Stethascope/fetascope

[MamaFern]

my sister is a nurse in training so last night i decided to borrow her stethascope and see if i could hear the babies heartbeat. i didnt find it at least not for long if i did, but i heard a lot of movement and the baby kept kicking right where i had it! it was pretty cool. i think i may have heard the heartbeat for a few seconds, but it went away fast, probably because she was super active when i was doing it. is anyone else trying this at home? any luck with finding the heartbeat?

[crsta33]

I tried the first time I was pg, but couldn't ever find it. I kept picking up my own pulse. It was fun to try though and all the poking around usually make her move alot.

Good luck with finding it. It will be easier when baby is bigger and doesn't have room to run away.

Christa

[cjbeach]

Can't do it on my own... kinda like trying to feel my own fundus. I can feel it on somone else but not on myself.

[Barbee]

i tried it too with a friend's stethoscope but didn't hear anything. i think i'm going to give it another try though. i would love to hear my boy moving around even if i don't hear his little heart.

[MelW]

I tried with my stethoscope and same thing- only heard kicks. We heard my youngest sister's heartbeat when my mum was pregnant with a fisher price plastic stethoscope, though, so I figure as the baby gets bigger it should be easier.

My husband was laying on my belly "listening" to the baby a few nights ago- he didn't hear anything, but he did get kicked in the ear :LOL

[Kavita]

I've been listening with a fetascope, and I have discovered that I have the loudest stomach and bowel sounds on that planet! I heard the baby briefly Friday night (19 w 3 days) but then the little sucker proceeded to move all over the place and I haven't been able to hear it since! I've been able to hear the placenta quite well, but the baby was too small to really hear with a fetoscope especially over the din of the rest of my internal organs! So now it is big enough but too wiggly! Later on I'll be able to hear better, I'm sure.

[*Amy*]

We have a stethoscope but I haven't tried in the past few weeks. I should pull it out again, but I'm only 19 weeks so I doubt I'll hear anything. A friend of mine bought a fetoscope and couldn't hear anything (and she's around 24 weeks). It freaked her out so bad that she went to the ER to make sure everything was OK (which it was).

[MamaFern]

i think you have to have a trained ear to hear the baby at even 24 weeks.. its still small and you have to know where the baby is, so you can listen at its back, which isnt always easy..

[camprunner]

We heard it with dd probably about 25 weeks. if you are used to hearing it on a doppler it sounds different. kind of like a really fast ticking sound.

[Kavita]

Originally Posted by MamaFern

i think you have to have a trained ear to hear the baby at even 24 weeks.. its still small and you have to know where the baby is, so you can listen at its back, which isnt always easy..

True--it's almost more of a feeling than a sound. It's harder when they're little too because they like to move away when poked, and they still have lots of room to wiggle! I heard my baby at almost 20 weeks with the fetoscope, but only for about 5 seconds, then he/she moved away!

[onlyboys]

If you can find his or her back, or where the midwife found the HB last time, put the stethoscope there during a period of rest. This is what worked for me, and really, really faintly, I heard the unmistakable sound of his or her heartbeat. Fluttery, light and fast about 150. It was wonderful!

I'm a bit farther along than most of you--26 weeks--though, so it might makea difference.

Amanda