Fetal Heart Rate

I learned to worry about fetal heart rate with my first pregnancy, when I hurried to the computer after each visit with my reproductive endocrinologist, anxious to see if my pregnancy was progressing normally. We were able to hear a heartbeat as early as at the end of week 5, which was a milestone we were happy to reach, but once we were able to measure the heart rate, I began to feel apprehensive.

Placenta Previa

I am generally healthy, but I am now 40 years old, have had three failed pregnancies, and have now conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF). All of these factors qualify my pregnancy as high risk, so when I graduated from the fertility clinic, my reproductive endocrinologist urged me to find an OB-GYN who specialized in high-risk pregnancies. I had no idea how difficult my quest would be.