To Doppler or not to doppler

[Maxoula]

Hiya

I'm now 9+4 preggies and very impatient. I have to wait until 12 wks for scan and 15 wks before I see the mw. Not happy, seeing that my sister in law is preggies in South Africa and she got her first blood test done when she found out she's preggies, had her first scan at 6 weeks to hear a heart beat to make sure the pregnancy is okay and another one at 12 weeks, been seeing her mw so many times she's sick of her now

So impatient me decided I can't wait for the scan so I went and bough a doppler ultrasound device. The device picks up the heartbeat from 10 weeks. But now I'm worried it might be bad for the baby. Anyone any thoughts on this?

 

[hayley]

I hired a doppler early on in my pregnancy. I got excited when i heard a heart beat but realised a week later it was my own pulse i was listening to. I searched for a heart beat every day from then on but couldn't find it... i then worried myself sick until i went for my scan... I was told by the MW not to expect to hear a heart beat until week 20... i sent it back in the end because it caused me more worry...
x

 

[Jaidy]

I have an Angel Sounds Fetal Doppler from Ebay.

It says you can pick up heartbeat from around 12 weeks but tbh, I didnt hear anything until about 16 weeks!! I think it was the same for a lot of the other girls in the 2nd trimester too who had the same machine.

Put it this way, they are great to use but sometimes it can be hard to differentiate between your own pulse and the actual baby's heartbeat; I think if your a big worrier then it may give you more to worry about. However if you can be patient its a fantastic thing to have!

 

[budge]

i vote not a doppler.

 

[Urchin]

I borrowed a friends and hardly used it.

If you think you might need a doppler to put your mind at rest, forget it.
If you will worry if you can't find a heartbeat, a doppler is not for you.

The really expensive ones might be better, but the regular ones are more of a novelty I think.

 

[Rachel]

I bought one and loved it. I was about 15wks pregnant when I got mine and heard the heartbeat clearly I'd recommend you get the type that displays the babys heartbeat rate so that you know wether it's your or the babys heartbeat you are listening to

 

[Maxoula]

Whoohoo I found it!!! I tried on Sunday, could only find my heart beat. Tried again last night and tada, found it!! A good strong 174 beats per minute! I have the BT 200 digital one and it shows you the heart rate. We got sooo emotional last night, could sleep afterwards . Anyone, I promised my baby I will not do it too often...

 

[budge]

174 beats per minutes pretty fast!

 

[Maxoula]

I thought so too, but my sister asked her doctor and he said it's fine up to 180 bpm, so I'm hoping all is fine, will know in 2 weeks time when I they do my 12wk scan.

 

[Minime]

I got one at 11 weeks and limit to twice a week. I get between 140-165bmp. Its invaluable to me, LO booted it twice the other night ahhhh

 

[Jaidy]

The old wives tales say faster heartbeats for girls and slower for boys, this wa true in my case!