Don't tell my heart...

The story of Henry's achy breaky heart...
A few weeks ago during a routine visit to my doctor a midwifery student was having a hard time finding Mr. Henry's heartbeat. I breathed slowly and confidently because he was moving like crazy and attributed her lack of success to his bountiful movements. When she did find his sweet heartbeat it sounded like .... galloping horses, or a lopsided broken record, or the little engine that "could" going up hill. My momma ears immediately perked up and I knew something was not quite right. I had the student go get the midwife to listen. The midwife said that his movements made the heartbeat sound funny and not to worry. I was not completely satisfied with her response but left the office and tried not to worry.

The following week Henry had a sharp decline in movement. Our kitchen and family room ceiling had just been repaired, dust was EVERYWHERE, and I was struggling with my asthma. My family doctor treated my asthma symptoms and sent me to the OB's office for a  fetal non-stress test because little H wasn't moving as often as he had been. "The test involves attaching one belt to the mother’s abdomen to measure fetal heart rate and another belt to measure contractions. Movement, heart rate and “reactivity” of heart rate to movement is measured for 20-30 minutes" - American Pregnancy Association

Long story, short, the minute they attached the heart rate monitor to my belly I heard ... galloping horses, or a lopsided broken record, or the little engine that "could" going up hill. The nurse heard it too. After a few minutes the midwife came into the room to adjust the belt. A few minutes later the OB came into the room to listen. A few minutes later D was called from work because something was wrong. Henry had failed his non-stress test. He wasn't moving as often as he should and he had some kind of heart arrhythmia.

We were sent back immediately for an ultrasound, where we found out that he weighed 5lb 8oz and was considered to be in the 49th percile : ) The ultrasound showed that Henry was indeed ok and his lack of movement was attributed to my difficulty in breathing. To be honest, D and I don't recall if his skipped heart beats or arrhythmia was addressed at this time. We were so relieved that he was ok we forgot to ask.

The following week (5/1) I was back in the office for a previously scheduled ultrasound to monitor growth. D was not with me because we had had 10 ultrasound at this point and this was appointment was supposed to be completely routine. I was casually chatting with the ultrasound tech as she waved the wand across my belly to document Henry's heartbeat and then stopped. We both heard the, now familiar to me, sound of ...galloping horses, or a lopsided broken record, or the little engine that "could" going up hill. I told her I had now heard this irregular beat 3x in the past 3 weeks and was concerned. We had had so many ultrasounds, if something was wrong we would know right? She said yes and then checked his umbilical cord pulse which showed the same ...galloping horses, or a lopsided broken record, or the little engine that "could" going up hill rhythm. THEN she told me that my amniotic fluid level was considerably lower than last week. That coupled with the arrhythmia lead her to consult with the doctor while I waited in the ultrasound room sweating bullets.

My OB wanted me to do another non-stress test, which I did, and failed. Henry most certainly had an irregular heartbeat and there were times when his heart rate would drop or "decel." My OB decided it was best for me to go to the hospital to be monitored for a few hours to discern what was going on with Henry's heart. In an effort to be brave I hadn't called D up until this point. When the nurses asked if they could call my husband for me, I lost it. Clearly something was wrong if I was going to the hospital and the nurses were offering to call D.

I went across the street to the hospital and up to labor and delivery. My OB told me to go ahead and go up and not to wait for D to get there. A few quick minutes later I was hooked up to monitors and D was walking in the room. I tried to update him but my head was spinning so we spent the next 2.5 hours simply listening to Henry's heartbeat, watching every decel, and discussing how weird it sounded. It didn't help that several hospital nurses commented on "the baby's impressive arrhythmia."
Apparently some irregular heart rhythms are normal for babies in utero but Henry's rhythms were more than the normal amount.

**This is becoming an novel so I am going to break it down into multiple posts.**