Be honest, did this happen because I am fat

[jennistarr1]

At my ob appointment, they couldn't find the heartbeat using 2 different kinds if dopplers, but could with an ultrasound. I started looking up why that could happen and the only thing I found is because I am overweight.  For reference,I am 5'2" 160lbs size 12...I am pretty evenly distributed but do have a lot of belly fat.

[dizzydee]

Nope I'm bigger than you and never had any issues hearing the heartbeat. It was likely just the position the baby was in.

[orangeglow]

I am 5'2-3", 180 and carry all my weight in my belly. Never had hb issues. Therefor you are NOT fat and the little one was just turned funny.

[starlily]

Sept 17, 2014 23:22:45 GMT -5 dizzydee said:

Nope I'm bigger than you and never had any issues hearing the heartbeat. It was likely just the position the baby was in.

Ditto.

[sofamonkey]

Anterior placenta - I would bet $5 on it!

[bina]

I'm sorry I know how scary that can be. I'm 5'2 and was 180 at the beginning of my pregnancy and they had a really hard time fining the heart beat on the doppler, on the ultrasound he was moving all over the place.

[bina]

So no I don't think it was your weight.

[flamingeaux]

how far along are you?  some of the little hand held things are not sensitive enough to pick it up if it's too early.  I want to say my old OB's handheld listener couldn't pick it up before 12 weeks.  But it's also a possibility that your kid was just playing "how can I scare the crap out of Mom today?"

[TemperanceBrennan]

I'm way bigger than you and they haven't had problems finding the babies heart beat yet. Sometimes they have to search for a bit or try a different position than on top of my belly. It just depends if the baby is moving a lot or not. I will add that they didn't try to find the heartbeat until I was 13 weeks. That could be because of MY weight, but I don't think your weight had anything to do with it. I bet the baby just wasn't cooperating.

[stealthmom]

No. I'm fatter than that and the only time it was a problem was due to baby's position.

[Deleted]

No.

[CheshireGrin]

The handheld ones can be really hard to use properly, and depend a lot on the skill of the person using it, as well as the position of the baby and how active he/she is. Theyre also less reliable the earlier you are. I always warn women before we listen in the ER that if I can't find the heartbeat, that in itself rarely indicates a problem. It's more likely that I just can't find it.

Sent from my SM-T210 using proboards

[Kristinmo]

Nope. At 12 weeks they couldn't find DS' heartbeat with the Doppler. At the time I was a size 6.

[Deleted]

I have never been pg so I don't know how these things work but it doesn't seem like it. I assume when they say it can happen if someone is overweight I assume that mean extremely overweight.

[littlepeanut]

No.

[motzie]

Sept 18, 2014 6:03:02 GMT -5 ciescalove said:

I have a retroverted uterus this time so the first time they tried to find it with the Doppler she couldn't. She had to have me bring my knees up and tilt my pelvis up or something like that and she found it after that pretty quickly.

. This is me too. I've had so many extra ultrasounds because they couldn't find the heartbeat on the Doppler for the first 4 months.

[Deleted]

Before 14 weeks they can't find it via Doppler for a lot of people.

OB couldn't find mine at 10 weeks and neither of us were surprised. I am quite a bit heavier than you as well. And I found at my next appointment I have an anterior placenta.

He found the heartbeat easily at 14 weeks.

[ssmjlm]

No, probably kid position. I'm surprised she didn't say something about it during the ultrasound.

Same thing happened to me, nurse and OB tried with the doppler, nothing. So we went into the ultrasound room and she was hiding up by my bladder.

[mrssandro]

I am not skinny especially in the belly and at the moment obese. Doppler has never been the issue. I vote baby position.

[karinothing]

No, i didn't think that belly fat mattered re: finding the heartbeat unless someone was seriously overweight, which it doesn't sound like you are.

My midwife says that they can be hard to find sometimes. She will internally tip the uterus to get it into a better position to find the heartbeat (but they also don't have access to an ultrasound machine)

[iheartbanjos]

Sept 17, 2014 23:16:51 GMT -5 @astrid said:

No. It was probably kiddo's position.

Agreed. My stomach is my body part that I am actually happy with, and they had to fit me in for a quick ultrasound at almost 14 weeks. I was just coming off a miscarriage and was freaking out.

My girlfriend, who is pretty fluffy, had the opposite experience. She was the earliest that her OB had ever picked up a heartbeat on a Doppler. It was super early, but I can't remember the exact week.

[thatgirl2478]

yep, probably the babies position and/or where your placenta is located.  Also, how far along are you?

I'm 5'5 and well a lot more than 160 (I was 180 when I got pregnant) also a size 12 (pre preg) and a good amount of belly fat and my OB didn't even try to use the dopler until around 16 ish weeks.

[karmasabiotch]

I was very heavy when I was pregnant and it did make it harder to find. I also didn't feel as much movement as other people. I was way way bigger than a size 12.

I don't think of you as fat though. I think it has more to do with the position of the baby.

[zaneyzoo]

Kid's position. I'm bigger than you and while sometimes it took a while to find the heartbeat, Dr could find it.

Don't worry - You're good

[jennistarr1]

Thanks girls...that's a relief. I know I'm no skinny mini but I was like "whoa" yesterday.  To answer I few questions, I'm only 12 weeks.  I would probably place my money too on anterior placenta because I've had to scary bleeding episodes and that is a possible explanation for those. I don't know too much about anterior placenta but it seems like no big deal...and really I don't care too much as long as my little one is well.