried about baby not getting oxygen), being tipped back fast, and then having to have that drug twice, has all been okay and not affected the baby. The doctors and nurses assured me baby will be fine but I just need to know.

I would book a private ultrasound but I've already had two due to anxiety, and a third last week to find out gender.

I'd even heard the heart beat that morning at a consultant appointment so was feeling super reassured and now I'm just an anxious mess again :( I just want someone to tell me she's definitely okay in there.

Only slight upside is I have my 16w midwife appointment on Thursday so maybe she would listen to the heartbeat for me 😫

I get heart palpitations pretty regularly. I e never needed to go into hospital with them as I know they’re common for lots of people. They did increase during pregnancy but the midwife said that it’s really common because of the extra blood flow, they can also be made worse by being dehydrated and obviously anxiety. But they don’t affect baby at all. The best thing you can do is try to relax and find ways to manage your anxiety. Definitely make your midwife aware of your anxiety levels as it can be a sign that you need extra support during pregnancy and after birth

@Twoinapod Thank you. The reason I ended up in A&E in December was because they'd gone on for 10 hours and weren't stopping so I thought I should probably go. It was 184bpm and they told me next time don't leave it longer than two hours. If they don't go away after two hours, come straight in. It was around 165bpm this time but didn't come down as easily.

I phoned triage at the hospital pregnancy unit today and the lady was really reassuring. She said see if the midwife will listen in to the heartbeat at my 16w appointment next week for some reassurance, and if not then pop down to the hosp and they'll listen