Still Marching to his Own Beat

We met with the fetal cardiologist yesterday, and he was very nice and reassuring and told us that yes, Wrigley has arrhythmia, extra beats, but that so far it is within the normal speed, 153 (anything from 120-160 is normal).  The heart has formed perfectly, and the doctor is confident that the rhythm will resolve itself on its own before birth or shortly after.  When asked, he concluded that the chances that the child would be born healthy and without any medical intervention was "99%."  To err on the side of safety, we will return for a few follow-up visits to insure that the heart's rhythm remains within healthy parameters.  I would only need to be admitted to the hospital and medicated if Wrigley developed a faster beat.  It would be unusual for this condition to develop from extra beats to a fast beat, very slim odds of it happening. 

I am not allowed to have caffeine, but I gave up my morning tea and afternoon lattes anyway as soon as I got pregnant, and I only had the occasional green tea every few weeks.  Interestingly, he said it wouldn't be a problem to raise my own heartbeat, say through exercise, but only avoid caffeinated substances because it crosses the placenta. 

He told me that often OBs don't know what to do with an atypical heart rhythm during  birth, they can't monitor it the way they are used to, so will often insist on a C-section.  He said he would not recommend, based *only* on this (unless something changes) that I have one and that if he were present, they wouldn't do it.  I am seeing my OB on Tuesday so I am going to ask her about that.  I would really rather not have a C-section if I don't need one and given that I had no problems delivering Lauren so didn't need one then, I wasn't expecting this.  But I'm getting mentally prepared just in case (and yes, getting way ahead of myself!).  His due date is 11/8 but they like to do C-sections a bit early. That would mean he would be an October baby, for sure.