Doppler? (Please don't shout, I know...)

[teapers]

I know, I know....I know all the reasons they are bad and aren’t encouraged to be used.

But would a fetal doppler be that bad if I used it just to try and reassure myself there’s still a baby in there?

I’m14 weeks and I don’t feel pregnant anymore now that the nausea has gone. My scan was 2 weeks ago and feels like forever ago. My mum miscarried (without symptoms) at this stage and I’m so scared the same will happen to me.

I also feel worried because no matter how much the sonograoher tried to make the baby move during the scans (both at 12 weeks), it was almost completely still, despite lots of prodding and me jiggling around. She wasn’t worried at the time as there was a heartbeat but now I’m overthinking that too!

Everyone else at the same stage seems to have at least a small bump, but I have nothing at all and I haven’t put on any weight.

I’m just so worried and desperate to know if my baby is ok in there!

Please help me stop going totally insane!

A Doppler will drive you MORE insane. If a trained professional can't do this with hospital grade tech what hope do you have with something off Amazon and an instruction booklet in Chinese?
Speak to your MW about how you feel.
Bumps can be gas!
Still babies can be sleeping. My DD NEVER played ball at scan time.

My friends baby was the same, never moved on scans, seems she was just a very laid back baby that liked her sleep! Shenow a healthy 6 week old! My midwife centre has a weekly heartbeat clinic (which I plan to use in this pregnancy due to my last one ending in a very premature birth and loss of my son) so you can go and hear it weekly to reassure yourself--is there anything like that available near to you?

I agree. Avoid the Doppler! At This stage I didn't feel pregnant for weeks and everything was fine. Be glad your not feeling crappy anymore! Make the most of it before the heart burn, restless legs come along! X

Tea the doppler can be more worrying as you aren't trained to use them. Instead can you get a private scan to check all is okay?

Even a midwife couldn't find my new baby with a Doppler at 16 weeks! She was too small and the placenta is at the front.

BUT if it had been me, I would have taken either my own heartbeat or the blood going through the cord and thought that was it. Had there been a problem, I would then have missed it.

It's tough but you just have to wait for those kicks!

This was my daughter's attitude to scans....

Go and drink some Orange juice and walk bouncy round your kitchen or something, see if you can feel any movement. If you're worried, call Labour ward and they can scan/Doppler you. Don't ignore your worries but also don't stress it too much x

Don't get one. Sometimes even trained professionals can't find the baby's heartbeat, or mistake the mother's heartbeat for the baby's, so it won't reassure you, it will just make you worry more.

Everything you are feeling is normal and I know because I have just come out of that phase myself. Not having a bump, not seeing enough movement, disappearing pregnancy symptoms - they all made me think the baby had died. (I'm 21 weeks now and I still get panicky moments like this but thankfully the 24-7 anxiety has subsided). You just have to remember that if something bad is going to happen, which is unlikely, you can't change the outcome by worrying. The chances are that everything is fine (especially as you've made it to the second trimester and the midwife didn't seem to have any cause for concern) so just try to relax and enjoy it. I know it's easier said than done

Your only 14 weeks calm down!

I couldn't even get a midwife to hear anything until 15 / 16 weeks and then my front placenta and inactive baby meant I didn't really feel movement until 25 weeks nearly.
Symptoms come and go you don't constantly feel pregnant and things change.

My sister didn't show until 22 weeks. I didn't really show until 26 weeks now at 36 I still don't have a massive bump.

I think you should maybe get some reassurance from healthcare professionals and stop panicking and do not buy a doppler.
At 14 weeks you are less likely to have a miscarriage. As long as you have seen a viable baby on the scan with a heartbeat the risks go down dramatically.
I think you are just worrying far too much.

Okokok thank you ladies. I promise I won’t get one.

Thanks for sharing your perspectives. I’m glad it’s not unusual to not see movement in the scans - the lady kept saying how lazy the baby was and said that with all the prodding she was doing it should be moving so I didn’t realise it was normal!

Thank you @HarryHarry - I thought I’d relax after the 12 week scan but I think that was just my first timer naivety - I guess worrying is part of my job for the rest of my life now!

@Dorabean I don’t think they offer that locally but I will check - it sounds fab. If not maybe I will book another private scan just to stop me worrying.

Thank you all

I have a Doppler and played with it from 9weeks. Took a while to find the baby’s heartbeat at first but I got the hang of it. They tell you not to use them for reassurance in the late stages if you have noticed reduced movement. Other wise it’s fine to use one early on

If you book a private scan for 16 weeks, that'll have been four weeks from your 12 week scan and only four weeks to wait afterwards until your 20 week scan- would keeping scans evenly spaced make you feel a bit less anxious?

My local private scan clinic advertises as being able to tell you the sex of the baby from 16 weeks as well if that's somethings you'd be keen to find out!

Also OP, you are going to worry! First you'll worry about miscarriage. Then you'll worry about anomalies. Then you'll worry about movement and stillbirth and things like preeclampsia and gestational diabetes.

Then you'll worry about the baby breathing and meeting milestones.

Then you'll worry about school and parties and popularity.

Then you'll worry about social media and dating and driving lessons.

It will never stop!! You just have to learn to calm yourself down and remember that you are far more likely to be fine than not.

Going against the grain but my Doppler saved my sanity! I’d had losses before having my lo and I suffered with anxiety. My GP told me that as long as it wasn’t causing me stress it was fine. I managed to find the hb with relative ease from about 11 weeks. I intended to stop using it once I could feel the baby move but my lo turned out not to be much of a mover (never felt a kick!), so used it to the end. I knew never to use it to reassure about reduced movement though - I went straight to the hospital every five minutes when I was anxious about that.