Baby's heartbeat?

[Cool Texan]

So my wife has a doctors appointment on Wednesday...presumably for blood work, family history stuff, etc. Yes, I will be there...I have told her I will be at EVERY doctor appointment. She also has a consultation appointment with her OBGYN or whoever...the baby doctor, on the 11th.

Question...will they try to listen for a heartbeat at either of these?

We are in our 7th week, so I am thinking they wouldn't do that till the appointment on the 11th (week 8), but who knows.

Any idea?

[anadromous5]

Hey CT,

fetal heart tonescan usually be detected by doppler ultrasound at @ 10 weeks...What a beautiful sound..enjoy every magical moment and remember your wife is working hard on a molecular level,plenty o food and rest..wish ya the besy..peace

[JeepMcMuddy]

My wife is in her 22 week currently. We got to hear the heartbeat around 7 weeks, however she was considered a bit high risk, so she gets checked almost every time. The regular stomach ultrasound probe will probably not hear the heartbeat until week 10, however a ...hmmm how shall I say...the "Internal" type wand probe will by 7 weeks. (since its so much closer.) Have fun, it truely is a wonderful thing!

[Cool Texan]

We cant stand it we're so happy and excited. :grin:

She has some twins in her family, so we're also waiting to figure out if we have one or two on board. If its twin girls we're screwed though...we dont have girl names figured out yet. Got 2 good boy names ready...but only part of one girl name (still working on the middle name).

She's already showing effects of it though...feels exhausted all the time, feels twinges in her gut from things adjusting, and is a little nauseous all the time. Still no real morning sickness to speak of though...which I guess is good. She is 5'11 and VERY thin, so it will be interesting to see if she is the type that will get huge, or if she'll not show all too much.

Anyway....ok, enough of my rambling. I just like to talk about my child. :grin: :grin:

[CATCH AND EAT]

We usually got to hear the heartbeat around 10 weeks. Very cool and very exciting. congrats CT. Way to go!

[Bait O' Eggs]

CT - my wife really got into a website called storknet when she was prego. They create forums like every 3 months for people who are due in that time frame window. You follow along as people post their problems and questions. Even after our kids were about a year old, my wife still read about developmental growth of other kids in our forum to see if our kids development was normal.

Most pregnant women all go thru the same stuff, and it nice to know how others coped with it etc....

If you wanted to see what to expect, you just jump into an earlier forum for those with an earlier delivery date and see what they are experiencing and dealing with.

Lots of questions about "my doctor said this... do you think that is good advise or not?"

I think it is still a working website, it use to be free but my wife thinks it has a charge now, not sure.

[2LEYS]

Congradulations!! :grin:

My wife always goes to WWW.BABYCENTER.COM for her message boards. SHe can chat with people at the same stages of pregnancy and even after she has the baby she can still chat with the same people about the things they are going through with their new baby. The also have a lot of information about product recalls and product reveiws. Cool web site.

[Cool Texan]

We found babycenter.com a while back thanks to a coworker. That is where we get the weekly updates on what is going on. :grin:

[Hoosier Daddy]

They did ours at 10 weeks. I don't know, they might try earlier, but I'm not sure if they can hear anything. Ask. If they are wishy-washy about whether they will be able to or not, don't. It'll just make you nervous if they can't find it because it's too early.

When it happens it's REAL cool.

[Moley Molson]

we got to hear the heartbeat of our soon to be arriving(oct 17th)little boy at 12 weeks.
We also got lucky at this appointment becuase the appointment after us cancelled, so the DR had a little extra time with us and wheeled in a portable ultrasound machine and we got to see him then.....VERY COOL! But the ultrasound at 20 weeks was amazing.....I still can't believe all the detail you can see with those things.

[Hoosier Daddy]

CT, my wife had the same stuff with exhaustion, etc. in the first trimester. You probably already know, but that goes away. She said the best was the 2nd trimester. She felt good, and hadn't gotten real big yet.

[Fisherfield]

Congratulations Cool Texan and Wifey! I am the proud pappa of a 5 month old Shelby! Today is her b-day in fact!! I went to every doctors appointment too...you'd be suprised how many guys don't do this..and the doctor and staff will make you feel like a real man for coming with her to all of the appointments...and there are several to deal with over the next months. I think we heard the heart beat around 10 weeks. What a cool sound...Can't even describe it. Like Jeep McCuddy...we had the doctor listen to the heart beat everytime...and ended up having 4 ultrasounds...Insurance only covers the first one...just an FYI. My wife was rather small and the doctors felt that we may not be as far along as we thought. But after every ultrasound...everything checked out a-o-k. Twins....wow...I thought 1 was tough...2...whew..good luck on that. Funny thing here..the wifey thinks she may be prego AGAIN!! How did that happen..dumb question...if we are prego again..I'm getting snipped ASAP!!!!!

[greenbuttskunk]

Jeff, I'd say it's a good chance at 10 weeks to hear the heartbeat. That's about when we did.
Like I said, you'll never forget it! Bring some kleenex big guy!
Very best of luck with the visit!
Brad

[Cool Texan]

We had a Dr. appointment yesterday...was mostly informational, family history, etc. However, they walked us through what will be going on over the next 7 months, and then what I can choose to do, or not do, in the delivery room (cord cut no, bathing yes). Then they went on about getting a social security card, etc. Its becoming very real that we'll be responsible for raising a human life. :shocked:

We go again on Tuesday cuz the doctor we had been seeing is about to go out on maternity leave...so I think she will get us started, then we'll switch to another doc for the duration. They said that its possible they may go ahead and try to pick up the heartbeat, do an ultra-sound, etc. I'll know more Tuesday afternoon.

[STGRule]

CT and Mrs. CT: Take the video camera, take the video camera. Did I mention taking the video camera? Set it up on a tripod pointed at the ultrasound screen. Turn it on at the start of the appointment and then get on with the baby sounds and pictures. You will hear the baby's heartbeat on the film even though you'll just see the empty ultrasound screen. You will hear sobs of joy when you "watch" that part of the tape. And then when the show begins you won't have to re-engage your brain to turn on the camera. Later on that night, you can both tear up all over again. And for many years to come.

[Cool Texan]

That is next on our purchase list. Just gotta find the right vid-cam for us. I want something the size of a matchbox, a battery that will last for 3 weeks, a built in light, shoots in total darkness, and makes dinner.

So far I cant find anything even close to that. :depressed:

[Killertraylor]

We just had a baby - Bryson is 6 months old next week. They wouldn't let us bring the videocamera in to tape the ultrasounds at OHSU because of potential malpractice cases if they mess up on the ultrasound - kind of upset me, but I understood due to how emotional bad baby cases are and how much the premiums cost for OB's.

On the video camera, we got a Canon ZR40 digital for about $425 and it's excellent. I think you can get the ZR55 for about the same price now.

Have fun at those doctor's appointments. Ours were very stressful due to some complications along the way. I'll never forget them though and never forget how happy I was when my perfectly healthy baby boy arrived. You'll be amazed at how fast that little heart beats!

[ 08-07-2003, 10:24 PM: Message edited by: Killertraylor ]

[RogueFishr]

Congratulations CT and Mrs CT!!! If you have one, bring a small tape recorder. My wife brought one to every appointment and recorded the heartbeat. It is an amazing sound to hear the heart beating inside. I can't even describe it, but when you hear it, you will understand. I had a list here somewhere of things you are not supposed to say to your pregnant wife. it was hilarious. but, unfortunately, I had already said about half the things by the time I got the list . Tell your wife to take it easy and do whatever she feels like doing (and what the doctor says). And be ready for the biggest emotional swings you have ever seen. I saw my wife go from laughing and joking to crying because the toast was too burnt in about 2 seconds. Enjoy every minute of it. It truly is a miracle.


RF

[Paddlefish]

They didn't find a heartbeat at my daughter's first ultrasound; they found two! :shocked:

As I'll be receiving my first-time-g'pa promotion in September, I need some advice: How many days old do they have to be before I can take them fishing? :grin:

[Cool Texan]

Our meeting got bumped...we go in on Friday now. They are doing a physical exam of my wife, and will be doing the sonogram thing. I'll keep you all posted. :grin:

[lost_sailor]

Originally posted by Cool Texan:
(cord cut no, bathing yes).

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">They won't let you cut the cord?
I got to cut #1, #2 was a little more tricky ... & different doctor. Both are good stories I guess. Really, ya feel pretty useless ... but you wouldn't be anywhere else.

[Blue Tip Spinner]

CONGRATULATIONS CT!!!!!! my wife and i just had a baby girl on aug 5th. she was healthy and she looked like me (if you knew what i looked like, you would feel sorry for her ) i figure another few weeks and she will accompany me on the first of many steelhead trips on the deschutes for the summer steelies. just remember that while she is prego, she may not be the easiest to get along with, but when the baby comes, it gets a whole lot better. (i'm not saying your wife is hard to deal with, but i thought mine wasn't till she got prego :grin: ) trust me on that. good luck on everything and please keep us all posted.

[ 08-18-2003, 06:50 PM: Message edited by: Blue Tip Spinner ]

[Cool Texan]

They will let me cut the cord if I want to....however, I dont think I want to. I'll bathe the child instead. :grin:

[Gus Orviston]

come on, ,but the cord....Heck you can even ask to catch the baby but don't do it unless you are really up for it. Cutting the cord has been easy, except for this time, the baby kept pulling up his leg covering the cord where I was going to cut and the doctors fingers looked too much like the cord in his glove and the dark room... But I got it right.

What I wasn't ready for the first time was the vernix(sp) the baby is coated with. It is gray and kind of startling if you expect a pink baby.

If your wife has questions she would like to ask somebody along the way she can surely email my wife...ping me if you want her email address. She had all kinds of questions and read tons of books. Especially to prep for the natural birth this time. She also used babycenter.com.

Best of luck!

gus

[ 08-18-2003, 09:40 PM: Message edited by: Gus Orviston ]

Originally posted by Cool Texan:
They will let me cut the cord if I want to....however, I dont think I want to. I'll bathe the child instead. :grin:

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">I cut the cord on my last two...kind of like cuttting through polycord :shocked:

:grin: Hey CT you aren't excited or anything are you?

[lost_sailor]

cut the cord, or be a wussy! :smile: You can do it! Unless you've passed out.

[Cool Texan]

I just dont know that I want to cut the cord....dont want to see where the other end of the cord goes. :shocked: [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

I'll comfort my wife instead...and help in the bathing process.

9 weeks down, 31 to go!!

[Hoosier Daddy]

I didn't see the point in cutting the cord. I know some do, I just didn't get it, so I had no desire to do it. I was too busy as it was anyway.

[lost_sailor]

Originally posted by Cool Texan:
...dont want to see where the other end of the cord goes. :shocked: [img]graemlins/dork.gif[/img]

<font size="2" face="verdana,arial,helvetica">No, you don't ... but you should. I always imagined a placenta to be a fluffy pink thing ...
:shocked: :blush: :shocked:

Me, I let the hospital staff do the baths and most diapers ... more than enough of that in your future! Only one cutting of the umbilical.

[Cool Texan]

One one huh? Well, I hope the doctor realizes what a special moment it is when she cuts it for us. :grin: