matters of the heart...

literally.


as many of you know, i've been to labor and delivery twice during this pregnancy (because the symptoms happened after typical office hours).  once was in july because i was having really awful stomach pains which turned out to be some overworked muscles.  it was at that point that i had to start working a little bit less and a little bit less intensely, too.

the second time was about three weeks ago because i was dizzy and my resting pulse rate was 120 and holding, even after laying down for an hour.  the doctor i saw at L&D said that it would be a good idea to keep an eye on the palpitations to see what happens.  it could be "just pregnancy" or it could be something else.

i had a regular appointment a few days later and talked to my doctor about being seen and L&D and she suggested i "keep track" of how often the palpitations are happening and for how long and suggested that if it kept up i would be referred to a cardiologist to get checked out.

at my appointment today, the doctor asked how my palpitations have been.  i told her that the racing heart feeling has been happening pretty frequently, mostly when im not doing anything at all.  my heart will just jump to 120 or more and hang out there for anywhere from fifteen minutes to a few hours before just coming back down on its own - and that sometimes i would just wake up that way out of a dead sleep.  i also told her about this "other thing" ive been noticing, which is that sometimes when im laying down, my heart will just start beating really really HARD - not fast, just hard and it makes my body feel like its shaking and it makes me feel winded, like im short of breath and i have to sit up or get up and walk around to feel better.

so, she decided it would be a good idea to send me to see a cardiologist so they could do a "complete work up" including an EKG and hook me up to a heart monitor.  she said that things like this can happen and be "normal" for some women during pregnancy, but its still worth getting checked out.  ive had palpitations occasionally in the past, not to mention the fact that both my mom and grandmother have arrhythmia, which makes me predisposed to having one also and that in a lot of women, pregnancy is the arrhythmia trigger.  so...that's that.

so, thats the plan. i go to see a cardiologist.  they tell me what they think.  we go from there. the doctor (today) said they might find nothing, or they might find an arrhythmia that requires a beta blocker for the rest of my pregnancy.  they are also checking my thyroid, which can also be the culprit.

:/

all in all, a little stressful but bella is healthy and all that scary "what if" heart stuff aside, im still feeling pretty great! i hardly have any swelling.  im still working a lot (and feeling good enough to do so). the season is finally slowing down and im backing off on my schedule at work, slowly but surely.  we're starting to get everything ready at the house too!  our "spring clean" is under way in stages and we're picking out paint this week!

and for the record, im not drinking caffeine anymore!  (and haven't been for a while, not just because of my heart!)


updates will follow.


xo.
    m.