Doppler 101

Yes, I bought a Doppler. I think it will be totally worth it in the end, even though I'm sure I'll have a few freak-outs when baby is turned the wrong way and I can't get a good reading. That's one of the down-sides of having too much information at your fingertips.

I got the Doppler a couple of days ago in the mail, and of course waited until D was in bed so I could have plenty of time to mess around with it without interruption. (T was out late that night or I would have waited for him.) I started very low, and found a beat far over to the left. I was using mode 2, and the rate was jumping around all over the place and didn't sound nearly fast enough to me. (The numbers were ranging from the 110's to the 140's.) I was a little nervous that it didn't sound faster, but figured as long as it was beating, I could be content for the night.

I did a little research yesterday online and found some resources on how to use home Dopplers. I read that there is an artery in your abdomen that can be found with a Doppler that makes a "swishing" noise instead of a galloping noise.

Long story a little shorter, last night I started with the probe right around my bellybutton and slowly went down. I rocked it a little, as the directions suggest, and I eventually found some major horse galloping going on down there, just below my bellybutton, and just a tiny bit to the right. It was NOWHERE NEAR where I had heard the swishing the other night (which I assume was that artery I read about.) This was definitely the little person, and the little person is still alive with a nice fast hearbeat. SCORE.

The moral: If you have your own doppler, and are as clueless as I was at trying to find the heartbeat, I hope this helps. If you're finding a slower beat far to the left (or to the right; I found one there too) it's probably not the baby, at least in early pregnancy.