Ooooh I'm 7.5 weeks pg and I've just heard the heart beat on my doppler!

[SobranieCocktail]

I can't believe I heard it so early Maybe I should have posted this in G&T

I agree - I don't think it is possible - but prepared to be proved wrong. Even a scan cannot pic it up until about 6wks. Even a MW doesn't start to look until 1wk+

Your uterus sin't even palpable....there is no way a doppler can detect a hb.

Either you have picked up your own pulse or you are further along than you think

BabyBaby, it's about 1.5cm. It's a bit patronising to say that it's impossible to hear the heartbeat. I know exactly what it sounds like as I've has two previous pregnancies, so unless I happen to have a tiny steam train imitating a foetus in my womb, I think I can be confident of the fact that I heard the baby's heartbeat.

I know exactly how pregnant I am, and actually my uterus is just about palpable. I angled the doppler low down behind my pelvic bone.

theresonlyme - why does belgo have to repeat it? I read it the first time and responded

FWIW I read about ultrasound usage extensively during my first pregnancy before using a doppler, and I also checked with my GP and midwife. The only concern that they expressed was that I shouldn't freak if I couldn't find the heartbeat.

I want one, I borrowed one from my friend with my last pg and it was amazing. My friend who has had 4 children also heard her baby around 7 weeks....i'm dying to get my hands on one now as she hasn't got hers anymore any suggestions as to which is the best, gonna order one today whilst I have some pennies i'm 9 wks today and SOOOOO EXCITED

Clearly I missed you responding.

When is Baby due?

10th September

Okay, just come back to this. What I said was one professional sonographer's opinion. She also seemed to be of the opinion that ultrasounds should only be done out of medical necessity (and you can argue that a reassurance scan is of medical necessity if it helps relieve the stress the woman is experiencing). When I saw my tiny 8 week old embryo on the screen, with just a few flickering cells representing the heart, I felt an intense sense of intruding on something that was so incredibly private - my baby in the very first stages of development. It was something that I wasn't 'meant' to see. When the sonographer said that although we could see the heart beat, she didn't want to listen to it as it may upset the baby, it completely changed the way I looked at scans.

I know how stressful a pregnancy is when you had previous miscarriages, I've experienced that myself. Scans and hearing the baby's heartbeat do help reassure you, and I agree that is important. But I can't help but feel that we just simply don't know enough about the effects of dopplers at such a vulnerable stage of pregnancy, and the chances are they will add to the stress of the mother if she can't find the heartbeat.

Like I said, even at 15 weeks, the student doctor couldn't find the baby's heartbeat. She found mine, which was very high (115 I seem to remember), as I was getting quite stressed out that no heart beat was being found. Then the baby kicked the doppler, and the doctor found the heart beat.

belgo - odd question but can i ask whether the view (of scans being intrusive on a private moment) is commen in Belgium? I am interested as i have only heard it once before, from an English friend living in Belgium, then i read your post and saw you live there too. coindidence or culturally influenced?

co-incidence artichokes, I'm the only one I know with that view. I might have expressed it previously on mumsnet.

. my friend felt so strongly about it she only had one scan while pregnant.

sobranie these people want to sell this thing and even they are saying 10weeks! but I can find references to fetal heartbeat being heard at 8-9 weeks if you are very thin?

i found ds's hb at 10 weeks and it couldn't have been any easier or clearer, i don't doubt i could have found it easier but an 7 week baby is tiny. Saying that i did have a scan at 9 weeks and heard it then.. why knows.

I guess anything is possible

Sobranie - I'm so glad that you got your doppler problem fixed!!! And congratulations again!

Northern - this company says that 15% can detect the heartbeat at 7 weeks.

I am quite slim, and I'm also well practised

belgo, I've heard the same about dopplers/scans - no-one is sure of the effect on the baby

i heard mine nightly from 7.5 weeks

2 babies this way

as an intelligent am a bit at this thread

Ria - it is a bit frustrating!

I used on early on in my pregnancies and sometimes later on too. I've had 5 miscarriages, 1 prem baby, other pregnancy with early contractions and hospital stays and my last one where my waters went at 22 weeks. I had weekly scans with that one from then on to measure fluid levels.

When I couldn't feel the baby move I would panic myself so much, I would think the baby was dead and I needed to hear they were still alive. Sounds dramatic but I was terrified of losing them. I listened from early on and found it easily.

There is debate over whether ultrasound is safe but anecdotal evidence suggests that it is. I'm more worried about drinking alcohol during pregnancy (something that recent studies suggest can actually have an effect on the baby even in small amounts) and eating the right foods than worrying about something else. I worried about everything possible when I was pregnant, the only thing that helped was knowing I could listen and know my baby was still alive. I was obsessive about what I ate and drank to the point of not touching a drop of alcohol even on my wedding day (I was pregnant with dd then) because I would have blamed myself should anything have happened. I blamed myself anyway but I would have felt even worse if I didn't do everything I could "right". I'm not saying other people that don't do what I did are wrong, just that that was how I felt at the time.

I am reading this thread with great interest - after a horrible (Aren't they all?) miscarriage, I was a self-confessed paranoid pregnant lady with the next pregnancy.

I had an angelsounds doppler and heard the babies heartbeat loudly & clearly at 9 weeks pregnant. There was no doubt what I was listening too - there are many websites with samples of baby's heartbeats / placental sounds / mothers heartbeats to compare them to.

I listened to the heartbeat about once a week and it was an invaluable source of reassurance and comfort - especially as I suffered from terrible morning sickness, hearing the heartbeat helped me connect to this little being who was making me so ill!

I am now 27 weeks pregnant and the baby is (according to scans & check-ups, as well as non-stop kicking) a healthy little guy/girl and I don't use the doppler as much anymore...in fact, I have just realised that I haven't used it for about 4 weeks now.

I understand that some people have concerns about possible side-effects and others worry about the emotional dependency of using a doppler - but for me it was an essential way to re-assure myself that all was OK. Using a doppler for 5 minutes a week was INIFNITELY better than a stressed, paranoid mother-to-be. Each to their own...people need to do whatever works for them?