No Heartbeat found with Doppler

[drguruncs]

I am 11 weeks along and for reasons regarding my husband's work, we had to go to the doctors last week for a medical screening. I told him about the mild cramping that I still have and that bothered him that my OB didn't seem concerned with it. He told me he's going to try to listen for a heartbeat with the doppler but couldn't find anything (I was 10 weeks) and said that's why they like to wait until the second trimester because it's unlikely to pick it up until about 13 weeks along with the doppler. He asked me if I would like a pelvic exam or an ultrasound. I opted for the pelvic because my oh-so-lovely insurance only covers one ultrasound throughout my pregnancy. He showed me the size of my uterus with his hands and said I felt as though I was about 11-12 weeks along and assured me that it was not a blighted ovum and that my severe morning sickness as much as I hate it, is a good sign of a much lesser chance of miscarrying. I have also lost almost 7 lbs in the past 6 weeks now due to the morning sickness and this will be TMI but I was constipated horribly up until last week and my whole family and I caught some stomach bug because we had very nasty stools... again, I apologize but I gotta tell it all. Well, my child's stool is back to normal and my husband and I seem to be every other day we're having the nasties. It still bothers me that there was no heartbeat to be found... because I remember with my first born I was 9 weeks along and heard the heartbeat. My OB hasn't even checked my HCG levels yet... she told me that "It's a waste to do any of these things during the first trimester because people miscarry before 12 weeks", exact words, no joke... nice to know my health and the fetal health is a waste of their time and effort but I'm not even going to get into that. It could've at least been worded nicer. But that's what I have to settle for around here. Something just in the pit of my stomach tells me that there's something wrong... I don't know if I'm just paranoid, but I just don't feel pregnant sometimes... even the days where I'm hugging my toilet and after that part is over with I just feel like something is not right as if there's a missed miscarriage. I might just be paranoid, but I want to know if anyone else had the same experience with the doppler?? With the size of my uterus being on schedule and everything.. but for some reason I just don't feel it. I don't feel that bump this time in my stomach. Anyway.. any answers will be so greatly appreciated, because at this point, I don't know what to think anymore...

[drguruncs]

Thanks yall for the reassurance :) I really did need it! I was never near this paranoid when I was pregnant with my first, I guess because I never joined any boards and never knew how common complications are in pregnancies.
As far as the doctor. There's only 2 in this town. The nearest doctor's office aside from here is 5 1/2 hours away. So I have to settle for who I have :( I do like the other though. He seems much nicer and can't be too bad if they want him on the state board. But with small towns and big mouths, word gets around over stupid things such as switching doctors and honestly, it's not worth catching hell over. So I deal with it until we leave from here which I'm looking forward to more than anything at this point :)  But seriously, thank yall sooooooo much! My mind is much more eased now :)

[babbles123]

At my 11 week appt, the doc couldn't find the heartbeat either with the doppler.  But i'm still getting my morning sickness...so it's okay.  I'm sure everything is fine.  I'm 12 weeks 3 days now.

[Danielle0807]

When I went to an appointment I was 12 1/2 weeks and the dr had told me before he even tried to locate the baby's heartbeat that I was still kind of on the low end of hearing things so not to be concerned if I did not.. I luckily got to hear my baby's heartbeat, I've heard some not hearing it up until 14-15 weeks. I'm sure you're find, you'll hear it soon!! Goodluck!

[carissarae]

yeah i wouldnt worry too much about not hearing it with the doppler because like you said they cant really hear it until about 13 weeks, thats why most docs dont do it,so it doesnt worry the parents! too bad they didnt do a vaginal ultrasound..then you could have seen the heartbeat and put your mind at ease...i cant believe your insurance only covers one ultrasound..thats horrible! id pay out of pocket, too bad they are soooo expensive!! good luck with everything!

[LosingMyMindInGA]

With my last 2 full term pregnancies we couldnt hear the heartbeat via doppler until week 14.  It's very common not to be able to hear it before then. Every pregnancy is different and it depends on the positioning of the baby too.  As for HCG if your uterus is measuring right along where you think you should be then I would say not to worry so much.  My doc did HCG when I first got a positive but only becuase I requested it since I had m/c'd a few months earlier.  He said he won't repeat it now becuase it looked good.  I am going on 15 weeks now and have many days where I don't "feel" pregnant.  Now that most of my symptoms are subsiding and I haven't really started to "show" yet I just feel "normal".  Try not to worry so much.  You're very close to the 2nd trimester and if your doc doesn't start doing more screening then, I would switch docs.

[SquirreliciousAngel]

I'm sorry but I think you need to see another doctor, maybe if it is a group practice you can see someone at another office. I know that my friends had their HCG levels done at the beginning on more than one occasion to be sure that they doubled.

[drguruncs]

Also want to add that at the beginning of January my breasts were SORE. Never in my life had I experienced sore breasts even with my first pregnancy, but the soreness and tenderness has significantly decreased, only the nipples are just slightly tender now... but I don't know if that's normal or not because again in my last pregnancy, my breasts were not sore at all until AFTER I had my first one from the milk.