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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Consultant didn't get heartbeat at 14 weeks ;(

26 replies

MillyStar · 14/10/2011 09:21

Morning ladies i'm in a tizz ;-(

I had my dating scan last friday, was 13+1 and i saw heartbeat, everything was hunky dory aparty from the lady couldn't get pics clear enough to do nuchal measurements but i'm having it done by bloods at 17 weeks!!

Anyway just been to see a consultant as i've got gallstones, they've said i'm ok as they aren't troubling me and i don't have to see him again till 36 weeks. I was lay down whilst he was feeling my tummy and he tried the heartbeat monitor on me, he only did it for about 10 seconds in two places but we didn't hear a heartbeat and it's really thrown me!

He was absolutley fine, i was in the ante natal bit surrounded by ultrasound machines so i'm sure if there was any worry he'd have got me scanned, i just can't stop thinking about it now tho i'm scaredf and paranoid, had stretching twinges aswell this week so i'm terrified that something is wrong!!

Has anyone else not heard the heartbeat this far on?

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Franchini · 14/10/2011 09:24

Phone your midwife and make an appointment to go in and she will find the heartbeat for you - she will prefer to do this than have you worrying for weeks. I'm sure it will be fine though - after all he is not an expert and only tried for a few seconds. x x

OhMyGolly · 14/10/2011 09:26

I had bleeding at about the same time in my first pregnancy, she did listen in and it took far longer than 10 seconds to find a heartbeat, remember that they are very small and pingy at that age, most won't even try to listen until 16 weeks.

Original poster

MillyStar · 14/10/2011 09:28

I've had a look online and a lot of sites say that tilted uterus can cause this, the ultrasound lady said mine was tilted she had my nearly vertical when she was moving the bed about last week trying to get good pictures!! I'm going to phone her later thank you

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Biscuitsandtea · 14/10/2011 09:31

Milly - I thought it was often the case that a mw won't even look for a heartbeat unless you're 16 weeks so it must be reasonably common to not be able to find it even though everything is hunky dory inside (iyswim).

I had my 16 week appt yesterday (at 16+3) and the mw took an age to find the heartbeat.

As Franchini says he's not an expert and mws do this all the time and even they struggle sometimes. I have heard lots of people say though that if they've had their 16 week appt before they are 16 weeks then the mw won't bother looking for the heartbeat.

I also agree though - why not call your mw and see if you can get someone to have a listen and have a bit more of a go at it? Do you have a 16 week appointment booked at all? Again, as Franchini says, they'd prefer to see you than have you worrying for weeks about it.

Take care xx

brianmayshair · 14/10/2011 09:32

To be honest he was foolish for trying if he isn't an obstetrician or MW which i'm guessing he's not. I've done it a million times and struggle sometimes your baby is very tiny. I used to listen to mine at work at that stage sometimes i'd have to put it away try and forget about it and then have another listen in the afternoon and would always get it later ( i like to torture myself) Would never do any of my colleagues for this reason.

brianmayshair · 14/10/2011 09:33

also at this stage your baby is still very low in your pelvis.

Original poster

MillyStar · 14/10/2011 09:36

Thank you so much you lot you've made me feel SOOOO much better!!

I know deep down everything is ok i just wish he hadn't even tried!

Thank you again i love this site you're all fab x

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Biscuitsandtea · 14/10/2011 09:36

That's a good point actually about where the baby is, I was really surprised at how low down they were looking - it really was so low down it was in the bit of stomach that only Britney Spears would wear trousers that low

And it doesn't explain if the baby is all the way down there, what on earth is making the rest of my massive (but second time around) bump

Hope you get some help from your mw - good luck xx

WishingIWasLucky · 14/10/2011 09:40

Millystar- as he's probably not trained in finding baby's heartbeat that is why hes not worried- and neither should you be. Get yourself to a midwife. Put your mind at rest. My sil had various health professionals who couldn't detect her babys heartbeat purely through lack of training, partly because baby was falling back into pelvis. but you do need the reassurance so that you can relax. HTH

IzzyWizzyletsgetbusy · 14/10/2011 09:43

To listen for 10 seconds, twice, at this stage is nothing and tbh I think was a bit irresponsible of the cons if he's not a mw or ob; he was always going to be highly unlikely to find it which was always going to cause you to worry.

After a late mc last year, I invested in my own Doppler when I got pg again this year, and I have to say although I could usually pick up a hb from 12 weeks-ish, for quite a few weeks it would take a long time (certainly minutes, not seconds!) to find the hb and sometimes I couldn't find it at all. I would try again in a couple of hours and baby would have moved and I would pick it up but this was a regular thing until after about 16 weeks. So really, it's quite normal.

Round here the mws don't routinely listen in until 28 weeks which again shows how unreliable they think it is. However I would definitely ring and ask your mw to check, just to stop yourself from worrying unnecessarily

IzzyWizzyletsgetbusy · 14/10/2011 09:45

Oh and if he was listening in on your tummy area, he was way off - I could only pick it up very very low down (like top of pubic hair) early!

CristinaaarghdellAaarghPizza · 14/10/2011 09:49

Please try not to worry. I had a big bleed at 15 weeks on a Saturday and went into A&E and a consultant told me he couldn't hear a heartbeat, that he was terribly sorry, blah blah blah. Bleeding stopped by Saturday night, went into the EPAU on Monday and had a scan - there was my baby, happy as larry.

People should be banned from using heartbeat monitors on pregnant women if they don't know what they're doing. Go and book a scan to put your mind at rest :)

Catonkey · 14/10/2011 09:50

Please do as suggested further up the thread and call your midwife, or is there a drop in session you can go along to? I had similar episodes when pregnant with DD it always seemed to take forever to find the heartbeat but my MW would perserver and find the little tinker in the end! Please try not to worry

ImpYCelyn · 14/10/2011 09:57

Try not to worry about it. My midwife couldn't find a heartbeat on Wednesday. I'm 14+5 and I'd had my scan the day before and had seen DC2 wiggling like crazy.

The midwife told me not to worry at all and said that before 16 weeks it can be a bit hit and miss getting one. She wasn't remotely phased.

Anyway, I think you might as well call the midwife and ask if they'll have a look. I think if mine had wanted to she could have found it, but it would have taken a lot more time.

Crosshair · 14/10/2011 10:04

Took the midwife about 30 seconds to find mine at 16 weeks and the he moved after 2 seconds. :)

Original poster

MillyStar · 14/10/2011 10:25

Thank you so much everyone

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BedatHogwarts · 14/10/2011 11:05

I have a retroverted uterus too, and when I went to see my (very experienced) midwife at about 14 weeks as I was really anxious, it took her well over a minute to find a heartbeat.

I'm sure your midwife will find it for you - she won't want you worrying unnecessarily. And don't worry about the stretching pains, babies grow fast!!

Greenleafytrees · 14/10/2011 11:49

It took a lovely midwife almost 5 mins to find HB on me at 14 weeks with DD2 after a big bleed. We had been warned it might nit even be possible as it might be too early. A very experienced MW couldn't find DD1's HB at all at 16 weeks and had to send me fr scan ( she'd tried for over 10 mins, it was terrifying). Took my incredibly experienced current MW (former MW of the year no less) 5 mins at 16 weeks with ths pregnancy.

Oh and when I was 38 weeks with DD1 my numpty GP couldn't find her HB. I had to show her where she was lying in the end. Wasn't worried that time as could feel her squirming away.

I'm sure all is well, but that doctor was v v irresponsible to make a half-assed attempt to listen in then send you off without reassurance

BeeMyBaby · 14/10/2011 13:20

My midwife refused to even look for a heartbeat at 16 weeks, as its common to not find one even with a healthy baby, so had to wait until my 22 week appointment for that.

worldgonecrazy · 14/10/2011 13:27

It's very common to have trouble finding it. At a 24 week appointment the midwife spent 10 minutes trying to find DD's heartbeat. If it hadn't been the fact that she was squirming away trying very hard to get away from the doppler, I would have been very worried indeed.

Babies don't like dopplers.

banana87 · 14/10/2011 16:06

Consultants are pretty crap at finding the hb in my opinion!

I have a home doppler and at that gestation it sometimes took up to 5 minutes to find the heartbeat, and I usually placed the doppler near my belly button when I heard it. Consultant always placed it much lower and had a hard time finding it...I just don't think they are as good as midwives IMHO!

Northernlurker · 14/10/2011 16:23

When I was in labour with dd3 her position was such that the midwife could only find her heartbeat in one spot and it took a bit of doing. I could feel her moving so wasn't concerned. It is an art not a science at any point and at your early stage it's not surprising baby was hiding. The good scan with the heartbeat seen means there is every chance things are fine.

harassedandherbug · 14/10/2011 17:18

I saw my consultant the a couple of weeks ago at around 28 weeks, and I have a huuuge bump. His assistant (not sure what they're called!) couldn't find the hb then! Despite me telling her where to listen and feeling baby wriggling away........ she had to call the mw in to find it. She also couldn't tell which position the baby was in either.

So if that's from my obs/gyn consultant clinic, I doubt a gall bladder type would have a clue tbh!

Biscuitsandtea · 14/10/2011 17:20

Milly did you ever get hold of your mw?

Original poster

MillyStar · 14/10/2011 19:10

I feel so relieved now I'm not gonna bother hun my mind is honestly 100% at rest and I know bubba is ok ;) just annoyed with silly man!

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