To doppler or not to doppler??

Okay so at the risk of sounding like a crazy lady - I literally begged and pleaded Jay to have one of these - yes literally! I just had to have one, and now I will tell you why.

The main and most important reason - my sanity! 

I am into my 2nd trimester now, and though all the books you read say that initial pregnancy symptoms start to decline in this stage, there is something about the presence of these symptoms that keeps to reassured that there is still stuff going on inside there! My symptoms have pretty much all gone, aside from the tiredness, but even then, I can stay up until at least 11pm now (woohoo!!), which would have been a miracle over the previous 10 weeks or so.

Anyway, so lack of symptoms and just not feeling pregnant at all = PANIC!

Now i'm not afraid to admit that I am a TOTAL worrier - if there is something to worry about, i will worry about it, and if there isn't anything to worry about, my dear husband thinks I will still find something to worry about!

When it comes to my unborn child however, I think there is room to be a bit cautious. The caution clearly comes from the fact that we sadly lost one baby last year, but my feeling was that if there is something that can give me a little bit of comfort that our little poppet's heart was still beating away, inbetween visits with the obstetrician, then it is something that I should do. Afterall, stress is not good in pregnancy, and I sure have enough else to stress about with all that we have to do before this little one arrives (another story!)

The reason Jay was against it was that he didn't want me to become 'addicted' to this little contraption, with me wanting to take a listen everyday - which in his defence could have been an issue given my day to day worrying about one thing or another.

Anyway, after assurance that I would not be using the doppler everyday, and some research on which to buy, we ordered one from www.parentslikeus.com.au. It turns out that dopplers aren't as readily available in Australia as the are in the USA or UK, so options were limited if I wanted something that didn't take a month to deliver! The joys of being in the far away land of Oz!

So a few days later, it arrived and here it is:

This is the Sonotech Xpress Fetal Doppler

It's actually a really tiny little thing - it's all all in one doppler with the probe in-built to the back. It is their mid-range, and has an integrated Fetal Heart Rate LCD display. It comes with earphones, and a cable to connect to your PC, so that you are able to listen privately or connect and record, which is lovely if like me, you live away from loved ones, and you want to be able to send them a recording. A bottle of Ultrasound Gel also came in the package.

The downside of these at-home dopplers:

* Used by us, people who aren't trained to use them, and we don't always know what we are looking/listening out for. Luckily there are many You Tube videos out there that will give you an example of the sounds you might hear - the main obviously being the baby's heartbeat, but you might also hear your own heartbeat and the placenta.

* May cause alarm if the baby's heartbeat can't be found. This is the part you need to be prepared for if you are going to use one of these things - you have to remember though, it doesn't have to meant that anything is wrong. it is key to remember this. The baby could be in an awkward position, or just too small for the home dopplers to pick up just yet. Advise is that home dopplers use should not be attempted until after 12 weeks.

* There is concern that some people, upon hearing a heartbeat, may not take notice of any other signs that something could need looking into. Aside from hearing the heartbeat, if a woman feels something or has a symptom that doesn't feel right, she should continue to reach her medical contact as usual.  

I must admit, when we were getting ready to use the doppler for the first time, I was nervous. the lack of symptoms and just not feeling very pregnant at all meant that deep down inside there was a concern that something wasn't right - the thought that maybe I wouldn't hear a heartbeat and it would all be over. We went for it. First we went tried to find the sound of my heartbeat, so that we could distinguish between the sounds when we found the baby's heartbeat. And then there is way, the galloping sound that all the you tube videos described - the baby's heartbeat - so fast, so clear! Relief/happiness/amazement - all of the above! I didn't want to go overboard with it, so was happy to put it away once I had heard the sound I was waiting to hear. I don't believe that you should keep listening for too long as we don't actually know the effect on the baby - it should be used only as a reassurance tool.

I always have my reservations about buying things over the internet that I don't really know much about, or where I don't know too much about the quality of the brand, but I have to say this doppler by Sonotech is fantastic! It gives a clear sound, which is more than load enough to hear, and is super easy to use. The techie hubby was even impressed!

It is amazing that we are now able to be able to hear our baby's heartbeat, in our own home - technology these days! As much as I love the opportunity, and I have of course taken it, I do believe that we still need to be sensible about the amount of usage, given that we aren't qualified professional. There is still a need for regular visits to the medical professionals as they are the only people trained to know if something sounds/looks like it may need more investigation. Please keep this in mind if considering buying a doppler for use in your pregnancy.