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doppler

7 replies

alita7 · 01/05/2014 16:37

is it normal to find the heart beat easily one day then find that the next day it's really hard to find and then it disappears again quite quickly. I'm 13 weeks, is this just baby moving around?

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YippeeKiYayMakkaPakka · 01/05/2014 16:39

Yes, they have a lot of room to move around at 13w. In fact I never managed to find the heartbeat myself until about 15w.

(Disclaimer: I'm not a medical professional, and if you're worried, check with your MW).

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PenguinsLoveFishFingers · 01/05/2014 16:56

Yes, that is why midwives don't look for the heartbeat themselves this early. They don't believe looking at this point has clinical benefit because it can be so erratic.

Home use of dopplers should always be treated as not much more than a bit of fun TBH. Unless you are trained, you don't have the knowledge to know what is a problem and what isn't. You don't know how to interpret patterns in the heartbeat, etc. There have even been a few tragic cases where late in pregnancy they have given false reassurance when there actually was a problem.

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Bellyrub1980 · 01/05/2014 17:29

I'm 14 weeks and find the exact same. It's nearly always to the left lower abdo, but sometimes in the middle. I know from my scan that the baby is moving around a lot, so that explains it. Often, I can hear a really loud heart beat and then it slowly gets quieter. I move the Doppler slightly, and there it is again.

BTW.... I didn't buy my Doppler out of concern, but just out of pure interest/excitement. I think if you're realistic about the fact that you may never find it on your own, or that it will be variable, it's fine to use one. Mine was £16.

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alita7 · 01/05/2014 18:05

thanks for replies!

I don't mind not finding it every time if that's normal, just wanted to double check :)

I was just unsure as it came in the post yesterday, I quickly found my heart beat (slower), babies heart (much faster) beat and heard the swoosh of the placenta so thought it was odd that today it wasn't like that but then maybe yesterday baby was asleep.

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Bellyrub1980 · 01/05/2014 18:20

So the placenta produces swooshing sound?! I didn't know that!! How do you find it?

I'm CONVINCED I can hear the baby moving around. Like strange wobbly/warbling noises, always in the area the heart beat is.

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alita7 · 01/05/2014 19:23

my baby implanted on the left according to an early scan, and I can hear the swooshing most on the left. It sounds different to both heart beats it pulses but it's longer and slower if that makes sense, it's literally how you'd expect something that is pumping blood to sound. it's really easy to find for me. it might be positioned near the front making it louder?

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alita7 · 01/05/2014 23:02

it seems I have to find exactly where she is to find the heart beat, I found her easy just now. But I moved it a tiny bit and couldn't hear it.

I also sometimes hear strange thing's a watery sound but line when I touch the doppler and it makes a noise, as if baby (or maybe bowel movements are brushing my uterus and there fore the doppler.