Heartbeat

Since a few of my bloggy friends have been discussing/considering fetal monitors recently, I thought I'd post a little video of me using mine. It's really simple -- just a little microphone, you squirt some gel on your belly and then moved around slowly until you find the h/b. On mine, the little flashing heart in the upper left will confirm that the sound is consistent enough to be considered a h/b. There are three different modes, though I have to tell you that I can't figure out the point of modes 2 and 3 (and I'm a techie!) so I always use Mode 1, which is just fine. It tells me the heart rate and that's what I'm looking for.

Bug has been consistently easy to find since week 14 or so, always smack-dab in the middle of my uterus, just above the pubic (ew, I said "pubic") line. However, yesterday, because he's a minx and knew I was trying to record it, he moved over to the right side for the first time ever! Still pretty easy to find and thank goodness because I haven't felt him move yet and I'm on full DEFCON5 alert for that. I know I would be starting some dire scenario in my head about not feeling him if I didn't have these h/b checks, even though I know it's probably because I have that darned low-lying placenta. I slipped a little after the post-amnio bleeding scare, but I'm trying to move my way back to just checking every 3 days. NoodleGuy is concerned that Bug is in there covering his little ears every time we turn this thing on, so I'm trying to regain restraint ;).

This is the model I ordered, I opted to buy from Am.az.on rather than rent because I had heard good things about this one and I could own for the price of 1-2 months of rental ($65). BTW, don't believe them that gel is included in the order, it wasn't. I couldn't motivate to complain though and just got my own tube.