Fetal doppler
I bought a baby doppler the other day from Amazon.com. I don't know what got into me. But I suddenly felt this weird feeling of panic like something was going wrong, even though there was absolutely no indication of anything going wrong. I totally realize it was just my neurotic self being stupid. In either case, I decided that I would buy a doppler to ease my fears and neurosis. I'm such a dork, I even paid the extra money to get it shipped next day, when I could have gotten free shipping to just wait a week, but whatever.
The day I received it, I was actually at work. I decided that I would try it on my lunch break. So I found a discrete place in the building where I knew no one would go and tried it out. I tried unsuccessfully to find the heartbeat for 45 minutes. That of course freaked me out and made me worried. I immediately text Alex telling him I got the doppler but couldn't get the heartbeat. I just kept texting, "it better be user error...". Of course, when I got home, I decided to try again. After about 15 minutes I was able to find my sweetpea! While at work, I read how many women only heard it way down low near the pelvis a 14 weeks like I'm at. So after finally cluing in to that, I've been able to find baby pretty easily now.
I also figured it would be a great way to get hubby and our 3 year old involved. We've told Alanah that mama's got a baby in the belly but I don't know how much she gets it just yet, since I'm not really showing that much yet. I figured with the doppler, she could hear the heartbeat and understand a little bit better that there's a baby in there. As for hubby, I thought he would be a little more excited about hearing the heartbeat. The day I got the doppler, we sat in the bedroom trying to find the heartbeat together. We kept running across what sounded like a heartbeat but I knew it wasn't the baby's. It was just too slow. He just kept saying, "I think that's the heartbeat. We're just not hearing it very well". I had him count out 10 seconds while I counted the beats and sure enought it was only in the 80's bpm, so I definitely knew it wasn't the baby's. After a while he seemed to get fed up with it or exhausted by it so he left to go deal with dinner. Not long after he left, I was able to find the heartbeat for real and yelled to him while he was upstairs that I found it. So I go up to show him. The baby had moved slightly by the time I went up so it took a second to find it again, but I did. I don't know what reaction exactly I was expecting from him. But I guess I just expected that he would be a little more excited to hear the heartbeat. He was just kind of like, "oh, ok, nice" and then turned back to watch his show on tv. I was just expecting more.
I, on the other hand, have been taking great joy in hearing the heartbeat. I have to admit, that it had been kind of hard for a while to get attached to the pregnancy, especially before that 12 week mark, because of my previous recent miscarriage. I feel a little guilty, like I haven't given the same kind of love to this baby like I did with Alanah. Even though I know that isn't the case. But now that I'm 14 weeks, I feel like I'm in a place where I don't have to worry, at least as much. And having the doppler has totally allowed me to connect with my baby in a way I wasn't allowing myself to do before. I literally just sit there with the doppler speaker on my chest just listening to the heartbeat for what seems like forever. I could probably lay there and listen to it for hours. I've read that having a doppler can cause more stress than anything else and that many doctors don't recommend getting one for that very reason. But from my experience, it's been a great way to connect with my baby and I've nothing but good feelings about it.
The day I received it, I was actually at work. I decided that I would try it on my lunch break. So I found a discrete place in the building where I knew no one would go and tried it out. I tried unsuccessfully to find the heartbeat for 45 minutes. That of course freaked me out and made me worried. I immediately text Alex telling him I got the doppler but couldn't get the heartbeat. I just kept texting, "it better be user error...". Of course, when I got home, I decided to try again. After about 15 minutes I was able to find my sweetpea! While at work, I read how many women only heard it way down low near the pelvis a 14 weeks like I'm at. So after finally cluing in to that, I've been able to find baby pretty easily now.
I also figured it would be a great way to get hubby and our 3 year old involved. We've told Alanah that mama's got a baby in the belly but I don't know how much she gets it just yet, since I'm not really showing that much yet. I figured with the doppler, she could hear the heartbeat and understand a little bit better that there's a baby in there. As for hubby, I thought he would be a little more excited about hearing the heartbeat. The day I got the doppler, we sat in the bedroom trying to find the heartbeat together. We kept running across what sounded like a heartbeat but I knew it wasn't the baby's. It was just too slow. He just kept saying, "I think that's the heartbeat. We're just not hearing it very well". I had him count out 10 seconds while I counted the beats and sure enought it was only in the 80's bpm, so I definitely knew it wasn't the baby's. After a while he seemed to get fed up with it or exhausted by it so he left to go deal with dinner. Not long after he left, I was able to find the heartbeat for real and yelled to him while he was upstairs that I found it. So I go up to show him. The baby had moved slightly by the time I went up so it took a second to find it again, but I did. I don't know what reaction exactly I was expecting from him. But I guess I just expected that he would be a little more excited to hear the heartbeat. He was just kind of like, "oh, ok, nice" and then turned back to watch his show on tv. I was just expecting more.
I, on the other hand, have been taking great joy in hearing the heartbeat. I have to admit, that it had been kind of hard for a while to get attached to the pregnancy, especially before that 12 week mark, because of my previous recent miscarriage. I feel a little guilty, like I haven't given the same kind of love to this baby like I did with Alanah. Even though I know that isn't the case. But now that I'm 14 weeks, I feel like I'm in a place where I don't have to worry, at least as much. And having the doppler has totally allowed me to connect with my baby in a way I wasn't allowing myself to do before. I literally just sit there with the doppler speaker on my chest just listening to the heartbeat for what seems like forever. I could probably lay there and listen to it for hours. I've read that having a doppler can cause more stress than anything else and that many doctors don't recommend getting one for that very reason. But from my experience, it's been a great way to connect with my baby and I've nothing but good feelings about it.