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Quick question for anyone in the know (okay two questions!):
1) Just out of curiousity, can anyone tell what position their baby is in? When I go to my OB he feels around and can tell the presentation, but it all just feels like a hard lump to me! Is there any way of telling yourself?
2) At what stage can the baby still turn? Like, if the baby is breech at 30 weeks, can he/she still turn right around to be head down in time?
Thanks! :)
lots of practice is how you can tell baby's position, but as a rough idea if you can feel a round part up high if it is fairly solid and doesn't wobble, it is a bottom. If it wobbles, it is a head. As for the position of the babe other than breech or cephalic, I haven't the foggiest.:lol:
As for a baby turning after 30 weeks, most certainly they can. Most obs and midwives will not worry unless a baby is still breech past 35 weeks and even then they can turn either on their own, with accupuncture, or with ECV (external cephalic version) which is when they manually turn the baby still inside your womb.
Hi Erin,
I always found it hard to tell which way DS was positioned in my belly - until the really strong movements kicked in. So I could feel his feet kicking up in my ribs etc so knew he was head down. Remember that midwives & OBs are trained to feel for particular parts of the baby when they palpate your belly, so its usually easy for them to tell.
In related to babies changing position, the reality is that they can change position at ANY time during your pregnancy. While MOST will settle head down at some stage in the third trimester as they have less room, some will change at the eleventh hour. My son was head down the whole pregnancy and he flipped into breech position in his last week which we were not aware of until I went into labour.
Its highly likely that a baby that is breech at 30 weeks will turn head down.
HTH
Hi Erin,
I have always roughly been able to tell where bubs is based on what is poking me. i could tell when he was head down (bout 24 weeks) because the kicks to my cervix lessened (back now beacuse he is engaging and headbutting my cx instead!) If you feel a big round lump on top of your belly that dosent move much it is a bum, if you feel a sharp round lump on your side or under your boobs, it will be a knee or foot. I also know which way bubs is lying because he only ever kick in the same place. He must be comfy.
Dont worry about being breech at 30 weeks either, bubs still has plenty of time to move on his own an there is still lots of space in there.
Good luck with it all.
the spinnning babies website has a description of how you can 'map' the position of bub but what you can feel, and bub's movements.
also, ask your ob to explain what they are feeling, and how they can tell position of bub.
i get all my kicks on the right side, and feel the big lump (the torso) on the left. from about 33-34 weeks, the foot would stick out and i could trace my finger along the leg as it wiggled.
when feeling a pg tummy you can tell the position and presentation of bub.
Position is which way bub is lying, you feel for the spine/back, find out if it is at the front of your tummy, at the side, or at your back, and on your left or right. and from there you know one end has to be a bum and one end a head. Heads are hard, and 'balotable' (i love that word but think i may have spelt it wrong) meaning they move (because they are connected to a neck), bums are soft, and if you try and wiggle them they dont move so easy.
Presentation is which part is down (basically) breech, being bum down (simply there are more than 1 way) and cephalic is head down. there are also transverse lies where bub is lying length ways not up and down.
next time you go to your mw or ob and they feel your tummy ask them to explain what they are feeling for.
Thanks for the replies everyone!
Traveller - It's good to know that even after 35 weeks, it is possible to turn them. I've been feeling around, trying to work it out, but I'm too timid to press as hard as the OB does, I'm worried I'll poke the baby in the eye or something! :lol:
Infinity - Yeah, I was trying to work it out from where I was feeling kicks, but I feel jabs and movements all over the place, down low near my cervix, up near my ribs, and out to the sides! Guess I have an energetic baby. I saw my OB yesterday and it turns out he/she is now head now (yay!), so I guess the down-low movements I feel must be him turning his head, or waving his arms around or something. I'm glad he/she is head down at this stage, but from your experience, sounds like it's no guarantee!
Jellymaker - Now you've said that, I've realised I have been getting less painful jabs to my cervix. Which is nice. But I do get the sensation of something trying to wriggle up under my ribs, lol. Swap one discomfort for another! It's amazing that you could tell his position at only 24 weeks.
Kate - Thanks, I'll definitely check out that website. Awww, that is sooo cute, tracing the little leg wiggling! I hope I get something that definite, later on. :)
Teirae - Thanks for that, I didn't actually realise that position and presentation were two different things! I wish my OB would tell me more what he was doing when he feels around, I'll have to ask next time, but I'm always worried that I shouldn't speak, cos he looks like he's concentrating so much! So, the OB should also be able to tell whether baby's spine is facing out or in? I know that can make a difference in labour too.
Also, he has put on my antenatal card that the baby's head is 3/5's engaged (at least I think that's what it means). Is that early for 31 weeks?
Thanks again ladies! :)
first babies tend to engage early and stay engaged. If you have had a few babies before hand bubs dont tend to get fully engaged until late/during labour, or they come in and out of the pelvis. In saying that though...every baby and woman is different!!!
has he writen anything else, like 3 letters, for example ROA or LOP?
Thanks again Teirae. This is my first baby (you can probably tell by my ignorance!) so I guess that makes sense! Umm, I forgot to put my yellow card in my bag this morning and I'm at work, I'll have to have another look. I don't remember seeing anything else written though.
I could never tell which way she was. Towards the end I figured sometimes I could feel her back and sometimes head. I do know she wasn't in position until the day of labour.