Dopplers at home

Waiting4Fred · November 2016

I searched and saw some sporadic discussion about finding baby's HB on an at home Doppler, but not too much conversation about it. If you have one at home, when were you able to find the heartbeat?

halfthetree · November 2016

I found the heartbeat before 7 weeks, but I got VERY lucky. It's my 4th pregnancy and my uterus has come forward pretty far already.
I wouldn't even try until after 10-11 weeks if I didn't know how to properly use one and exactly what I was looking for.

mirdamae03 · November 2016

I used our doppler with both boys from about 10 weeks forward. Unfortunately I forgot to take the batteries out when we stored it and it's corroded and won't work anymore... so I'm going to have to do without this time

n0soup4u · November 2016

At 10 weeks. Anytime before that can be mistaken for placenta,cord or even your own heartbeat. There are great YouTube videos that will help you find the location and also help you distinguish the correct sound.

Waiting4Fred · November 2016

itsfine said:

At 10 weeks. Anytime before that can be mistaken for placenta,cord or even your own heartbeat. There are great YouTube videos that will help you find the location and also help you distinguish the correct sound.

Yes! I watched a few videos, but I feel like the placement is different for everyone, and maybe I'm just not patient enough to keep searching. Definitely found my own heartbeat, though. I think I'll wait until Sunday when I'm 10 weeks to try again.

mkrel · November 2016

I found it yesterday at 9+1 but it took me a long time and multiple tries throughout the day. I went into it knowing that I may not hear anything. The doppler I ordered said it is best for 12+ weeks, and I think it will be easier to find as time goes on because I had to push and angle more than I'm sure I'll need to further along. Like @itsfine said, I watched a few YouTube videos to get a better idea of what I was listening for.

Mashunya425 · November 2016

I found it at the first try at 10w4d but then couldn't find it again for a couple days. It can be sporadic until you get later on.

bornmommy · November 2016

I'll be trying tonight - I suck at it though and have never been able to find a fetal HB on myself, even at 24 weeks! HAHA. DH is much better at it then me. I have Sonoline B if you're wondering which brand.

mrt · November 2016

I'm not going to buy an at home Doppler, because I'd just make myself crazy, but has anyone had their dr listen for hb with Doppler in the office at 10w2d? I can't remember when they started with my other pregnancies, but I'm seeing a dr next week and I'm hoping they'll listen for the hb

doodleoodle · November 2016

mrt said:

I'm not going to buy an at home Doppler, because I'd just make myself crazy, but has anyone had their dr listen for hb with Doppler in the office at 10w2d? I can't remember when they started with my other pregnancies, but I'm seeing a dr next week and I'm hoping they'll listen for the hb

My doctor didn't start until 12-13 weeks last time. I went to the OB at 9 weeks and had a dating ultrasound and spoke with a nurse. My next appointment I saw an actual doctor and they used the Doppler.

flyingncmama · November 2016

I always have a hard time finding the heartbeat until week 12 or so.

sjohns908 · November 2016

I have one but I didn't get it until after 12 weeks with my last pregnancy. I never had a problem finding the HB with a little patience.

I tried twice this week at 9+0 and 9+2 with no luck. I knew its too early and that I probably wouldn't be able to find it, not that it stops me from having a smidge of anxiety since my nausea has backed off a little.

panzyo3 · November 2016

I have a Sonoline B Doppler. I tried it today at 9 wks 3 days and found it almost immediately. I checked first thing this morning, so I had a full badder. I found it right about the same time with my last pregnancy, but it took me a long time to find it that time. You have to know where to check.

heath313 · November 2016

Finally found the heartbeat at 11 weeks 6 days. Music to my ears!

Waiting4Fred · November 2016

I found the heartbeat (barely) at 9w4d and then found a strong, distinguished heartbeat quickly at 9w6d. So fun! My doctor told me not to get one when I was pregnant with my twins because it was too hard to distinguish the heartbeats. In fact, he never even used a doppler on me in the office. This time around, though, he said as long as I'm patient, most people can usually find it later on.

hmhierholzer · November 2016

I will be 9 weeks tomorrow. I have tried using my Doppler (Sonoline B )a few times in the last week or so and am only able to pick up my arteries and heartbeat. I know it is still pretty early, but I thought I'd be able to find it since I used my Doppler when I was pregnant with DD. Not being able to hear it only makes my PGAL brain worse. My next appointment is in 2 weeks, I'm hoping time will fly!

hmhierholzer · November 2016

@sjohns08 have you been able to find the heartbeat? I've tried once or twice a week for the last couple weeks and have yet to find it. I am 10 weeks today. Definitely starting to worry at this point, but I know it's still pretty early on

sls · November 2016

My midwife tried when I was 11w. She found my pulse but neither of the twins'. She was like, "OK, you know this might not work? You're not going to panic? I don't usually do it this early." And I had to assure her I wouldn't before she tried it. (I did not panic. I have too much morning sickness to be worried. Aheh.)

owensmom0807 · November 2016

I haven't been able to find the baby's heartbeat yet and I am 10.1. I was able to find it with my DS around 10 weeks. I am going to wait a week or two and yet again.

bornmommy · November 2016

@hmhierholzer - Don't be nervous. I couldn't find my first or second until around 15 weeks - DH was much better at it than I was. My first was really hard because I had an anterior placenta. This is my third and the only one I've ever really been able to find.

NamelessAria · November 2016

I had my last appointment with my OB at 11w3d and the nurse tried to find baby's heartbeat with doppler. She tried for awhile without luck and got frustrated and said she'd get the doctor. The OB came in and tried for a bit and was only ever able to find my heartbeat with the doppler. She eventually went and got some little handheld ultrasound and found baby that way to check the heartbeat. She found baby pretty quickly with the ultrasound* and said baby looked great and the heartbeat was fine. But after that I'm hesitant to get a doppler until later on. If I'm having a bad PGAL brain day and I use the doppler for reassurance and then can't find baby I'm worried I'd go into full meltdown mode. Since it was that difficult for the nurse and the doctor to find baby's heartbeat with the doppler I'm not at all confident I'd be able to find it this early on.

*edited to correct

Assiram42 · November 2016

NamelessAria said:

I had my last appointment with my OB at 11w3d and the nurse tried to find baby's heartbeat with doppler. She tried for awhile without luck and got frustrated and said she'd get the doctor. The OB came in and tried for a bit and was only ever able to find my heartbeat with the doppler. She eventually went and got some little handheld ultrasound and found baby that way to check the heartbeat. She found baby pretty quickly with the doppler and said baby looked great and the heartbeat was fine. But after that I'm hesitant to get a doppler until later on. If I'm having a bad PGAL brain day and I use the doppler for reassurance and then can't find baby I'm worried I'd go into full meltdown mode. Since it was that difficult for the nurse and the doctor to find baby's heartbeat with the doppler I'm not at all confident I'd be able to find it this early on.

I had this exact situation last Friday at my appointment. Thank god my doctor sent me for an u/s or else I would've been a mess. It's not worth the stress for me.

jgil85 · November 2016

I've only heard the heartbeat for a few seconds at a time. I get a good position and then he moves. But I had to wait until 12 weeks to hear it, I tried unsuccessfully at 10.5 and 11.3 weeks.

jgil85 · November 2016

Oh and I watched several videos online and their placement was all over the place. I kept looking for the heartbeat dead center and he was on the side when I would find his heartbeat.

WorkingOnMyNightCheese · November 2016

I just bought the Womb Music from Amazon last week and found the heartbeat at 9+4, and have been able to find it the two times I've used it since. I will say the first time it took a LONG while to find the heartbeat. Now that I know where to listen it's pretty quick! Definitely helps put my PGAL brain at ease.

hmhierholzer · November 2016

@WorkingOnMyNightCheese how low are you looking? I feel like I've tried everywhere and haven't heard a hb for even a second

bornmommy · November 2016

@hmhierholzer Try like at the pubic hair line and even into it a little bit. LOW LOW LOW
but honestly - and I know you're not tagging me but I feel compelled to keep saying it, try not to freak/stress. PGAL brain is tough but these dopplers aren't as easy as they seem. (And, maybe you have an anterior placenta that is getting in the way.)

WorkingOnMyNightCheese · November 2016

hmhierholzer said:

@WorkingOnMyNightCheese how low are you looking? I feel like I've tried everywhere and haven't heard a hb for even a second

REALLY low. Like just passed my pubic bone low. I sw a YouTube tutorial of a girl who said to start really low and point down, pressing in a bit. That worked for me, with the wand to the left of my belly button and pointed down and towards the center of my body if that makes sense.

thatlauragirl · November 2016

I would love to whip mine out and get some reassurance as I've been spotting pink since Thanksgiving but honestly it would more likely due more harm than good. In my first pregnancy I found that it really took me until 16 weeks to consistently find it and even then it got tricky some times. If you're looking now, definitely go lower than you would think to look!

sevenn · November 2016

Ladies- if you haven't already, I'd like to encourage you to read about the possible risks of DOPPLER in the first trimester. It generates significantly more "heat" than a standard 2-D ultrasound, and in fact literature supports not using doppler (at the time of an ultrasound) to hear the heartbeat in the first trimester, but rather to use something called m-mode to visualize the heartbeat and calculate the heart rate in real-time. Everything is a risk-benefit calculation in life but I don't think everyone is made aware of the possible risk of this... especially when doctor's offices themselves are practicing this way.

bornmommy · November 2016

sevenn said:

Ladies- if you haven't already, I'd like to encourage you to read about the possible risks of DOPPLER in the first trimester. It generates significantly more "heat" than a standard 2-D ultrasound, and in fact literature supports not using doppler (at the time of an ultrasound) to hear the heartbeat in the first trimester, but rather to use something called m-mode to visualize the heartbeat and calculate the heart rate in real-time. Everything is a risk-benefit calculation in life but I don't think everyone is made aware of the possible risk of this... especially when doctor's offices themselves are practicing this way.

I'm pretty certain this concern is only for internal dopplers. And, although I haven't researched this for myself, I've been told by many reliable, practicing physicians and techs that it would have to be left on for a crazy amount of time to do real damage.

WorkingOnMyNightCheese · November 2016

@sevenn do you have links to the research you're talking about?

My doctor said it's perfectly safe, and the FDA says that dopplers, while not widely researched, are considered safe. They discourage home use because heartbeat alone cannot determine the health of the fetus, and not finding the heartbeat could add stress for the mother unnecessarily.

sevenn · November 2016

@WorkingOnMyNightCheese - here's two. It's hard because true research is very difficult to conduct on pregnant women. It's an individual decision +/- discussion with your provider, I just wanted to make sure everyon knew that there is SOME acknowledgement of potential risk.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1002/uog.9026/asset/9026_ftp.pdf?v=1&t=ivzasaxo&s=9191a7fda7ae8e3b2d2894198f407bfbfdfe717b

https://www.heartbeatinternational.org/doppler-use-in-the-pregnancy-center

Not trying to start a debate at all, and I won't judge mommas who use one nor doctors that do! My practice doesn't use them until second tri, and I can't wait until I finally get to hear it myself.

ETA that heartbeat international appears to be a very pro-life organization. I don't think that that "bias" plays into their statement in the aforementioned link, but just FYI.

WorkingOnMyNightCheese · November 2016

@sevenn seriously, thanks for sharing! I'm a research junkie and love to read as much as I can get my hands on about things!

bornmommy · November 2016

@sevenn - Your first link isn't working. Can you edit it to make it work? The second seems like they are discussing the internal doppler as well - phrase "very early pregnancy" makes me go right to the dildo cam since you can't even see anything externally in "very early pregnancy." Again, I think this caution is for internal doppler usage. (I have heard that before many times.) Not for the external dopplers.

Mistiemorning · November 2016

My husband found it with no issue loud and clear with bpm of 156-161. But when I try to it's really hard. I found it last night but only moments worth at a time and not long or loud enough to get bpm on my doppler. It was as if the baby was moving around. I feel like I was annoying the baby with the poking so I stopped. Lol I'm 11w1d.

acrose0226 · November 2016

I'll be waiting until ~20 weeks when we should be able to pick-up the heart beat with a fetascope. The suspense is so hard to handle, but we're not getting dopplers or ultrasounds.

hmhierholzer · November 2016

I finally heard the heartbeat today at 10w5d. It was such a huge relief!! Baby was much higher than I was expecting, so I think that's partially why it took me so long to find it.

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