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Pregnancy

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

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Original poster

Home fetal dopplers

23 replies

Whatevertheweather · 16/02/2012 17:57

I'm 11 weeks pregnant and thinking of getting a home Doppler. My dd2 died at full term in August so am quite anxious about this pregnancy and am wondering what people's experiences of them are. Will it reassure me or make me more paranoid? What's the best one to get? Are they easy to find the hb?

Thank you

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ciwi · 16/02/2012 18:27

Hi wtw I have an angel sounds one from amazon and found the heartbeat not too difficult to find if I had a full bladder. I found it helpful to get through the early days but I did have a couple of occasions when I couldnt find it and had to step away from it and try later. it can cause stress if you can't find it but tbh I only used it when I was worried anyway. In short sometimes it reassured me and sometimes it made me worry more. Once you feel regular movements though there is not much point using it as if they are moving then the hb is ok and if they are not you need checking out whether you can hear the hb or not but I am sure you are well aware of that anyway. Sorry if this post isn't very helpful but that's my experience of them anyway x

Original poster

Whatevertheweather · 16/02/2012 19:22

Thank you Ciwi it does help to know its quite easy to pick up. I just remember the long time between dd1 and dd2's 12 and 20 week scan when you can't feel movements. I'm just scared I'll start mentalling about it and be on it all the time!

OP posts:

Flisspaps · 16/02/2012 19:22

I don't think you should bother

Even MWs can find a heartbeat difficult to trace sometimes. They don't listen for one in my area until 24 weeks because of this. You might find your own and mistake that for your baby's, or you might even find the placenta.

I think you should be guided by movement and kicks in particular and speak to your MW if you have concerns, are they willing to offer you extra monitoring?

littlemissnormal · 16/02/2012 19:39

If you have an iPhone, don't waste your money on the Doppler app either as I struggle to pick up anything on mine so not worth the worry. X

puddingnazi · 16/02/2012 19:42

I love my doppler not so much for me but for my DH as he cant feel the movements yet but he can hear the heartbeat whenever he likes i also have an angel sounds one i find it tough to get the heartbeat everytime
hope this helps
XXX

beebee1978 · 16/02/2012 19:48

So sorry for your loss. I had a mc in 09 so we brought a doppler from eBay for about £40 and used it from 15 weeks everyday for reassurance best £40 ever spent. Heartbeat takes a while to detect and not to be confused with your own but once you get used to it it's great. It looked forward to listening to ds every night. All the best xx

Chynah · 16/02/2012 20:10

I used one with both my pregnancies and could pick up HB from 13/14 weeks. Would take a minute or so to locate but never haa problem finding it (it is much lower down than you'd think though in the begining). Its easy to tell it apart from yours as it will be about twice the speed. The placenta sounds more 'wooshy' so you will know if you find that too. Really enjoyed listening to them.

LIG1979 · 16/02/2012 20:25

I got an angel sounds one and whilst it took me a while to find the HB initially (I didn't have a full bladder and was looking in the wrong place), now I have found it once I can find it without much problem. Now it is trying to stop myself from using it and terrorising the poor little baby by constantly monitoring it. (I am 15 weeks.)

Traceymac2 · 16/02/2012 20:28

I could hear the fetal heart from 10 wks on this and my previous pregnancy. I did spend. Long time looking though! It definitely was the baby as the hb was about 140 bpm. I found it hugely reassuring as I have had a few mcs.

Vinolover · 16/02/2012 20:35

I absolutely love my doppler! I tried from 10 weeks to find the heartbeat but it wasn't until I was 13+5 that I came across it. Before that I had convinced myself that my heartbeat was bubs but when you hear it, it really is unmistakable. There have been a couple of occasions where I haven't found the heatbeat and it is a worry at the time but I just stepped back for a while a tried again. I love it when I can hear bubs kicking around :)

IAmLouise · 16/02/2012 20:37

I used mine lots in pg and loved it. I had this one www.anawiz.com/acatalog/Hi_Bebe__BT200__Sound.html#aHBS01 and I could fine the HB from about 10 weeks with both of mine, though at the beginning it took some finding!

Don't get one of those awful Angel Sounds ones, they are notoriously bad.

It took us years to get pg, with a few losses along the way and the doppler kept me sane in my 2 successful pgs.

startail · 16/02/2012 20:42

Sorry for your loss.
Later in PG my DH got to being a dab hand at listening to both DDs heart beats without any kit at all. He said you just felt for a firm bit and there it was.
DD1 was small for dates and I spent many hours on the monitor, DH was better at putting it on than the MW. By the time I went into labour they just handed it to him.

The fact that he could hear the heartbeat was very reassuring and I'm sure it would be for the OP and demoing her best wishes for a successful pregnancy.

AWomanCalledHorse · 16/02/2012 20:44

Sorry for your loss. x

I used an angelsounds one during my pregnancy (got it off amazon for around £20), we could find the heartbeat from around 14wks (but there were days when we couldn't which was slightly worrying).
I used it once a week during the pregnancy & it picked up on the ectopic heartbeat (which could've otherwise been undetected as it only started at 36wks, and I was booked in for a homebirth)!
It was extra reassuring as DS stopped moving at 37wks (and again at 39wks!!), but I could still find a heartbeat.

I (or rather DS) was on a heartrate/beat monitor when I was in labour because of the heartbeat/reduced movements...and even then they had to readjust it v.often in early labour as they kept on loosing the heartbeat. Even the best hospital equipment can mess up sometimes, so it's to be expected that you'd sometimes have trouble with a homekit!

I would honestly recommend one to anyone I know.

startail · 16/02/2012 20:44

Sending
Please can we have a proof option for the ap. Autocorrect has it in fore tonight

Traceymac2 · 16/02/2012 20:53

I used an Angelsounds too and have always found it good. You just have to know where to look. My baby always seemed to go to the same place n my uterus early on. Sometimes the GP would have trouble locating the hb with her Doppler and I would always be able to tell her where to find it!

Original poster

Whatevertheweather · 16/02/2012 20:57

Thank you all. I think I might get one and see how easy I find it. Got a bit of extra padding still on my tummy from dd2 pregnancy so hope it will still work. Think dd1 would enjoy listening too actually. She's nearly 5 and I think she will worry about this baby when we tell her so it might help reassure her too.

Thank you for your well wishes too - what happened to my lovely dd2 was incredibly rare so fx this will all go fine.

Fliss I do get extra 'reassurance' monitoring so will likely have a scan every 4 weeks which will help tremendously.

OP posts:

AlexTasha · 17/02/2012 11:18

I got the Sonoline B doppler that you use ultrasound gel with and it is honestly better than the one the midwife uses and provides such good peace of mind. I have never had a problem finding the heartbeat either, it is amazing. I would highly recommend! I got it off amazon for about £55 with the gel....

Macaroons · 18/02/2012 16:15

I also got a sonoline B fetal doppler. It arrived this morning! (only ordered from Amazon on Thursday evening!) couldn't get the heart beat in my first attempt, was a little worried, I then drank more water, tried again when I felt like I almost needed the loo, and found the heart beats after a while it's like phew-phew-phew-phew! it's a very reassuring sound, and HB is around 130-140 per minute. (so can't me mine)

I was watching some demos on youtube before I had a go, some people say they are addicted and would do this everyday and one even said she does this several times a day! I'll try to restrain myself from doing that, as it's still unknown whether there's any side effect, but I think doing this once in a while (like once a week) should be fine. For those of you who need reassurance in between scans, I think this is money well spent!

(mine's 52 quid, only came with a 40ml bottle of gel, according to youtube videos can get any aloe vera gel)

TooImmatureTurtleDoves · 18/02/2012 16:35

Hi wtw!

I have an Angel Sounds one too, but I carefully didn't buy it until I was about 14 weeks because I was scared of trying too soon. It has been really reassuring, although I did panic once when I couldn't find the hb. DH found it for me within a few minutes, though. He finds it really comforting too. I've hardly used it for the last couple of months because I can usually feel Bean moving fairly easily.

I didn't use it as often as I thought I would - I didn't like doing it on my own just in case something was wrong, so I would get DH to do it (am a wuss!).

Macaroons · 18/02/2012 16:36

forgot to say, I'm 11+3 based on LMP, but more like 10+3 as my cycles are around 35 days

TooImmatureTurtleDoves · 18/02/2012 16:38

Don't worry about padding on your tummy - doesn't make any difference!

The community MW used my Angel Sounds doppler last week when she came round without hers - she found the hb quickly and said it was actually a pretty good piece of kit. She had initially been skeptical because her sonicaid costs £6000 and mine cost about £25.

McBaby · 18/02/2012 19:17

Love my angel sounds, it's nice to hear the heartbeat and baby moving around. It's also nice for dp as we heard it before our 12 week scan.

Just use it as its nice to hear baby but also realise you can't always hear it as my placenta is on the right at the front so can hide the baby.

It is much easier to find now I'm 15 4

scarletfingernail · 18/02/2012 21:30

Sorry for your loss.

I bought mine at 14 weeks with this pregnancy after 2 previous MCs. I was unsure whether it would help reassure me or make me worry more. I figured that I probably couldn't worry any more anyway, so went for it.

I got the Angel Sounds one from Amazon (around £25) and also got some additional ultrasound gel. It's been great. Sometimes I can find it really quickly, other times it takes a bit of perseverence but I've always managed to find it. I stick my finger behind my ear to feel my pulse at the same time to ensure it's the baby I'm picking up. The baby's heartbeat is very different sounding to the placenta, so have a good search around and make sure it is the heartbeat you're picking up.

I'm 31 weeks now and more or less stopped using it once I started feeling regular movements at around 22 weeks. Now and again I get it out if my baby's had a quiet day which is very reassuring. That said, I wouldn't rely on it completely as I'm no expert. If I thought there was anything really out of the ordinary with my baby's movements I would go and get checked out properly.

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