Well here we are at 20 weeks and our baby heartbeat monitor, or “fetal doppler” as they’re known in the trade, has just arrived.
We ordered a SonoTrax fetal doppler online from ClinicalGuard.com and although it took over a week to arrive, it is AWESOME!

Our SonoTrax Fetal Doppler

I unpacked the relatively small doppler unit from an overly large USPS box and scrambled around in our garage to find a square 9v battery. Once it was powered up I quickly bumped up the volume and tried to find my own heart beat… It work almost straight away and I have to say, it is a very strange feeling listening to your own “whooshing” heart beat. The clear display monitors and presents a live update of your beats per minute, there is even a line output for listening with headphones or recording the sounds to a computer (We will have to do that for another post).

Katie and I wasted no time, we grabbed one of the tubes of goop that had arrived with the package and set out to find Finley’s heart beat. It didn’t take long and we monitored his wonderful little drum beat for a minute or so. He was making a steady 150 bpm.

I have to say, we love our SonoTrax doppler. It is the basic model but it comes with a 3MHz probe which is supposed to be ideal for listening to baby beats!

So anyway, up until this point I thought that hearing little Finley’s heartbeat was the best thing since sliced bread, but I wasn’t prepared for my next surprise. We were sat watching TV and Katie called me over;

Place your hand right here, she said, and apply a little pressure.

I placed my hand on her belly and we sat for quite a while, glancing every now and then at the ridiculous show on TV (Real Housewives of New Jersey!). After about five minutes we figured he has just gone to sleep so I was ready to sit back down but then Katie told me to quickly put my hand back on the bel-bel!

A KICK, I ACTUALLY FELT A KICK!!!

OK, this is the best thing since sliced bread, it was an amazing feeling and one that I will never forget.

I have to leave on a business trip today but little Finley has given me plenty to think about and I doubt I will be concentrating much on work. I can’t wait to get back home, get a second coat of paint on the nursery walls and feel some more of those amazing kicks.