Have any first time moms started using a home Doppler?

thaisac1

We know that once you get pregnant once (or many times) your uterus grows faster in subsequent pregnancies and pops out from behind the pubic bone a little earlier, making it a tad easier to find the heartbeat with a Doppler at early stages.

But for us first time moms the uterus takes a little longer to pop out, so I am wondering if anyone has tried a home Doppler before 12 weeks and had success?

I am 10w1d today. I just got my Doppler today and tried for about 10 mins. My uterus is not out from behind the bone yet, I can't feel it. On a couple of occasions I thought I could hear the baby for about 5 seconds (heart rate was distinctly higher than mine, as I typically run 55-65 bpm). I thought I was making it up but hubby heard it too. I just wish I could have held it for longer to be absolutely sure!

I'm going to have to hold myself back from using this every day.  

Can't wait to hear some of your experiences so far.

jonesl12

I've probably commented 5 times on this same topic as its a pretty popular one but bring it to your ob and have them show you how to use it . I can't tell you how many times women buy these and call into the ob office I work at absolutely freaking out because they don't hear the heartbeat or it's slow . I then have no choice but to call them to come in the office . Honestly 9 times out of 10 they were too early, they heard their own heart tones, or they had awful placement. The babies are usually fine and mom freaked herself out and took an extra 10-15 minutes away from another patient that was unnecessary . Earliest I have ever gotten tones on somebody was 9w4d or so and that's only because she was very very thin and it is positioned right above the public bone angled down . If you must I'd give it until at least 12 weeks.

** on a side note I'm not trying to be a downer just learn how to use it so you don't cause yourself stress

thaisac1

I'm not concerned about how to use it, I work with ultrasound and Doppler for a living. I am quite confident of what my arteries and veins sound like and what the baby's heart beat is meant to sound like. I was just curious about first time mom's success rates with very early attempts to hear the heartbeat at home.

St0v3s

You might be in a small group of people with this one unless we have tons of nurses, physicians or medical personnel on the BMB. I don't think most first time moms will be able to correctly use a Doppler unless we have had some type of medical training on it. Which my doctor already said she doesn't do trainings until after 14 weeks. I'm going back and forth with buying one but part of me feels like it would cause me more stress and anxiety.

amaniupendo

I had one last pregnancy and it wasn't until 13-14 weeks when I could find it. It was a novelty for about two days so ultimately a was a waste of $30.

thaisac1

St0v3s said:

You might be in a small group of people with this one unless we have tons of nurses, physicians or medical personnel on the BMB. I don't think most first time moms will be able to correctly use a Doppler unless we have had some type of medical training on it. Which my doctor already said she doesn't do trainings until after 14 weeks. I'm going back and forth with buying one but part of me feels like it would cause me more stress and anxiety.

I was going through the same dilemma. Then I told myself that if I didn't hear it before 14 weeks, I would not panic since I know my uterus is still not out of the pelvis. I have been feeling well and was at peace with this decision. So I bought it.

To be honest I was about to give up yesterday. Husband and I said "yeah, it's too early, let's try again in a week". Then I could hear it for a few seconds. The look on my husbands face was priceless (he heard it too). He admitted this was the coolest thing ever. So we ended up being happy we bought it even though we had full understanding that we may not hear anything for another 2-4 weeks. And we know that just because I found it briefly today, doesn't mean I will find it consistently in subsequent days. We are at peace with it.

CCLow87

I'm a third time mom, BUT with my son I think I heard it easily and consistently around 10 weeks. With my daughter I heard it 9 1/2 consistently and this baby was just past the 9 week mark. At 11 weeks, I can now hear baby moving around as wel as find the HR is about 3 seconds. The top of my uterus is a couple inches above my pubic bone though it and inch above my csection scar, if that's helpful at all.

MrsCayEye

I'm a STM on preg #3, and my OB couldn't find it yesterday on me at 9w1d. I know that's still really early to find a HB so I wasn't concerned abt it. He only tried bc it was a follow up to an ER visit on Mon (where I saw everything was fine on US) but he had warned he may not be able to get it. So don't be discouraged if you're not able to find it clearly quite yet as a FTM at 10w, I know you know what you're doing as a cardiologist.

sprocketsngadgets

With my first I think I was almost 10 weeks when I could consistently find the HB. I'll probably wait at another week before I try with this one. I know being thin sometimes means it's easier to find earlier

lizbub3

I'm a STM and with my first I heard my daughter's HB at 10.5 weeks this go around I found it at exactly 10 weeks after searching for about five minutes. I realized I was looking in the wrong place lol. Positioning definitely makes a difference.

cmerribury

I am and I found it at 10+1, I think. Maybe 10+2, but I had the benefit of having it it done the night before. I looked where she looked and found within a few minutes. Before that I wasn't able to find it. She commented that my uterus was outside of my pelvis, so I'm sure that made it easier. This is my 4th pregnancy, but I only have one living child.

jonesl12

thaisac1 said:

I'm not concerned about how to use it, I work with ultrasound and Doppler for a living. I am quite confident of what my arteries and veins sound like and what the baby's heart beat is meant to sound like. I was just curious about first time mom's success rates with very early attempts to hear the heartbeat at home.

Not sure (since I now know you work with these for a living )what the question is since you probably already know the answer. Just curious how untrained moms have done on their own ? Were you hoping to give advice on proper use ? Because some dopplers are stronger than others and weight can be a factor as well as weeks gestation success rates will vary.

thaisac1

CCLow87 said:

I'm a third time mom, BUT with my son I think I heard it easily and consistently around 10 weeks. With my daughter I heard it 9 1/2 consistently and this baby was just past the 9 week mark. At 11 weeks, I can now hear baby moving around as wel as find the HR is about 3 seconds. The top of my uterus is a couple inches above my pubic bone though it and inch above my csection scar, if that's helpful at all.

That sounds awesome! My uterus is not out yet so I had to search for a while. Hopefully it gets easier next week!

thaisac1

sprocketsngadgets said:

With my first I think I was almost 10 weeks when I could consistently find the HB. I'll probably wait at another week before I try with this one. I know being thin sometimes means it's easier to find earlier

Yeah, I'm 10 w now, but could only hear it for a few seconds at a time. It was still awesome though.

thaisac1

lizbub3 said:

I'm a STM and with my first I heard my daughter's HB at 10.5 weeks this go around I found it at exactly 10 weeks after searching for about five minutes. I realized I was looking in the wrong place lol. Positioning definitely makes a difference.

Do you try it with a full bladder, empty, or doesn't matter?

Water helps conduct ultrasound waves so it makes sense to me that a full bladder would help, although I'm speculating.

thaisac1

jonesl12 said:

I'm not concerned about how to use it, I work with ultrasound and Doppler for a living. I am quite confident of what my arteries and veins sound like and what the baby's heart beat is meant to sound like. I was just curious about first time mom's success rates with very early attempts to hear the heartbeat at home.

Not sure (since I now know you work with these for a living )what the question is since you probably already know the answer. Just curious how untrained moms have done on their own ? Were you hoping to give advice on proper use ? Because some dopplers are stronger than others and weight can be a factor as well as weeks gestation success rates will vary.

Because I could only hear it for a few seconds at a time, I got curious about other people's experiences - if people were being successful in the first trimester or not; or even trying to hear early. You know how it goes; we are always comparing our experiences with others on the same boat. Especially us first-timers.

Just to clarify though, I don't do obstetrical ultrasound and I'm not in the OB field at all. My specialty is echocardiography (ultrasound of the heart), so for this reason I am quite familiar with the physics of Doppler, and what arteries, veins and hearts sound like on a Doppler. This is why I said I am confident I won't mistaken my own heart beat for baby's. But the whole  process of putting a probe on my own belly and searching, THAT was totally new to me.

cmerribury

@thaisac1 it's so exciting to hear, even if it's just for a few seconds. makes the 15 minutes of looking for it worth it. LOL!

thaisac1

cmerribury said:

@thaisac1 it's so exciting to hear, even if it's just for a few seconds. makes the 15 minutes of looking for it worth it. LOL!

Totally!!!! Hubby and I were in the clouds! I got many belly kisses after that.

kaitlyn592

I am a first time mom and I'm on the fence about getting one. I know that rationally I would know to stay calm if I couldn't find it immediately, but I also think that I would start obsessing over hearing the heartbeat often. Right now, I think I'm going to just resist the urge and trust my midwife to do her job at my monthly appointments. I keep reminding myself that tons of women came before me and had healthy babies without such technology. I also keep reminding myself that a doppler isn't going to prevent any inevitable things from happening if they are destined to happen anyway. I think it'll just add extra stress that I don't need!

thaisac1

kaitlyn592 said:

I am a first time mom and I'm on the fence about getting one. I know that rationally I would know to stay calm if I couldn't find it immediately, but I also think that I would start obsessing over hearing the heartbeat often. Right now, I think I'm going to just resist the urge and trust my midwife to do her job at my monthly appointments. I keep reminding myself that tons of women came before me and had healthy babies without such technology. I also keep reminding myself that a doppler isn't going to prevent any inevitable things from happening if they are destined to happen anyway. I think it'll just add extra stress that I don't need!

Everyone is different for sure. If you think it will stress you out more than anything, then this is the right thing to do.

LadyDuby

FTM I'm 10w2d and my midwife couldn't find the heartbeat with the Doppler at first but moved to the U/s machine and found it right away. Hubby and I are going to buy one soon but we know it'll take a while to hear it consistently because I'm not very thin and this is my first pregnancy. Any recommendations for which to buy?

thaisac1

I bought the sonoline B which seems to be the most commonly used one. Only used it once and it worked well. The heartbeat counter is crap though. It counted my own heart beat as 165 bpm when it was in fact 65 bpm. But the sound was good enough.

mybigfatgreekfetus

The FDA advises against home dopplers, so I don't have one. I'm sure they're harmless, but maybe tone down how long you use it.

https://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm095508.htm

thaisac1

Yes, well aware of the FDA Rec. I read it before I bought it and noted it was based on principle rather than evidence. Note that they say that no harm has ever been demonstrated. There is also the concern about improper use leading to panic and unnecessary medical visits (we know that happens). So the FDA has to make a conservative recommendation.

thaisac1

I heard it again this morning! And today I was able to hold right on it and hear for longer ! HR 168 bpm. I love that sound!!! ❤️

cmerribury

That's wonderful! Congrats!

Jlnitti80

That's great!!!

projectminilloyd

Hi @thaisac1- For me, this was the best investment ever. I started finding the heartbeat consistently around 9.5 weeks and it provides me with huge piece of mind whenever I worry between ultrasounds. It was difficult at first because I didn't know where the baby was, but at the last doctors appointment, I had her show me where on my uterus the baby was and it became much easier to find after that. There are a few YouTube videos online that were really helpful in knowing how to distinguish between your own heartbeat and the baby's heartbeat. Just search "finding baby's heartbeat on home Doppler." I am not a medical professional, however, once you do it a couple times, it's pretty easy to get the hang of and well worth it to me for the piece of mind it provides me.

thaisac1

projectminilloyd said:

Hi @thaisac1- For me, this was the best investment ever. I started finding the heartbeat consistently around 9.5 weeks and it provides me with huge piece of mind whenever I worry between ultrasounds. It was difficult at first because I didn't know where the baby was, but at the last doctors appointment, I had her show me where on my uterus the baby was and it became much easier to find after that. There are a few YouTube videos online that were really helpful in knowing how to distinguish between your own heartbeat and the baby's heartbeat. Just search "finding baby's heartbeat on home Doppler." I am not a medical professional, however, once you do it a couple times, it's pretty easy to get the hang of and well worth it to me for the piece of mind it provides me.

I'm so glad you've had a good experience! A few questions for you: (1) How far along are you now? (2) Is this your first pregnancy? (3) How often do you listen? (4) Do you listen with an empty or full bladder?

I've watched lots of videos too. Not to recognize the sounds, I'm pretty ok with this part, but mostly to see the position on the belly and the angle of the probe that people were using when finding their heart beats at a similar gestational age as me. It has helped me.  Cheers!

ltwaffles

I downloaded the Baby Beats heartbeat app last night for fun since I was bored and curious if it would work. I wasn't expecting anything since I'm only 9 weeks along, but after about 5 minutes of moving it around I was able to hear little one's heartbeat for a few seconds at a time! I think I was lucky since I'm a second time mom, knew where to place my phone, and am on the smaller size. In any case, I think the rule of thumb with these is to use it for fun, be patient, and do not freak out if you can't find the heartbeat.

cmerribury

@ltwaffles that's what I've been using as well. Love it!

thaisac1

ltwaffles said:

I downloaded the Baby Beats heartbeat app last night for fun since I was bored and curious if it would work. I wasn't expecting anything since I'm only 9 weeks along, but after about 5 minutes of moving it around I was able to hear little one's heartbeat for a few seconds at a time! I think I was lucky since I'm a second time mom, knew where to place my phone, and am on the smaller size. In any case, I think the rule of thumb with these is to use it for fun, be patient, and do not freak out if you can't find the heartbeat.

I got that app last week but all I could hear was my arteries and veins. At some point I thought I heard something that resembled a fast heart rate, but then was disappointed when I could reproduce the exact same sound in my husband's lower abdomen. LOL. So I gave it up and bought a Doppler.

EDIT: After reading your post I went and tried the iPhone app again. I am convinced the high frequency sound it is picking up is the sound of my bowels moving. It is fairly phasic and always in the same rhythm (simulating a very fast heart rate), and I can reproduce it in other parts of my abdomen that are far, far away from my uterus. Oh well. The Doppler sound was pretty legit though.

projectminilloyd

@thaisac1, I'm so glad you found the heartbeat again this morning!! I am 10 weeks, 1 day and this is my second pregnancy. I haven't paid too much attention to whether my bladder is full or not, but I haven't really noticed it being better for me either way. I've been listening almost every day 1x daily. Although I am not sure I should be doing it so frequently, as I am not sure the effects it has on the baby? Once I get my heartbeat, I try not to leave it on the baby for too long, because one of the videos I watched said this isn't good for baby. I will do some research on this and let you know. Good luck and wishing you a happy healthy pregnancy!

thaisac1

projectminilloyd said:

@thaisac1, I'm so glad you found the heartbeat again this morning!! I am 10 weeks, 1 day and this is my second pregnancy. I haven't paid too much attention to whether my bladder is full or not, but I haven't really noticed it being better for me either way. I've been listening almost every day 1x daily. Although I am not sure I should be doing it so frequently, as I am not sure the effects it has on the baby? Once I get my heartbeat, I try not to leave it on the baby for too long, because one of the videos I watched said this isn't good for baby. I will do some research on this and let you know. Good luck and wishing you a happy healthy pregnancy!

Ah, so we are fairly similar in gestational age then. I am 10w4d today (although first pregnancy). I have never found recommendations about frequency or duration of usage. But when I read the obstetrical ultrasound guidelines (for proper ultrasound at the doctor's office rather than home Doppler) the recommendation is to use the ultrasound for the minimal amount of time needed. Too high of ultrasound energy can increase tissue temperature by 1oC which is to be avoided (although to reach a high temp you need to apply a high power ultrasound beam on the same spot for a longer period of time).

Based on all this my plan is to use it 2-3 times a week only, search for no longer than 10 min, and only listen for 20-30 sec once I find the heart beat. I did not read this anywhere, just came up with my own guidelines. There are many many women who listened everyday, some even multiple times a day, without adverse outcomes, which is good to know, but I plan to restrict the use if I can hold myself back.

CCLow87

I knew you'd love it!!! Glad you're finding it easily now!

thaisac1

I knew you'd love it!!! Glad you're finding it easily now!

Yes it's pretty special! I wouldn't say easily yet though! I've only tried it twice and had to search for several minutes, and the sound is still faint cause my uterus is still tucked in behind bone. But at least I have a sense of the "hot spot" where I am more likely to find it. hopefully will get easier as the uterus grows.

Edit: @CCLow87, how often do you use yours in your current and previous pregnancies?

CCLow87

thaisac1 said:

CCLow87 said:

I knew you'd love it!!! Glad you're finding it easily now!

Yes it's pretty special! I wouldn't say easily yet though! I've only tried it twice and had to search for several minutes, and the sound is still faint cause my uterus is still tucked in behind bone. But at least I have a sense of the "hot spot" where I am more likely to find it. hopefully will get easier as the uterus grows.

Edit: @CCLow87, how often do you use yours in your current and previous pregnancies?

My daughter I was paranoid as shit and used it every other day, just enough to get the HB, until I could get movement. I have no idea how much I used it with my son (before my daughter) and this one I use maybe three times every two weeks?

thaisac1

Found it in 15 sec today! At 11w2d. Loving my Doppler!