Our Blessings

Saturday, August 14, 2010

doppler!

It's so frustrating at this point of pregnancy because there's no way to know if the baby is ok between appointments. My next appointment and ultrasound is this Tuesday, August 17, but there were many days this past week where I woke up in a panic wanting to know if the baby was ok. I dont want to go overboard and call the doctor for a heartbeat check all the time.. so I broke down and ordered a doppler.

I tried it for the first time this morning, and at first, found nothing but my own heartbeat, which was exactly what happened the day we found out Kathlyn died. I tried not to panic because I'm still early and it takes some skill to find it at any point before 3rd trimester, really. After some advice from my friend who's a maternity nurse, I tried a second time and what sweet relief... 161, and it lasted a long time!! John was asleep, so I tried to move into the bedroom to let him hear (he couldnt hear me calling him, hmph), but I lost it after that :( In all the craziness, I forgot to take my progesterone! Crap. I found my healthy baby and then forget to medicate for her correctly :-/ So of course, when I got up again just now, I had to check again... still in the 160s :)

Torture.. but totally worth the reward... just like this entire pregnancy <3

3 comments:

  1. For a while, the doppler was like Jekyll and Hyde to me--I didn't get it until 14 weeks with Matthew, and by then, it was pretty easy to use (although I panicked the first time I used it with him too because I also only found my hb and not his...then talked with someone and read more and found his, whew).

    I started using it @9 weeks this time and sometimes could find the hb, but more often than not, couldn't. You are right--it is frustrating at that point where it's really just doctor's visits that can assure because they are too little to pick anything up. By about 13 weeks, it got pretty easy regularly (even though he is a MOVER!) and pretty much after 15 weeks, if I couldn't find it, I'd call my doctor.

    Of course, even now at almost 18, even my doctor has a time sometimes because he's a wiggler!!

    SO glad Birdie is doing well and has a super fabulous heartbeat going!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I got a doppler, but was not able to really accurately find the heartbeat every time till around 10+ weeks and even then it was sometimes hard. Now that I am 17 weeks I can find it more easily. The tough part of the doppler is the worry if you cannot find the heartbeat and it may just be because it is early.

    ReplyDelete
  3. It sucks you can't use the doppler really really early but it's so nice to find the HB finally.

    ReplyDelete