"My name is Anne & I am a Doppler addict"

My child is going to come out and kick me for how many times I want to listen to her HB.  It is so reassuring to hear her HB, but I really think i am getting out of control.  I've listened to her twice today and its only 10:30am.  Lord have mercy! 

Anybody else this crazy at this point?

Hiiii Annnnne!! LOL Trust me, the baby will get her revenge one way or another!!

Wow! I didnt realize those home HB monitors really worked! I may have to get one down the road! I understand your obsession! Its a great way to bond with your little one! As she gets bigger she may start kicking that monitor away lol. :)

I rented a digital one from Belly Beats(bellybeats.com) for like 45.00/mth.  I keep telling myself I'll return it...but dang I love hearing her and knowing everything is okay.  I've gotten to be quite a pro at finding her but she does swim away mighty quick! LOL.  Yeah...when she gets bigger she just might kick it...LOL

I got one from Amazon.com a couple of weeks ago but I was sent an inferior product and returned it.  Now I'm afraid to re-order because they'll just send me the wrong thing again.  I admit I did go ahead and use it the night I got it...I just made sure it looked unopened when I sent it back. 

But, yeah, if I had one, I'd use it constantly.

I'd personally be careful in over using your doppler. It uses Ultrasound technology to find the baby's HB and there have been several studies done showing a link between u/s usage and miscarrying, even late term.

Ultrasounds and dopplers heat up tissue inside the uterus and even on the fetus. It can even change and alter cells.

I own a doppler. I have owned one for 6 years and 5 pregnancies but I only use it a couple of times throughout my pregnancy.

http://www.midwiferytoday.com/enews/enews0802.asp Scroll down to Prenatal Ultrasound
http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm095508.ht m FDA warnings

"Although there are no known risks of ultrasound imaging and heartbeat monitors, the radiation associated with them can produce effects on the body," says Robert Phillips, Ph.D., a physicist with FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH). "When ultrasound enters the body, it heats the tissues slightly. In some cases, it can also produce small pockets of gas in body fluids or tissues."

Phillips says the long-term effects of tissue heating and of the formation of partial vacuums in a liquid by high-intensity sound waves (cavitation) are not known.

http://www.icpa4kids.org/research/articles/pregnancy/Ultraso und.htm Scroll down to Ultrasound

The latest discovery, by scientists at University College Dublin, is the first to find that scans create changes in cells. Patrick Brennan, who led the research, said: "It has been assumed for a long time that ultrasound has no effect on cells. We now have grounds to question that assumption."1 According to the New Scientist, two significant changes in the cells of the small intestine were detected in scanned mice compared with unscanned mice. Four and a half hours after exposure, the rate of cell division had reduced by 22 per cent and the rate of programmed cell death had approximately doubled.

So again, dopplers use the same technology as ultrasound imaging. They both use ultrasonic waves to obtain both pictures and sound so I personally would back off on over using your doppler.

Just my 2¢.

Understand that once a month monitoring for a few seconds at your doctors office is far different than holding your doppler to your baby for minutes or hours on end several times a day.

Thanks for the info.  I do not use it for more than a minute once I find the HB.  And this baby has had lots and lots of ultrasounds...and she is perfectly healthy at this point.  While I understand the links of the studies above...and while I make fun of myself for using the doppler alot...I truly don't think those few minutes, even a couple times a day is going to make a difference.  BUT...I do appreciate the articles and the concern. 

Im 17 weeks and just ordered a doppler......I also like to be re-assured that there is a heartbeat...i've been paranoid during this whole process since I had a lot of bleeding during my first trimester....