Pregnancy Update

Over the past two months I've started having heart palpitations - my heart will race from 120-140 beat per minute. At first I thought nothing of it but soon realised that it would race not only after climbing a flight of stairs (which would be normal), but also at rest like while reading in bed (not normal). Sometimes accompanied by these palpitations I get chest discomfort, shortness of breath, dizziness, sweating, nausea and see stars or have tunnel vision. Each of these symptoms alone are not uncommon in pregnancy - but having them all together is not. These episodes would last for five to ten minutes and occur once a day or once every two days.

The episodes have been increasing in frequency and duration. The other day I had an episode that lasted nearly 45 minutes. I called my doctor and they asked me to come in for a check-up. Upon examination she discovered that I have developed a heart murmur (an extra sound). The discovery of the heart murmur, coupled with the increasing frequency and duration of these episodes, lead her to referr me to a group of specialists in 'Medical Disorders in Pregnancy' - to further investigate. They ordered a 24hour heart monitor (a holter monitor) to try and capture what is going on. It measures rate and electrical conductivity/rhythm of the heart. I have an appointment with the group of specialists tomorrow - Wednesday Nov 23 at 11am. Hopefully they will have the holter monitor results and will be able to tell me if this murmur and symptoms are cause for concern or just something I will have to bear for another 3 months

Some of you have asked:
Am I concerned? Not really - The episodes are uncomfortable but not untolerable. I think excessive worry will only make it worse. I'm interested to hear what the specialist has to say about my symptoms and what the monitor report has told them. I mostly want to know if these episodes have an adverse effect on the baby, which IS my primary concern.

For the most part I have been feeling great. This pregnancy thing is pretty fun, a real miracle. Feeling life in there is awesome! We are getting more and more excited to meet this little person.

My managers at work have been good to me - they have been very accommodating with doctors appointments and vacation requests. I will likely go off work one month early around January 20 (most nurses do go off before their due date because of the nature of the work). Between now and mid-January I'll be working 2-3 days/week with regular days off and vacation days in between.

I'll try to update tomorrow after the specialist appointment - once I have more info.