Silly fears about resting heart rate

[sashastuck]

Hi all,
I know I should follow my own advice and take the Fitbit off or stop worrying. But I’ve noticed that my RHR has been steadily rising since before my BFP, which made me feel quite reassured. Today, at 5 weeks, my RHR has dropped by 2.

Did anyone track RHR in pregnancy or know much about it? Realistically it’s still way above my pre-pregnancy RHR but I can’t stop myself from getting worked up. Any reassurance would be greatly appreciated Xx

Do you normally have health anxiety?

I didn't actively track mines but my watch flashed a message that it rose around wk 4. It has dropped since, I've had messages flash up but haven't been overly concerned about it. Assumed it's my body getting used to the extra blood / work etc.

I did the exact same. Saw a drop around 6/7 weeks and lost my mind! Took the thing off and only put it back on after my 12 week scan. All ok I wouldn't think too much into it - my RHR is sat around 15-20 above normal but when it dips I don't panic like I used to!

You RHR will be higher during pregnancy as your body is working harder.

you RHR will fluctuate throughout the day and that’s completely normal !!

I track my heart rate as it usually is an indication for me how my thyroid is doing as I fluctuate between over and underactive.

Anyway, from 7 dpo it started to rise by about a beat per minute every day, until it got to about 8 bpm faster than what my RHR was before. Since then, it's come down a couple of beats per minute and has kind of reset at 6bpm higher than pre-pregnancy. This happened at about 6 weeks.

I'm now 9+2 and it undulates slightly, going a couple of bpm higher or lower, but following about the trend of 6bpm higher.

Obviously, everyone I'd different and many factors outside of pregnancy can effect your heartrate- dehydration, an illness, stress, etc. I'd try not to worry, I'm sure that it's fine!

The exact same thing here. Has been rising steadily since BFP but been dropping from 6weeks (81 down to 78 today at 6w +2).

I’ve found a few Reddit threads that say it’s normal, but still a bit worrying.

Take the Fitbit off it's the best thing you can do - you will become obsessed with checking it and it will make your anxiety around it much worse (which will then increase your heart rate more!). RHR fluctuations are normal all the time, but it is common for it to change in pregnancy. Your heart rate will get checked at the same time as your blood pressure at all your midwife appointments.
In both my pregnancies my heart rate was always high at my appointments - 110bpm I think was the lowest it ever was. I was sent to triage for monitoring and an ecg every time from around 24 weeks. I had 24 hour tapes, echos and everything was always fine. It was literally just an anxious thing that my heart rate went up every time I went for an appointment. They may just keep a closer eye - i had extra appointments and had to give birth in labour suite (instead of a stand-alone midwife led unit) so I could be monitored during labour.
Both totally healthy pregnancies and gave birth to totally healthy babies ☺️

Mine has been the same and I also did lots of googling and saw other people say it happened them and everything was absolutely fine. Mine gradually went up from 76 to 86, back down to 81 and now up to 83 again. I'm 6+5. I suppose your resting heart rate can only go so high really, otherwise it wouldn't be very healthy!

Thank you all so much for your replies! I feel super reassured and better already.
I think you have a really good point @LilmissCa about the body getting used to things.

The thing that bothers me is I see a lot of people mention this happening around 6 weeks, not 5! But time will tell - it’s so hard to stay in the moment and not panic but support on here helps x

Hi, this happened to me at around 5 weeks (I posted on here at the time actually) and I was really worried, however I’m now 27 weeks pregnant. The best advice I can give you is to stop googling and if needed, take a break from the fitbit. Mine is actually still in a drawer haha and likely will be until I give birth x

@Desperatelyboredhousewife ahhh thank you so much! That’s reassuring. The worry is a lot but I do think I’ll be taking it off soon or removing the heart rate function. Just want to get to 6 weeks as I know a lot of people’s tends to drop down after that! X

Hi, I’ve found this post as I’m experiencing the same, only I’m just over 4 weeks! My RHR was steadily increasing up to my BFP and the last couple of days it’s been going back down. I’m driving myself mad and taken off the Garmin but I can’t help but worry 😫

@youaremysunshine03 mine has dropped from 74 to now 69 in the past 4 days. I’ve kind of talked myself out of the anxiety now as I know it can be very normal but it does make you wonder. Perhaps your body gets used to the increased blood volume and balances out? X

@sashastuck, I had the exact same concern - as soon as I had a BFP it rose from mid-50s to over 70 and then dramatically dropped again around week 6. I was in an absolute panic but thankfully had a scan at 8 weeks last week and saw a heartbeat.

Attached a photo of mine from the last 7 days, it seems to rise and fall

Sorry posted that before I finished typing...

Attached a photo of mine from the last 7 days, it seems to rise and fall with no real pattern. Just wanted to let you know as I was convinced it was an indication of bad news but definitely not the case (fingers crossed) with me!

I have a an Apple Watch and my resting heart rate has dropped since pregnancy. Only as an average by 1-2bpm but my lowest readings are lower.
Please don't fret, I'm 11.5 weeks. Everyone is different 😊 xx

@sashastuck its so easy to overthink everything. I didn’t track HR during my pregnancy with my daughter or with my most recent one that ended in MC so I have no idea what’s normal for me. Mine’s always been low (around 48-50), started rising gradually to 56 then started gradually lowering again. I took my watch off yesterday and keeping it off for a while.

Thank you ladies for the reassurance. I think when it’s so early (I don’t have a scan for 2 weeks yet) you hold onto anything that proves you’re pregnant, like a high RHR! I think I’ll be taking my Fitbit off soon x

I know this was absolutely ages ago... but I am in a similar position at about 5weeks. Rhr dropped by 2 over the last two days. What was the outcome for you? 🤞🏼

2 means absolutely nothing. Honestly. Like absolutely minuscule change.

@HM1990 i was an earlier poster and reading back it looks like mine dropped from about 6 weeks.

Honestly feels like a lifetime ago! My nearly one year old is asleep in her cot so it all worked out fine 😊 my advice is take the Fitbit off (although I wore mine throughout and obsessed a lot!)

Best advice is to take the watch off! It happened to me and I was so anxious over it, terrified something bad had happened. But I now have a 10 month old who is thriving 🙂

Same take the watch off - I didn't wear mine the entire pregnancy as started to fixate on this. All was well and have a 1 year old now 🩷

Healthy baby boy is 10 months old asleep on me as I type!
I know next time around I’ll worry so much less (she says….). And won’t be wearing the damn Fitbit! Good luck with everything and I’m absolutely sure the rhr drop is normal x

Oh and @HM1990 , over the course of my pregnancy there were loads of dips. I don’t wear the watch now so can’t find the data but I noticed it’d rise for a few weeks, then plateau or drop, then come back up again to higher than before, and so on. By the end of pregnancy it was sitting at around 91bpm so not loadsss higher than it was at 5 weeks!