I am 9 weeks 5 days pregnant and have recently acquired a fetal doppler it is FDA approved, i was wondering though how long is too long to use the doppler at one time. for instance yesterday i found the heartbeat for the first time within 10 mins today i wanted to check to see if i had heard correctly yesterday, i used it for 10 mins found nothing went away for 30mins came back bladder fuller, tried for 10 mins nothing, rested then tried again for like 5 mins and found the heartbeat, is this too much? will it harm my baby or myself i notice i have small cramps when i am finished but i think that would just be from pressing on my belly, i had bleeding at 8wks so i am more worried thats why i wanted to check,

I have a sonoline 3 mhz fetal doppler that i use and it picks up the baby’s heart rate every time, now what i’m wondering, am I hearing kicks because I hear like this loud noise it sounds like it does kick it because then the little fella moves away and I have to move the probe to find him again.

I am 13 weeks pregnant plus a few days and I am worrying! I keep hearing that the risk of miscarriage at this point in pregnancy is very low. How low is it? I have a fetal doppler at home and used it yesterday morning and heard the heartbeat which always puts a huge smile on my face and gives me great relief! So it is true what they say? Is the risk of miscarriage very low now for me?

I went for what I thought was a routine appointment with my doctor. When he was checking my baby’s heartbeat with the doppler, he noticed that the heartbeat sounded irregular (As in it skipped a couple times) He sent me for an ultrasound because he wanted to check and see if they could detect what he was hearing, and sure enough, they detected an irregular heartbeat as well. He said that the irregular heartbeat could be caused by a number of things, but the main reason he gave is if I had too much caffeine. And I admit, I splurged on the iced tea a little too much over the weekend and had a small cup of coffee (as in I fill up my mug with about 1/4 cup of coffee and fill the rest with water to dilute it). He seems to think that it could have been caused by the caffeine. He wants me to lay off the caffeine and go for a follow-up ultrasound tomorrow morning and depending on results of that, may have me and my husband talk with a fetal abnormality counselor. Only thjing is that tomorrow is ONLY and ultrasound, and I don’t see my doctor again until next Tuesday for another ultrasound and my follow up appointment… I’m really scared!! Even though the ultrasound from yesterday showed no sign of heart abnormalities, I just feel guilty thinking that I could have caused harm to the baby.

THEN not thinking this morning (I was crying all night and felt slumpy this morning) I ate a chocolate covered donut, and I knwo that chocolate has SOME caffeine in it

I’m really freaking out and stressing myself out… Anyone ever had this happen?? Any words of encouragement to help me get through the next 24 hours and 7 days ?!?!
Even the ultrasound tech asked me before we started if I had caffeine earlier in the day, and she’s seen it too where if there’s a lot of caffeine in the system that it can cause the heartbeat to be irregular. There have been no decreases in movement with my little one and everything else is perfectly healthy with my baby. They even told me she has a head full of hair and weighs approx 4lbs 13oz

i got a good while to get things sorted but i think my consultant will allow me to go to edd but not a day over.

he wants me to have another section but i really want to avoid it.

i had 1st section on march 9th 2007 with dd due to ftp and fetal distress. (i was 15 days over due and had a failed induction)

2nd was on march 9th 2009 with ds because consultant refused to let me go any further and would not allow induction.

i had a very bad experience with that 2nd section. they performed it on a 30 minute epi and my son got stuck and needed forceps so by the time they started sewing me up it had worn off and i could feel everything.

what i am thinking is if i do my research well before the birth and by some miracle i go into natural labour, would i be ok to stay at home as long as possible?

if i went straight into hospital they would only let me have a trial of labour for 4 hours but if i stayed at home till contractions were thick and fast i’d have more chance of delivering normally.

i know there are some danger of me rupturing my scar but i also know that a temperature will be present before that happened so if i kept an eye on my temp should be ok

also i would hire a professional doppler and monitor foetal hb to look for any dropped or raised heartbeat for foetal destress.

if i really load myself with all the facts what do you think?

i know there are dangers i know i could injure my wound i know all of this but i also know i could bleed to death on the theatre table and i know i could get hit by a bus when crossing the road.

the hospital are happy to give a trial of labour so its obviously not that dangerous.
just me- i am grateful for your opinion and i will not rise to the comment made about me just thinking of myself. whatever i don’t feel the need to ustify myself to you or anybody else. i suppose my consultant is the only opinion that counts. so thanks for your advice. but sorry to disappoint you if you wanted me to have a war of words. tbh i can’t be bothered

So I’m 20 weeks pregnant and still trying to determine if I’m feeling my baby move. I’m a plus-sized gal but it has never been a problem w/dopplers or ultrasounds. I have a doppler at home and can easily hear the heart beat + swooshing sounds (which the doc says is movement).

Being one of the lucky moms with gas, I tend to get little aches and gurgles most of the day so it makes it even more difficult to catch any movement. I’ve tried lying down in bed and pushing down on my tummy to get a reaction but got nothing.

I’m a 1st time mommy but don’t get me wrong…I’m not a paranoid mommy. I’m just curious to see if anyone here felt fetal movement later than normal, like around 21 or 22 Weeks?

I will be having my next visit June 3rd, I’ll be 13 weeks. I had my whole physical last visit, numerous swabs and tests etc. I had my ultrasound at 8.5 weeks and the technician told me the fetal heart rate was 160 bpm, but he never let me hear it… actually, I forgot to even ask :S OOPS! Anyway, I was wondering what my 13 weeks visit with my doctor will consist of? Will he use a doppler to hear the heart beat? I haven’t heard it yet and I realllllllllly really want to hear it already!
What else could I possibly expect during the visit?

Thanks

I had an ultrasound at 6wks 2days because I thought I was spotting and having another m/c. The doctor said he saw a tiny "flicker" and fetal pole but I’m going to be 8 weeks tomorrow, and I still don’t "feel" pregnant. My only symptoms are fatigue, retaining water/bloated, and I have been breaking out more than normal, on my face and my back. I still haven’t had morning sickness and my breasts aren’t that sore, mostly just sensitive nipples. I go in when I’m 10wks 2days to see if we hear the heartbeat on the doppler but I’m terrified it won’t be there and that I have had a missed m/c. I know it’s horrible to think, but I’m so terrified. I almost wish I had morning sickness or something so that I actually feel pregnant. Can the heartbeat stop beating once it has started? Or is seeing a heartbeat usually a good sign that everything is ok? Please give me any insight you have. Thanks!

i dnt wanna tlk your ears off. so im going to try making it all short and leavin some stuff out. well for 2 days straight i had bad back aches, and diarrhea :/ it sucked :/
i mean really bad lower back pains to the right side. well both have went away and i havnt had either the whole day they jsut magically disappeared over night?
im 12 weeks. doc says he heard heartbeat on Doppler at 11 weeks. :/ hes lazy and he sucks though. he would tell me that to get himself out of doing a ultra. i begged him for one. he wouldnt budge :/ my belly hasnt grown one bit its my first baby (ive had one previous missed miscarriage followed by d&c at 10 weeks) and im skinny 110 pounds and 5′2 if im lucky! not showing one bit? and confused a fetal ultrasound place wont so me an ultrasound untill im 14 weeks :/ and i gotta pay 50 bucks just cuz my doc wouldnt take me back in this week to hear it for my self. and get the beats , he didnt tell me last time :/ well at about 8 weeks i spotted a wipe of light brown?does this baby sound like it sticked. please pray for me. im praying god will let this cupcake be my full term lil one. thanks.

also i have no symptoms at all right now. havnt had much since the beginning :/ also saw my cupcakes heart beating on ultrasound at like 8 weeks. but last time with my last pregnancy we saw the heat beat as well at 7 weeks :/ and it didnt work out still :/

How many are already feeling the pressure to have unnecessary things done during labor/birth/delivery?

At my last doctors visit, my/the doctor said he would use a external fetal monitor. I more about the natural birth/labor/delivery-healthier for both, me and baby, so I’ve done my homework and so far this is completely unnecessary. I’ve had no complications and they can hear the baby’s heartbeat (which is good, okay/normal) completely fine by the doppler/fetoscope.

I just think its so funny. The hospital and doctor I’m using don’t care what their patients have to say (so the doctors do it their way/what pleases them). Sometimes they barely even inform you of what is going on, test results, etc.. But I’m not going to just let my birth/labor/delivery just happen, I’m taking charge.

How many others are taking charge/feeling the pressure? (That prefer the more natural route.)
BTW, I definetly be using a diff. doctor and hospital with my preferences.
You know what is sad, I planned on writing a birth plan and giving it to them but it would be a complete waste-seeing as they already have it planned out (fetal monitor=epidural=c-section).

Sad! I hope others take/are taking charge of the labor/birth/delivery.
So Many good answers, I can’t decide.

ok im 25 expecting my 1st in March 20, 2009. I am currently 1 day shy of 22 weeks.

My coworker is about 35 weeks, 24 years old, due Dec. 19, 2008.

We are both expecting boys.

I personally questioned her about her baby fetal movements. She states she really doesnt feel him move much i mean yes there is movement but not much of it, all is good in her pregnancy he is even face down already.

I am not feeling any movements, i had an appt. Oct. 21 to find out sex, all was fine and we heard heart beat and baby was active but i admit drinking soda to make him move to find ou sex then on Oct. 29 i heard the heart beat via Doppler, doctor said i should feel movement in a week or so to not stress. I am now a day shy of 22 weeks and still no movement, or nothing that i think its baby related because i get gassy but i can tell difference, believe me. I am not a small frame girl neither i am about 5′4 and pre-pregnancy weighed 180ish. Now im at or about 197ish more or less.

I am barely showing, well i do hide it since i just started a 12 week job but many friends and family are concerned i am not feeling movement, should i be or should i go to ER and say i dont feel good to see if things okay or should i wait until my next doc. appt. which due to my doc. leaving the office is now pushed from Nov. 29th to Dec. 19.

In other words, anyone expecting a boy, take them a while to feel their baby boy move compared to a girl pregnancy. I hear girls are super move active.

Can someone share their expierence, im seriousl kinda worried or ready to be super worried if i dont feel anything soon.

I am a little nervous about my baby’s heart rate. I am just over 12 weeks pregnant and usually when I have an ultrasound his heartbeat is about 164 bpm. This morning I had a doppler done and it was at 120 bpm. That is unusually low. The only difference is that this was done in the early mmorning and my ultrasounds are usually done in the afternoon to evening. And he thrashes around in the ultrasound. Maybe he was sleeping. About the 120 bpm at 12 weeks, is that normal?

my mom wants to hear the baby heart beat since she cant go with me to my next appointment when the doctor does it

Okay…I am 15 weeks pregnant and haven’t had an ultrasound since week 8. When I had the ultrasound I was told there was only one baby….just ONE!!!!!…….But I got one of those at home fetal dopplers…. and normally I hear the heartbeat and dont think to search around any more…because i found one. But I just did the doppler and I swear I heard two heartbeats!!!! There is one distinct heartbeat in my lower abdomen and then I heard another near my belly button!!!!……is this possible??? Could I be carrying twins and they just didn’t see both of them on the first ultrasound??? ….does this even happen???
no hun its not my heart beat….I know the difference between blood swooshing around and whether or not it matches my heartbeat or not….they sound the same

This morning my husband and I used our fetal doppler to hear the baby’s heart beat. I am almost 13 weeks and have been using my doppler for the past 2 weeks or so. I have noticed that when I first began to use it, the baby was on my right side as I noticed at an ultrasound last week. Ever since last week, the baby has moved to the other side! Is that normal or common for a baby to move from one side of the uterus to the other in that short amount of time? Like this morning when we used it, we heard the heart beat on the left side! I’m 100% sure its not twins and I know the sound of the heart beat. It was like mine except twice as fast. I’m so confused!

I’ve done some reading online, but it seems that everywhere I look has a different set of statistics. I know I could ask my doctor this, but I don’t see him until next week. So I was just wondering if anyone could tell me the statistics they’ve heard from doctors or reliable sources about miscarriages, missed miscarriages, and still births. Specifically, this is what I am wondering:

1. How common is a miscarriage after 13 weeks?
2. How common is a missed miscarriage after 13 weeks?
3. How common is losing a baby after heart beat is detected by doppler?
4. How common are still births?
5. Are those with high risk pregnancies more likely to have a miscarriage, missed miscarriage, or still birth?
6. Are there any symptoms of a missed miscarriage or still birth other than no found heart beat?

I am 14w6d and so far my pregnancy has been going really well. No bleeding, no severe cramps (other than bad round ligament pains a couple of times), good/strong fetal heart beat, baby is growing at a good rate, I am not high risk, no history of miscarriages in my family, etc. I just would like to know the facts.

I am hearing a heartbeat in two different places. I know the dopplers are sensitive, but are they that sensitive, since it can be hard to find the heartbeat in the first place? Anybody else had this experience? We have our first doc visit this week. Thank you.
Not my heartbeat. I can hear all three, and mine is a lot slower than the others. Thank you!

I had my Mirena (birth control) taken out 2/2/09. I got a short period from the 4th through the 7th or 8th. Then, I didn’t have a period at all in March, or in April. So I went and got a blood test that said I was pregnant (Yay!), and by my calculations by "the first day of your last period", I was due November 13th.

We kept trying to hear a heartbeat with a doppler when we thought I was about 11-12 weeks along, and nothing doing. So they sent me for an ultrasound (in the supposed 13th week), which they said the fetus’s size indicated I was only about 8.5 weeks along. So apparently, I skipped a period for nothing, and I was due December 11th (my calculations on when my period SHOULD have been) or 14th (according to THEM).

Then, I began feeling fetal movement much earlier than I was told I should have (my first pregnancy, not that far along, etc.).

When I went for the general ultrasound halfway through (according to the new due date) and they told me I had a healthy baby girl, but that THEIR measurements said I was due the 16th of December.

But nearly all the symptoms and milestones seem to happen earlier for me than they should according to the due dates they’re giving me.

So I’m wondering… is it possible for her to be just smaller, and that I really could be due a month before my midwife expects?

Becky Dawn

I have had a diagnosis from a centre for maternal/fetal medicine that I either have a venous sinus, or a vasa previa. They see blood flow with the color doppler and it is right over the cervix. I saw the report that they sent my OB, and they stated the two possibilities, adding that however, it should be treated as a Vasa Previa. Having researched vasa previa, I found that delivery should be by cesarean before 37 weeks. But when my OB spoke to me, she said it was something where we would have to wait until I was in labor to know what was going on. For anyone with any experience of this, and who knows what happens with vasa previa, does this not sound like a dangerous situation? I don’t know how to approach her about this without sounding like I don’t trust her, but I am very concerned that this approach could result in me losing my baby.

hi, i’m first time pregnant and me and my partner have bought a doppler, im 14 weeks tommorow as far as we know as we havent had the scan yet and im wondering if any1 has any tips on using it bcos we cant find the heartbeat anywhere! it says on the box that we can use it from 12 weeks onwards so im just wondering if we are doin something wrong!
thanks!

just back from the hospital. went in because i had excessive discharge that i thought could have been my waters. apparently it was nothing more than lots of cm! but while i was there, i was checked over with the doppler etc as normal and they thought the baby’s heartbeat sounded irregular.
i was then sent for fetal monitoring which went on for nearly an hour and a half. i was told that the baby has slightly irregular heartbeat and is skipping beats every now and again. she is extremely active, posterior, not engaged yet and otherwise fine. they sent me home and told me that there is nothing to worry about but oh my god! what the hell does this mean? me and hubby are freaking out.. wondering if its the low dose aspirin i have been told to take, the decaf i drink? what causes this and what does it mean?
i said ectopic heartbeat because that is the name of the condition i am asking about. if you dont know even that then why are you answering my question? google it!

I am 12 weeks pregnant today and am feeling rather upset. I keep reading online (which is a bad idea I know) about all these things that can happen to my baby. I am terrified of having a miscarriage, just as any pregnant woman would. I heard that once you reach the 12 week mark, your chances drop significantly. Is this true? I had an ultrasound done this past Wednesday and the baby measured 12 weeks exactly and had a heart rate of 160 bpm. I can’t help but feel worried all the time. I was so worried last night that I used my fetal doppler just to make sure I could hear the heart beat, which I could. I could just use some reassurance! I remember my doctor telling me when I was around 9 or 10 weeks that after looking at the ultrasound, he said and I quote, "This looks like a strong pregnancy." Is what I am feeling normal? Help!

I had a MC about a year ago around 7 weeks after seeing fetal heartbeat but never got the heartrate detected. I’m 9w1d now and heart the heartbeat on the doppler 160bpm, I have had no complications except occasional shock like feeling lower adominal pain, very mild and happens like 2 times a month maybe if that, I had the same thing happen around 6 weeks, nothing major I don’t think, I know I’m not completely out of the risk area but with the information given so far do you think I will be fine? Ultrasound reported normal, at 5w6d, havent had one since but heartrate was detected a couple days ago by my OB and I have heard thats a healthy heartrate?

I am 22 weeks and Ive read in baby books , magazines , and through other pregnant women that you can hear the babies heartbeat starting at 18-20 weeks .

So I was thinking about going to buy one tomorrow , but im not sure where to go , and which one would work well or not.
(I don’t want to waste my money lol)

Anyways if you also know anything about fetal scopes and where I can get one ,please share .Thank you:)

[I don't want a doppler (to expensive for my budget)]

Im 13 weeks so not too far gone, but id love a fetal doppler! we brought one from mothercare but it was rubbish! We would really some some good recomendations of good quality dopplers and where to buy them? price isnt an issue! Thanks guys .

Ps. Please dont say boots or mothercare lol .