Thank you so much for your suggestions and information about the home doppler. I tried all of them but have still not been able to find a heartbeat. I got very excited on Saturday when I thought I'd found it, but after counting beats per minute, realized it was just my own sluggish ol' thumping heart. Bummer.
I stopped trying after a few days, figuring that I could respond to the doppler silence in one of two ways. I could melt down, panic, and convince myself that something is terribly terribly wrong. I tried that for a while, but it was too exhausting. Or I could be mature and calm about it, realizing that some times the heartbeat is just really hard to pick up until later in the pregnancy. So I've tucked the doppler away for a while, and will try again this weekend, when I hit 12 weeks.
As it happens, I had to call my doc's office today to schedule an appointment, so I figured I might as well tell them about the doppler and ask whether it might be a good idea for me to come in so they could check. The nurse told me that even they can't find a heartbeat some times until after 12 weeks, so there's nothing to worry about. So no, she said, you don't need to come in. Well, I tried.
Nothing to worry about. Easier said than believed, but that's my mantra for the week: nothing to worry about nothing to worry about nothing to worry about. I am the queen of zen, the doge of calm, filled with non-anxious thoughts of love and peace. Yeah, right. But that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
I'll chant with you: nothing to worry about...
I wish you could have gotten into the doctor's, just to ease your mind. Hoping for a nice, loud heartbeat this weekend.
Posted by: Joanne | February 01, 2005 at 03:39 PM
Hi, just another pregnant lady passing by. My doctor checked for a hb with the doppler at 11 weeks 4 days and nothing. Less than a week later we heard the rapid whoosh whoosh whoosh of that lovely heartbeat. I have a little extra chub, so nothing doing before 12 weeks. I go back this week at 13 and hope we hear it again.
Good luck with your doppler this weekend!
Posted by: Erin | February 01, 2005 at 04:18 PM
Please don't fret little lobstery one. Soon you will have the whoosh whoosh. Meditate on the whoosh whoosh coming. And be well.
Posted by: B Mare | February 01, 2005 at 04:28 PM
Those kids can be elusive - at my last OB appt, the doctor kept losing the heartbeat because her hand would slip just a fraction of an inch - also the baby seemed to be moving around. All I'm trying to say is, often you have to hit the *exact spot* to hear it, and that can be really hard.
Good luck!
Posted by: Sonetka | February 02, 2005 at 12:52 AM
Couldn't hear the heartbeat on this current baby until almost 14 weeks. I knew something was going on, though, because I kept getting fatter and fatter (second pregnancy). The midwife told me ahead of time that since I have a "deep pelvis" it would take longer for them to hear the heartbeat.
Posted by: Moxie | February 03, 2005 at 08:40 AM
Joining this waaaay late but will second that:
a) you should NOT PANIC if you don't hear it for a couple of weeks (or even a little more)
b) lie flat
c) use TONS and TONS of gel. Do not skimp!
The baby is still really tiny - it could be anywhere and it just needs to get a little bigger.
Posted by: Menita | February 03, 2005 at 06:14 PM