Saturday, October 3, 2009

The best $21.90 per month I've ever spent

I know I talk a pretty confident talk on this blog... debating how to deliver my twins, shopping for a minivan, planning construction on our loft to make two bedrooms for the babies. But really, every day I worry -- are they still okay in there? I'm able to think abstractly about two lives that will be joining our family in the spring, but I'm so terrified of losing one or both of them that I can't buy a single baby item. Even the super cute peanut-butter-and-jelly matching twin onesies I saw online.

Well, it's the fear and the knowledge that I'd never get this song out of my head again:



Finally, my salvation has arrived, contained in one small white box sent from BabyBeat. My rental at-home doppler showed up on Thursday. Happy happy joy joy!

I used one while pregnant with Bean, and it calmed my nerves more than I can even say. This time I ordered a cheaper version, it doesn't have a recording feature like the last one. Already, these twins are getting the shaft. But DH suggested we just copy the file of Bean's heartbeat two times and call it a day. Sounds good to me.

On Thursday night, I was nervous to try it for the first time. The guidelines say you can usually hear the heartbeat starting at 10-12 weeks, and I was about 11 1/2. I made myself promise not to freak out if I couldn't find one. (Yeah, right.)

Thank goodness, it was relatively easy to find one of the heartbeats. We didn't calculate the rate because we were too lazy to count and multiply, but it sounded beautiful anyway. Both the manual and my RE advised me not to be concerned about finding the second heartbeat, as it's hard to do with twins, even for experienced doctors. I gave a quick search, came up with nothing, and decided to take one as a good sign and just go to bed. The half Unisom I took with my B6 vitamin (to help with nausea) rendered that not a problem whatsoever.

Last night, I easily found the first heartbeat, just where it had been the day before. And then I searched a little more carefully for the second one. Experienced doctors can eat it, because lo and behold, on the other side of my belly was another heartbeat with a distinctly different rate.

So as of Friday night at 9:30 pm, I am still pregnant with twins. AWWWW YEAH.

I highly recommend to anyone who is a paranoid neurotic concerned preggo like I am, consider renting a doppler when you near the end of your first trimester. Not everyone likes them, but those people are completely wrong. With Bean, I signed up for three months with BabyBeat. No tax, no shipping. If you keep it longer, they just bill your credit card for at the same monthly rate until you send it back (again in the same box, no shipping). And this time, I got a 5% discount for being a repeat customer. Can I get another AWWWW YEAH?

I actually enjoy listening to their heartbeats more than I like ultrasounds. Maybe it's because I don't have some random ultrasound tech all up in my lady business, watching the kiddos on a TV screen halfway across the room. I feel more connected to them, just the four of us (me, DH, and the twinklets) laying in our bed, hearing the whooshing of their tiny hearts before turning off the light and falling asleep.

Priceless.


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19 comments:

Kate said...

Whoo Hoo for hearing the heartbeat whenever you want! How long does it take for them to send it? I think i'm going to order one too.

Eve said...

OK, first of all...I'm SO with you on a freakin' HUGE belly! Second of all, I may just have to get one of those baby beat thingamabobs! I was worried about the whole twin thing as well..and mine are close together. Luckily, I saw their little hearts flickering on U/S yesterday and have a peri appnt this Tues..so hopefully that will tide me over.

Pregnancy didn't seem this scary (even BEFORE my complications) with my son.

Kristina P. said...

I had never even heard of this! I threw a baby shower for my friend a couple of weekends ago, and they make the coolest stuff now!

Michelle said...

If I ever make it that far I definitely will be getting one. My sis had one and she LOVED it! I think having me for her sis made her just as paranoid as I was.

Allison said...

That is so cool! I wish I would've done that. I am so glad and excited and happy and thrilled. July can't come soon enough! :)

Anonymous said...

I never had a home doppler but I could always find the heartbeats better than the nurses, I used to tell them where to place the sound head and even when i was being induced i moved the tranducers around myself to chase the twinnies lol!

IF Optimist, then... said...

Neat-o! So glad you found the heartbeats without too many problems. I hope I don't have that song stuck in my head now. Why did you do that to us?

Beautiful Mess said...

YAY! That's great! $21.90 is a small price to pay for piece of mind. Not to mention the beautiful sounds you get to hear anytime you want!
*HUGS*

Kristi said...

Yup-could not agree with you more. I used a Baby Beat doppler for my first pregnancy, and again with the twins. It gave me great peace of mind.

MissMVK said...

I've been debating about renting a B.aby Beat again this time too. I was just looking at the website the other day actually! Hm...you may have sealed the deal for me. Methinks I must have one.

How long did it take for yours to arrive?

I cannot believe that we are both pregnant with twins and we are due date TWINS. Madness!!!

I am still hitting the hard stuff over here - Z.ofran and Ph.energan. Don't know how I would make it through the day otherwise. Glad the Unisom and B work for you!

P.S. - I didn't eat the whole pie. There's still half. LOL

MissMVK said...

There really is half a peach pie left. Come on over. I have vanilla H.aagen Daz that goes with it. Btw, did you work in non-profit before you became a SAHM, or are you being funny? ;) I really did work in non-profit before staying home. if you did too, it would be uncanny.

Ok, off to order my doppler. And yes, I'm also ordering the cheaper one. Shaft is right!

Sara said...

That's so awesome! I'm not prego or a mommy yet, but I know my neurosis well and am thoroughly convinced the doppler will save my sanity.
Yay for you!

Lisa said...

yay for the doppler!! I too am a big doppler fan and love being able to check in on the little man whenever i want! So cool to hear TWO!! :)

Jen said...

Rather than spend $21.90 can I just show up at your house at random times of the day to borrow yours??? Okay. Maybe that wouldn't be much appreciated.

Jen said...

Oh and after Jillian's party yesterday, I said so does Christine look pregnant to Jeramy. He said he told you how surprised he was about the bump size :)

Furrow said...

I wanted one so badly when first pregnant with Zo, but it's a good thing we never got one. After the first few times with it at the midwife's office, we realized that she hated it. She seemed to be trying to climb out of my womb to escape it. The girl still hates loud noises to this day. And I miss my vacuum cleaner.

So glad the twinkies are doing well.

Martha@A Sense of Humor is Essential said...

I am so happy the doppler is giving you peace of mind. Yeah for finding Both Heartbeats!!! Love the nickname, twinlets.

Stephanie Faris said...

So cool! I didn't know such a thing existed.

Peanut butter jelly peanut butter jelly peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat...

MissMVK said...

S - my email is on my blog (sidebar) so we can have a real conversation! Have you had your first trimester screen yet?