Sonoline B Fetal Heart Doppler: Worth It?

If you haven’t heard, I am 4 months pregnant with twins, again! This pregnancy we endured a scary time where we didn’t know if we were going to lose one or both babies. During this scary time, I had two emergency room visits and one high-risk pregnancy specialist visit. Needless to say, many hours and dollars were spent just trying to find out if the tiny people in my womb were still alive.

The first trimester can be tricky. It is such a joyful time where you have recently found out you are pregnant and the newness and wonder of it is sinking in. You can still fit into your clothes (for a little while) and see your toes…but you can’t yet feel your baby(ies) or hear their heartbeats on your own. You are forced to trust that they are still alive, every day, with only nausea and frequent bathroom trips as your indicator. I mean, I guess you could pee on a stick everyday too; that may quell your nerves.

But, lets say like me, you had bleeding and found out you had hemorrhages or some other potentially life threatening complications. All the nausea in the world couldn’t convince you that everything was hunky dory. Alas, I found a solution. A friend of mine who is 4 weeks ahead of me in her pregnancy bought an at home Doppler and checks her baby’s heartbeat every day.

Now, you may have heard pros and cons about these at home Doppler thingys. I had a sweet friend give me one during my last pregnancy and all I could ever hear, right up until I gave birth, was the mating calls of whales in my tummy; no heartbeats. Yet I gave birth to two healthy babies, who did in fact have heartbeats. So how do you know what to buy?

The scary part is that you may get a bum Doppler that will never work, which may convince you that your baby doesn’t exist. Or, you may get a Doppler that isn’t very sensitive and won’t pick up a heartbeat until 20+ weeks of pregnancy. By then you can feel the baby kick, so it may be a moot point. I just lucked out because my friend let me come over to her house and try hers out before I bought one.

She had purchased the Sonoline B Fetal Doppler off of Ebay for around $50. For some reason this seemed like a low price for a legit Doppler, but I tried it out. I was only 9 ½ weeks pregnant and we found heartbeats! (This may not be the case with everyone.) The Sonoline B is FDA approved and medical grade, with a 1 year warranty. So I thought what the heck. I think the seller even granted a 30 return policy in case it didn’t work.

That same day I ordered my own Sonoline B Fetal Doppler. They send you this tiny pack of “ultrasound gel” but it doesn’t last long. Thankfully my friend let me in on a secret. You can use aloe GEL; it works just as well and is so much cheaper. So I got my Doppler and some aloe gel and I started searching my stomach. All I could find was my own heartbeat and the sounds of my placenta (yes it has a sound.) So I found websites like this which let you hear the difference between mom’s heartbeat, baby heartbeat, and placenta. So helpful!I was only slightly worried because I was only 10 weeks along. This Doppler works best around 11 1/2 – 12 weeks pregnant, when the baby’s heartbeat is easier to hear. So at 11 ½ weeks I finally was able to find both twin’s heartbeats with ease! They sounded like a horse stampede! 

My vote is that this Sonoline B Fetal Doppler is a success and worth the money. It is certainly cheaper than an ER visit! Now, I check for heartbeats almost every day. Early on, I checked multiple times a day. I can reassure myself that they are still there anytime I want. It is such a joy to hear those little heartbeats!