Fetal Heartbeat Doppler

Fetal Doppler Triggers Scary Memory

So today I went in for an OB check with my OBGYN and I got to hear the baby’s heartbeat for the first time.  I was actually kind of scared when I saw that the doctor had the fetal doppler to listen for the baby’s heart.  This may seem silly, but that little machine was the beginning of the call of doom for my first planned pregnancy that ended in miscarriage in January of this year.  The nurse took it out at my 16 week appointment and couldn’t find the heartbeat.  She acted like everything was okay and that it was not always easy to hear the baby’s heart with the doppler, so she took me into the ultrasound room “to find where the baby was located”.  The idea being that she could then place the doppler directly over the baby, but of course the ultrasound showed that there was no heartbeat, so this wasn’t necessary.

And when the doctor took several seconds to locate the baby’s heartbeat during today’s appointment my anxiety level skyrocketed.  But then we heard Baby “Wiggles” heart come through that crackly fetal doppler speaker and I was able to relax.  At the end of my appointment I met with the nurse and we filled out some more of my paperwork.  They had been holding off in case this pregnancy didn’t “stick” and I miscarried early.  During my chat with the nurse she laid out the next few appointments I would need to make with her and the doctor.  I was also given some handouts and instructions to add to my regimen of supplements.

I’m already taking 2 children’s complete vitamins as well as extra folic acid every day.  I’m not taking the regular pre-natal supplements because I have a difficult time digesting the amount of iron that they have in them (even if I take them with food they make me vomit). 

Children's vitamins eliminates Iron-induced vomiting

Now I get to add 2 – 3, 000 units of vitamin D3 and 200 mg of DHA (I was given a coupon for Expecta LIPIL).  I was able to get the D3 in 1000 unit softgels, so if you include the Metformin I’m taking for my insulin resistance, I’m up to 8 or 9 pills a day.  I feel like an elderly person who needs to have an organizer so that they don’t forget to take any of their drugs for the day.

I have an appointment to go in again next week for another ultrasound.  The next few weeks are going to be crucial because with the miscarriage I had in January they believe that the baby’s heartbeat stopped at around 13. 5 weeks.  Today marks the week 11 checkpoint, so the next few ultrasound appointments are going to be very nerve-wracking.

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