Doppler: Friend or Foe?

Up until yesterday, that was an easy question. FRIEND! All the way! BFF, in fact. Despite the horror stories about dopplers and freaking out if you can't hear the heartbeat, we've been fortunate. We've never looked more than a few seconds, and actually I got so good that I would just place the doppler on my belly where I figured Viver was hanging out and voila! woosh, woosh, woosh.

It was so predictable. I even smugly smirked at my doctor when she used the doppler the first time. She was roaming all over and I wanted to say, "He's right here." And I would be right.

But yesterday, doppler became a temporary foe.

I found the woosh, woosh, woosh right away. We smiled at each other. But then it seemed pretty slow. Like really slow, actually.

Me: "Um, does that seem slow to you?"
Chris: "Ummm, maybe a little bit!"

Neither one of us wanted to over-react but we were both clearly starting to panic on the inside.

Me: "How about you count the beats and we can figure out what the beats per minute is? I mean, it's going to be different, it's not always going to be the same rate."
Chris: "Ok, I got 84."

GULP.

Me: "Well, that must be me, I guess. It's not Viver."
Chris: silence.

I wander all around with the microphone, concentrating on the side where he always is. Nothing but me. On a whim, I try the other side. Now I'm frantically moving the doppler around, too fast to catch anything anyway. Then suddenly, Chris says "Wait, there was something there. Go back".

Low and behold, there he was. Beating away with his normal woosh, woosh, woosh rhythm. But just for a second, then he would roll away. I chased him but could only hear it for a couple seconds at a time. I think he's moving away from the doppler these days. Trouble maker.

Thankfully we were able to find it and got the reassurance we needed, so doppler went back to friend status. I just learned my lesson...I do not rule the doppler. Apparently, Viver is now ruling the doppler.

Oh, and for those of you (you know who you are) that are thinking this confirms your feelings on why we shouldn't have a doppler, don't go there. One brief moment of panic is nothing compared to how many times we've been reassured and been able to sleep because we did hear the heartbeat. I've said it a hundred times...the doppler can't make me any more crazy than I already am. Maybe it's not a good idea for sane people...but I'm not part of that group.