16 week midwife appointment: heartbeat!!?!

[hope4bump]

So I went to see my midwife this morning. She wasn't in, so I had to see someone else. She had a student midwife with her and they both looked for the heartbeat near the pubic bone, I am 16weeks;4days! They reckoned they can't find Baby's heartbeat as it must be hiding behind my pubic bone and it must be extremely small!
I listen to my Baby's heartbeat every day, and he/she is under my belly button to the left, NOT hiding behind my pubic bone! I suggested baby might be higher up, whereby the midwife told me 'I don't think so' and went on searching for a hidden baby! I came home, got my Doppler out and found the heartbeat within minutes!!! Gmpf!

 

[kaths101]

haha frustrating isnt it. I have a doppler too and can go straight to my babies heartbeat but at the doctors they take ages to find it. I have to say up a bit, left but dont want to say too much as its like telling them how to do their job
Oh well as long as we know its there!! Im sooo glad ive got my doppler because if the midwife couldnt find it that would really panic me!!

 

[milf2be]

are you sure you're not listening to the placenta? from experience, on myself and other women, iv always found it by the pubic bone. it seems unlikely to be baby that high up as the top of the uterus only reaches the belly button at 20 weeks.

 

[hope4bump]

are you sure you're not listening to the placenta? from experience, on myself and other women, iv always found it by the pubic bone. it seems unlikely to be baby that high up as the top of the uterus only reaches the belly button at 20 weeks.

About 4 fingers under belly button to the left, heartbeat ranges from 138 to 147. does that sound like the placenta? Also, it moves around and baby is definitely not under my pubic bone....

 

[jacks mummy]

well i went to see my midwife the other day and my baby was just under my belly button to the left and im not that far ahead of u hun she found it in about 1min, obviously u no ur baby better than her xx

 

[hope4bump]

well i went to see my midwife the other day and my baby was just under my belly button to the left and im not that far ahead of u hun she found it in about 1min, obviously u no ur baby better than her xx

thanks! I know for sure where my baby is, and my neighbour is a midwife and had a little look for me, needless to say she found the heartbeat exactly where i said...x

 

[hope4bump]

At this point of your pregnancy, your baby is approximately 4.3 to 4.6 inches long and weighs 2.8 ounces. Not only is your baby growing, your uterus and placenta continue to grow to accommodate the growing baby inside of you! Just six weeks ago, your uterus weighed about 5 ounces. This week it now weighs 8.75 ounces! The amniotic fluid that surrounds the baby is increasing and there is about 7.5 ounces of fluid. You will easily be able to feel your uterus approximately three inches below your navel. And this is at 16 weeks, i am nearly 17 now.....

 

[milf2be]

are you sure you're not listening to the placenta? from experience, on myself and other women, iv always found it by the pubic bone. it seems unlikely to be baby that high up as the top of the uterus only reaches the belly button at 20 weeks.

About 4 fingers under belly button to the left, heartbeat ranges from 138 to 147. does that sound like the placenta? Also, it moves around and baby is definitely not under my pubic bone....

well yes it could be the placenta, i wouldnt know unless i listened to it!!! a placenta makes a wooshing sound where as the baby's heart beat is like a banging. babies are so small at this stage that they can move around all over the place and sometimes you cant hear the fetal heart because the bladder is full :/

believe it or not the midwife knows what shes doing not saying you're wrong, but i do find it very irritating that 3 years of training and how many years experience can be brushed aside so easily.

 

[hope4bump]

are you sure you're not listening to the placenta? from experience, on myself and other women, iv always found it by the pubic bone. it seems unlikely to be baby that high up as the top of the uterus only reaches the belly button at 20 weeks.

About 4 fingers under belly button to the left, heartbeat ranges from 138 to 147. does that sound like the placenta? Also, it moves around and baby is definitely not under my pubic bone....

well yes it could be the placenta, i wouldnt know unless i listened to it!!! a placenta makes a wooshing sound where as the baby's heart beat is like a banging. babies are so small at this stage that they can move around all over the place and sometimes you cant hear the fetal heart because the bladder is full :/

believe it or not the midwife knows what shes doing not saying you're wrong, but i do find it very irritating that 3 years of training and how many years experience can be brushed aside so easily.

it was definitely not a wooshing sound, it was a proper heartbeat, much faster than my own (sounded like a horse gallopping away), as i could hear my own as well, which sounded much slower and regular beat! Also, as i said - my neighbour is a midwife at the same hospital, and she listened to it and found it exactly where i said i heard it... :/ I am not saying years of training and/or experience should be brushed aside, and i understand your point of view, but in this instance i would say she was definitely wrong, not only by my own experience but also of the other midwife.

 

[Pippin]

You found it that's the main thing and all that matters bet you had a little worry though in the appointment, I would I love my doppler the best pregnancy thing I bought and you do learn where your baby is that's for sure. I still use it now just so I can hear a little bit of her. She always kicks it though lol so I'm thinking she doesn't like it much lol.

 

[mommyjuly2011]

Well hun around 20 weeks they SCARED me big time by saying "they couldn't FIND it" wtf! I was so mad and thinking that my baby had died, I was hoping that they were just idiots, turns out I was right. Baby girl has a very strong heartbeat & I am now going on almost 27 weeks. I bought a doppler from amazon and it's 200$ but well worth it, works so well, I find it literally within TWO minutes and they take forever!

 

[hope4bump]

Well hun around 20 weeks they SCARED me big time by saying "they couldn't FIND it" wtf! I was so mad and thinking that my baby had died, I was hoping that they were just idiots, turns out I was right. Baby girl has a very strong heartbeat & I am now going on almost 27 weeks. I bought a doppler from amazon and it's 200$ but well worth it, works so well, I find it literally within TWO minutes and they take forever!

i wouldnt want to go without my doppler either

 

[scots_mum]

My midwife heard heartbeat other day at 16+2 and it was a couple inches under belly button the second she put the doppler to me it started beating away

 

[hope4bump]

My midwife heard heartbeat other day at 16+2 and it was a couple inches under belly button the second she put the doppler to me it started beating away

exactly, that is why i cant understand why she would look for heartbeat under pubic bone, she even made me pull my trousers down a bit more as she was convinced baby was hiding and extremely small (smaller than normal) although at my 12 week scan baby measured normal size, and we are almost 5 weeks on from then... can you remember what the heartrate was?

 

[JosieM]

They don't sound like they have much of a clue! When pregnant with DS a midwife said he was transverse (had been for some weeks), I had to see a consultant immediately afterwards because of this and he thought baby was head down, he did a scan and yes DS was head down. So midwives aren't always right - as in any profession.
I had my 16 week appointment yesterday and the midwife got bub's heartbeat straight away. I have felt strong kicks about belly button level but with second babies there's more room for them to move about. At least you heard it yourself, you don't like telling professionals what to do but sometimes it's best to speak up, this time round when it comes to the birth and pain relief etc I will be more assertive about my wishes.

 

[JosieM]

Hope4bump my baby's heartbeat yesterday was 150 which she said was good.

 

[hope4bump]

Hope4bump my baby's heartbeat yesterday was 150 which she said was good.

how exciting all the best for the rest of your pregnancy

 

[milf2be]

Well hun around 20 weeks they SCARED me big time by saying "they couldn't FIND it" wtf! I was so mad and thinking that my baby had died, I was hoping that they were just idiots, turns out I was right. Baby girl has a very strong heartbeat & I am now going on almost 27 weeks. I bought a doppler from amazon and it's 200$ but well worth it, works so well, I find it literally within TWO minutes and they take forever!

thats why we dont listen in until 25 weeks now, because sometimes it is hard to find before that and baby can be tucked away behind the pelvic bone and we dont want to cause any unnecessary stress.

the equipment we use are worth hundreds of pounds and are much more accurate then the ones you can buy off ebay. i know with my doppler iv picked the heart beat up in two places because it can echo and the sound isnt so clear. iv used both angel sounds and the hospital dopplers and it is harder to find the fetal heart using the hospital ones, im assuming because theyr more accurate (im not an expert on dopplers)

theres been times iv not been able to find the fetal heart, im not perfect and i certainly dont mean to do it on purpose and cause distress for the woman. does that mean im an idiot too??

 

[milf2be]

They don't sound like they have much of a clue! When pregnant with DS a midwife said he was transverse (had been for some weeks), I had to see a consultant immediately afterwards because of this and he thought baby was head down, he did a scan and yes DS was head down. So midwives aren't always right - as in any profession.
I had my 16 week appointment yesterday and the midwife got bub's heartbeat straight away. I have felt strong kicks about belly button level but with second babies there's more room for them to move about. At least you heard it yourself, you don't like telling professionals what to do but sometimes it's best to speak up, this time round when it comes to the birth and pain relief etc I will be more assertive about my wishes.

baby can be transverse and cephalic (head down). its not the easiest skill to do and no midwives are right all the time.

please do make sure you get your wishes this time!! have u made a birth plan so the midwife can see what you want when you might not be up for talking?

 

[RaspberryK]

My midwife looked fairly low down when she saw me at 13 + 4 and 14 weeks near the pubic bone but then when I saw her at 19 weeks she felt for my uterus to see how high up it was - she could see I had a bump too - and then moved around for about 30 seconds halfway between my belly button and pubic bone and found the heartbeat there.
It's rubbish they didn't manage to find it for you, it seems strange they looked so low down and wouldn't move up.

x