18 weeks pregnant and fear the doc might not be able to hear babys heart beat?

First of all.... STOP STRESSING it is never good, especially in pregnancy. Stress can cause miscarriages and preterm labor, so take a deep breath and read on....

I am sure your doctor will be able to hear the heart beat. What my doc did with my friend is they were trying to find the heartbeat with a hand held doppler and it was taking too long so they just went and got an untrasound b/c it was easier to see where the baby is. I heard my baby's heart beat at 8 weeks with a transvaginal ultrasound. I also heard it at 14 weeks with a regular ultrasound.

Also I got a hand held doppler from bellybeats.com for $25/mo and it is awesome! I got it within a week that I ordered it. Any time I want I can hear the baby's heart beat! It takes a few minutes to find it and sometimes you can't hear it consistantly b/c of the baby's position but you can also hear the swooshes of the baby moving. I am 16 weeks and I got the doppler last week and heard the heart beat on the first try.

Good luck! and let us know how it goes!!!!

ps if you don't hear anything, that doesn't mean something bad has happened. the baby just may be in a difficult position to hear the heart beat. At the second ultra sound I was really hungry and the baby was doing all kind of summersaults. So research when babies could be the most active -full bladder, empty bladder, full stomach, empty stomach- and see if that helps to get a better choice of positions.

Oh yeah, if you have a video/sound recorder on your phone use it at the appointment so you can listen to it over and over!!!

Hey! I had the exact same fear!! I just went to the doctor last week, I was 10 weeks at the time. He said that at this time you should be able to hear the heartbeat through a doppler. It took him like 5 minutes and my heart was beating like crazy I was soo nervous!! But then there it was, my baby's heartbeat at 160bpm!! Don't worry it is so normal to have this fear, we all are going through the same thing!

Good luck with your ultrasound, I am sure everything will be fine!

I think what you're feeling is perfectly natural. Its your maternal instincts kicking in - to be honest, it would be worrying if you didn't feel slightly nervous about first scan/heartbeat trace.

I certainly was terrified!! And all was well, just as I'm sure it will be for you.

Your doc/midwife should get a nice strong trace on the babys heartbeat at this stage of pregnancy, but don't worry if it takes a little while to find it - there's still plenty of room in there for a little baby to hide in!

I think it's very, very rare to get a fake positive result, so congratulations.

I always feel nervous when I have my ultrasounds....worrying that something is wrong with my baby or that it doesn't have a heartbeat. Mind you I have reason to worry as my last 2 pregnancies ended in miscarriage. I'm thankful that everything is going well with this baby. I'm halfway there already. Just try to relax as I'm sure everything is fine. Congrats and good lock.

Thats a fear any mum to be has. Im high risk and have went in every week since 5 weeks. and first able to hear heartbeat at 9 weeks (very rare). But in going every week i still fear not hearing it and im almost 17 weeks.and my 4th Utrasound will be the 18th and still fear... even with it being a gender scan. Best of luck to you its normal :)

there is always going to be fear of that. I had the same fear even when i constntly felt my baby move. It's just you are scared to lose something so special. It's normal. Everything will be fine. Good luck!

Yes I had the same fear it is very common! Good Luck!

being worried comes with being pregnant....its when u start entering motherhood!! IM pretty sure ur bby is fine!

good luck !