Can't get a steady reading on the doppler.

ENev

I definitely heard it - the whoosh whoosh whoosh - though it was slow, not like really, really fast like a baby heartbeat should be. 

But I never got a solid black heart, only a flashing empty one at times, and the numbers were ALL over the board. 65, 75, 90 - then it'd jump to 220 - then back to around where it should be - 145, 160, 175 - but only for a couple seconds. 

I'm not going to get discouraged because I know it's early - plus that baby is probably really moving around in there! And it's a good thing I'm getting the high 200s, right, that means that both our hearts are beating?

I'm actually going to try it on DH when he's done with his workout so I can see what it does on a non-pregnant person's body.

Any tips for when I try again later (I played around for about 10 minutes already), or should I just understand that it might take awhile longer?
 

ENev

Ah - I'm poking around on Google and I guess the slower whoosh whoosh was probably just my own heartbeat? But why wouldn't I then be able to hear that at all times? So weird.

mikkimikey

My suggestion would be when you get the fast heartbeats with the upper readings (145, 60, etc.) stay there for a bit and tip the doppler back and forth.  Just rotate it a little, don't move it along your belly.

HTH!

kimmie321

This was my experience with it.  I have also noticed that it is best to do it on an empty stomach. I get lots of dgestion noise that interferes with the reading. And use lots of gel.  

jeffrae

your babies hb is probably the 160ish.  If it is picking up too many it will give you a false high reading.  the low hb is your own.  It took me an hour to find it the first time.  It is very low -- probably below your low bikini line.  When you look for it again, go very slowly and angle the probe all around before you move onto the next spot.  Your uterus is still pretty small so the baby should not move so much you can't get a steady reading. 

ErinBrooke

I responded about this on your post to jeffrae too, but wanted to add something. When I posted about this problem the other night, someone recommended that you focus on the sounds you're hearing (don't look at the digital readout), then once you get a steady sound that you think is the baby's look at the digital. Try not to focus on the jumping around numbers and just concentrate on what you're hearing.

I'm going to use this advice and try again tonight!

lindzed

2 pieces of advice that helped me.

1.  Go check out youtube and you can hear what you are looking for (this helped me identify the babies hb)

2.  Ignore the display they don't work very good.  Once you find the hb count it for 15 seconds and multiple by 4  My display has never worked that well

benay7

I have had the same thing happen the past few days.  Only one day have I been able to get a steady heartbeat.  Today I hardly heard anything, but am pretty sure I heard the baby's heartbeat behind mine very briefly.  Moving the wand more like a joystick definitely helped me focus in on certain sounds.

esquiremomma

I know I am really early to hear the baby's hb on the doppler, but I have experienced the same issue as you Enev. I couldn't help myself and tried at 9w1d! I can sometimes here what I think is the baby's heartbeat behind mine and the readings are 200+. But the only consistent hb I can get is mine and it ranges 70-90. It is frustrating so I have resolved not to try again until this wkd when I will be closer to 10wks. I hope you get a consistent hb soon!

ENev

Thanks ladies.

I tried a third time and got a 170 reading for a good five seconds with a black heart! I said "hey!" to alert DH but of course, that moved my stomach and it went away. But hey, five seconds is better than nothing!!

Although, for the record, I just tried it on his belly - and while I didn't get any sort of reading for more than a split second, it did flash a 141, a 229, a 55 and a 75. So strange. But I suppose those 200+ readings do mean something when they're ongoing, not just a flash. Two heartbeats in there, it's crazy!