Heartbeat question - lower in the last weeks?

[discohospital]

My baby's heartbeat has averaged around 150 (give or take 5-10 bpm) since 25 weeks or so. I didn't check it daily, btw, only when he didn't move much

I'm 34 weeks now and in the last 10 days or so whenever I catch him relaxed it's around 128. DH and I could both tell immediately that it was slower than before. When I prod a little more with the Doppler his hb goes up and down and seems erratic.

My OB did a non-stress test and in those 10 minutes his hb was 128-170+ and he was moving a lot. Doc said that was fine. I asked about cord issues and he pretty much just said "that's not going on" though without much explanation.

Bottom line is I'm worried because his resting heart rate went down a bit. I read a few places that it was normal but as usual Googling leads to 50% reassurance and 50% panic

I've read no need to worry unless it's under 120, but 128 feels too close for comfort and I'm a nervous nelly. For now I'm checking him anytime I don't feel him move much and the doc is doing NST twice a week for me (for other reasons)

Any insight or experience would be appreciated, as always!

 

[Googiepie]

I've been told that the closer you get to your due date, the heart rate gets lower. My first used to be always between 145-150 until about 32/33 weeks and then she was between 130-135.

 

[aknqtpie]

Mine started around 145 and is now down to about 120-125.. the Doctor has never been concerned.

 

[discohospital]

Thank you for sharing with me, it's very reassuring!

 

[laura109]

It depends on how active baby is. When my daughter was still it was 130ish at the end. When she was active it went up to 150+

It does slow down as they get closer to being born. Xx

 

[AmeliePoulain]

My second daughter was always around 130-140 but when I was in hospital pre getting induced at 39+5 her baseline was 110. They poked and prodded her a lot and she responded as she should but she just had a low baseline.

No cord issues and she was born without a problem despite quite a difficult labour (my uterus was hyperstimulated and they were amazed how well she coped)

She is a lovely relaxed little 2 year old now - much more chilled out than her sister who had a wayyyyyyyyyyyy higher baseline even right at the end

 

[discohospital]

Interesting, thank you all for your replies!

The two NSTs done with my OB showed him anywhere from 128-170 (though the highest and lowest numbers are usually only for a short while; it mostly bounces around from the 130s to 150s)
He's always wiggling around during the tests, so when they see the print out they just say "Oh, he's moving a lot! He's fine!" and send me on my way.

I was finally approved to get the tests done at the hospital, so starting today I'll have two NSTs a week and one AFI (ultrasound to check fluid, from what I read)

I'm hoping hospital people will take a little more time to explain things to me. My OB will answer things I ask, but he's a little batty and rushes things sometimes and I get confused.

A friend of mine also goes to him and feels the same way, ugh!

Anyway, thanks again everyone!!!

 

[mayacat]

My baby doesn't seem to think it's in the last week's yet, lol. I didn't expect so many people to say a drop was normal because this kid's happily bounced around in the mid-150s at every appointment since 12 weeks.