Home Doppler can't find heartbeat

[glong88]

Hi,

I no it isn't great to use home Doppler but I got one given to me and cpuldnt help myself.

I can't find a heartbeat where should I be looking??

I also don't have any gel could this be why? What else works instead of the gel?

Panicking. I don't see the midwife until Friday 2nd. I am 14 weeks 5 days so should be able to find it

 

[red_head]

Updated as I googled it! -
You could hear without but much fainter and more difficult.
You could try baby oil as an alternative.
Good luck!

 

[LoraLoo]

Very low down by pelvic bone. Try bang in the middle and rotate then shift slightly to left then right. If no joy try again but smidge higher. They're still tiny x

 

[LoraLoo]

Eta I actually always heard better without gel but anything oily works.

 

[kcmb0886]

I find that any water-based personal lubricant (ie KY or Astroglide) works really well for the Doppler. Start low - as others have said - in between your hip bones in the center, and move the transducer slowly in a “north, south, east, west” motion. Hopefully this helps!

 

[mel28nicole]

I’m 11 weeks and find my twins righ in my waist line. They are more towards my left side rather than in the middle. My daughter was more towards the right. Look up YouTube videos to get an idea how far you need to go down

 

[Bonnie11]

Honestly put the Doppler away! It will drive you crazy. Believe me! I had one the first time and would get so panicked if I couldn’t find it but honestly it’s not that easy to find initially. Then I would be listening to the placenta and start panicking that it didn’t sound right... there could be many reasons you can’t find the heartbeat, position, placenta in the way, back to back... but for your own sanity I would get rid of the Doppler. Last time I ended up with a miscarriage after we had heard the heartbeat and chucked the Doppler there and then. I never had one this time around and I didn’t panic anywhere near as much! I’m sure your bundle of joy will be just fine mama

 

[glong88]

Thank you. I just tried once more and could only find a beat about 80, which I take isn't the baby....

Wish I never bothered now

 

[Sander]

Aloe Vera gel is what my midwife uses. If you go on YouTube there are ladies who show you how to find it. You're only 14 weeks so I'd look really low around your pubic line. It takes time to learn where your baby hangs out - it took me a couple weeks to find the heartbeat consistently

 

[LoraLoo]

Try not to worry. What Doppler are you using?

 

[glong88]

I think I may of found it

 

[LoraLoo]

Yay!

 

[Bevziibubble]

Glad you found it!

 

[glong88]

It was about 130 so that must be baby??

 

[LoraLoo]

Yes did it sound like a train? If it was swooshy its the placenta x

 

[glong88]

I wish you could share videos on here so you could hear it

 

[lilmisscaviar]

Baby's heartbeat usually sounds like a horse galloping. If it sounds more swooshing, it may have been the placenta, as it typically runs about 120/130. The good news is that if you've found the placenta, the baby should be close by!

I second the aloe vera gel. I use that when I run out of ultrasound gel and it's a lot cheaper.

 

[Allie84]

I use aloe vera. I tried and it doesn't work without gel for me.

Also, it took me a long to figure it out. I had to watch YouTube videos to figure out how to angle the doppler, and how low to put the doppler when I was still so early. Even now baby can hide from me but I don't use it very much as I'm getting daily movement.

 

[amotherslove]

it can be confusing at first, just keep trying!