Question about Fetal Heart Monitors

I was wondering whether anyone has rented a fetal heart monitor and if so, can you suggest what company or site I should rent from and what type/model is best? Thanks.

[springbabyonway]

i havent-i bought one of the cheap ones where if its really really really quiet in your house you can try to hear it but when you breath the microphone picks up movement and sounds like static,it came with a classical music cd and tape, 2 sets of head phones, a microphone thing so you can talk to baby,something so you can record heartbeat,a elastic tummy belt and 2 speakers to play the classical music-the set is pretty cool-too bad the heart monitor sucks!

[waterskigirl]

I boutght a baby beat fetal monitor ($150) and was able to hear the heart beat by 13 weeks. It isn't as good as the one in the Doctor's office because you don't get a accurate reading on the heart rate but I just use my watch to figure out the heart rate.  The rental ones are a medical grade so are much better at picking up the heart beat and heart rate.  Either way, buy one or rent one, it is a nice peace of mind to have when the baby is still too small to feel moving around.

[duehring]

I rent one from dynamic doppler. I don't think I can send a link on here so just google it and it will come up. They are just like the doctors and I always here a hearbeat by 9 weeks. They are $22 a month or you can buy them too. Shipping is free!

[mgi]

I baught one for 70 dollars
they sell them on ebay
it worked at 10 weeks - just make sure it is a "doppler"  not a magnifier - it was worth it- and because I wasn't renting I was able to hear it whenever I wanted till the end even

[Liza55]

Yeah, how do you know where to put the probe on your abdomen? And is it easy to pick out the baby's heart beat w/ other noises? And even though it's only about $20/month, do you listen to it often? We were given the same one w/ all the cd's and stuff and I can't hear anything (almost 11 weeks) but my bowel sounds gurgling or my heart beat.

[Tristn]

Thanks! I just checked it out. Did you have any problems detecting a heart beat?

[shubunkin2974]

i rented one from babybeat.com and i found the heartbeat at 8 weeks.

[duehring]

It was difficult to find until about 12 weeks, but I found it at 9 weeks and found it every day till about 13 weeks when I had a sono and they told me everything looked good. (They had thought I was going to miscarry) I used it quite often till around 18 weeks when I started feeling the baby move everyday. I only use it now once in a while to make sure everything is ok.

It is very easy to know it is the baby and not the other sounds. your heartbeat is around 70 and the babies is around 150. There is a definite difference. The placenta sounds like the baby but has a slow beat like your heartbeat. Once you find the faster heartbeat, count the beats for 10 sec and then multiply by 6 OR count the beats for 6 seconds and multiply by 10.

Look for it low right above the pubic bone and angle the doppler down to find it the easiest. Even though I found it each day at home, the doctor or nurse couldn't find it till after 13 weeks.