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Hi, It was my 4th pregnancy following three normal healthy babies. I was 7 weeks. The doctor told me it could go either way. I hope it all works out for you.

I too had an ultrasound reading of 82 bpm at 7weeks. After doing some research and speaking with my dr. I was not hopeful...BUT at 8weeks the hr was 168 and 9 weeks 167! We are still not out of the risk zone, but are very hopeful. I just wanted to post something positive.

My wife has been pregnent after 6 months after miscarriage. Her First U/S was done in 6.3 week with fetal heart rate 117 per minute. Doc. says it is too early. Please tell me is that normal?

117 at 6.3 weeks is fine. Below 100 is when someone needs to worry. Next week it should be higher(135-160). You'll be fine.

Update--at 7 weeks the heart rate was only 82 bpm, at 8 and 9 weeksit jumped into 160's but I was still so worried since I had reveiwed all of the research which said pregancies remain at high risk for miscarriage until after 14 weeks when a slow heart rate is detected in the first trimester. I was doubly worried since I had several weeks of spotting followed by an acutual bleed at 12 weeks. I am so relieved and happy to report that my baby is still alive and strong at 16 weeks. There seem to be no signs of illness or trouble in the fetus. I had been so wracked with anxiety and sadness the entire first trimester. I am writing this entry to offer some hope to all of the parents on this board. The human baby has such a tenacity for life that they sometimes can overcome suboptimal conditions. Good luck and god bless.

I'd also like to offer hope. I went for a v____al ultrasound at what I thought was 7 weeks (I have a weird menstrual history). The embryo measured only 6 weeks, and the heartbeat was 80. The doctor gave me no indication to worry--she said it could be that the heart was just forming-- and asked me to come back in 2 weeks. My research made me worry. But when I took another look at my BBT charts, the date she cited as the ovulation date (based on the measurement) made sense. I usually have a bunch of temp spikes, and I have always attributed ovulation to the one accompanied by the most cervical fluid. But I worried about the heartbeat anyway. Yesterday I had the second v____al ultrasound, and the embryo measured a healthy 2 cm and had a "perfect" (the dr.'s word) heartbeat of 180. I sometimes think that our mothers had it good. Knowledge is power, but sometimes ignorance is bliss. I wouldn't have ever worried about the heartbeat if I had stuck with my original (but terrible on so many levels) doctor who didn't offer an ultrasound until 16 weeks. Of course, then the worry would've been that at 16 weeks I was only measuring a 12 week fetus--he dated by my LMP even though I told him I knew when I ovulated.

AJ and Abby - your two posts are helping me weather the last 5 days before my next u/s TREMENDOUSLY!!!! Like you said, too much knowledge can wreak havoc on one's peace of mind! I went in for an early ultrasound on 2/22 and the doc said the embryo measured just 3mm and the hr was only 70 bpm. so from what I have read, there's little hope for suc a low heart rate... but I am trying to stay positive thinking that the hb was caught at the very beginning when the heart was just starting to pump and it is slower at that stage.... the lowest acceptable hr I found for 6 weeks was 85 bpm, so I hope I have a chance! On 3/8 I go back, this coming Wed., and I hope I get to see what both of you saw, a larger embryo - hopefully having grown about a mm a day, or it should be around 17 mm (about an inch long???)with an acceptable hr of at least 120 - 160 or more??? I am so nervous and I fear baby has maybe already died - I will be devastated if we see everything breaking up! I have good news though, and did both of you get this? - my nausea and fatigue are still both going strong, accompanied my occasional heartburn, gas (sorry tmi), and headaches, so I hope these are all good signs that there is still alot going on in there - do you have any advice or words of wisdom for me to help me remain sane for the next 5 days??? THANK-YOU sooooooooo MUCH!!!! Gigi

Yes, Gigi. It seemed that my nausea worsened after my first ultrasound. I also completely lost my taste for chocolate and coffee--my two favorites. And my fatigue was beyond my own previous comprehension. Two days in a row I took 2 hour naps from which I couldn't awake. I felt like I'd been drugged. Now I have good and bad days. Yesterday was good--good appet_te for healthy food, good energy. But maybe I overdid it, because today is slow and all I want are pancakes and raspberry sorbet. Best wishes to you. Everyone is different--just keep giving your baby the rest, nourishment and positive thoughts it needs.

AJ - Thanks for sharing your symptoms with me... in the last few days I don't know if it's my mind playing tricks with me or if I'm just so used to feeling yucky, but it seems that my symptoms have been lessening and it's scaring me that baby has already died, as I have read that it can take up to 4 weeks for the miscarriage to begin... but then I could just be worried for nothing - just 2 more days until I know if this baby will be a part of our lives... this is one of the toughest times for me, and I'm sure it is for everybody on this thread, so my heart goes out to all of you, and here's to miracles and beautiful healthy babies, either with our current pregnancies, or if God wills it a following one :-)

aj--I actually didn't have many pregnancy symptoms at all. I did not experience nausea, only minor breat tenderness and general fatigue. I was so convinced that my lack of symptoms meant that my pregnancy wasn't viable after that slow heart rate reading...but it wasn't true. Try not to place too much weight on the symptom factor. Everyone's body is so different. The only way to know for sure how that baby is doing is the ultrasound. I will be thinking about you on 3/8. I wish you the best of luck and much strength over the next 2 days.

Sorry...I meant to address my last post to gcmickens, not AJ :)

I hope all is well with your pregnancy, I have a problem of my own I cannot figure out. I am 22 weeks along and have a heart doppler of my own at home. Every now and then when I listen to my baby's heart reate, it seems to slow down for a few seconds. The rate is still around 150. has any one else expirienced this?

michele- i think the heart rate is supposed to be that way. Its not supposed to be a constant like half second apart beats...if u kno what i mean.

Angel, thank you so much for your respnse. I go for my u/s tommorow, and hopefully they tell me the same thing.

Hi all....Last week I went in for a u/s because of some spotting i was having...my hcg levels were high (they thought i was 8 weeks from my levels) but my u/s couldnt find a heart beat and i measured at 3 1/2 weeks. so today i went in for a u/s and they found a hr at 82 and said i was 6 weeks my tech didnt even mention that the rate was low and we were just thrilled that we saw one at all (i was worried after last week) but then my ob called and told me that it was low and she was still a little worried. i have an appointment on sept 23 and now im terrified im losing my baby....does anyone have a similar story? should i be worried? its so hard to relax!

Ryan I am not sure if you are going to check this post today...but i know today is a big day for you. I hope all goes well. We had a similar situation...heartbeat around 65 at week 6 day 6... we go back on friday the 25th..... we are pregnant with twins, (hopefully still anyway) and one baby was 132bp....which is great, only it makes the other 65bp sound so scary. Let me know how it goes...