Stupid FTM question - breech? How do you know?

MOMama987

Realizing this is probably a really stupid question, but I honestly don't know. My next appointment is next week, so I'll ask my dr. then.. just curious if someone can shed some light beforehand.

My last (and likely final) US was at 20 weeks, and baby was head down - but they told me he could move / flip lots before delivery, so this position could / probably would change.

I can't tell where his head/arms/legs are - can the doctor tell without an US? I'd know if he was breech, right? FWIW, I generally don't feel ANYTHING above my belly button... it's all belly-button level or lower... but I can't tell what's what at all. 

mrsannie

Your dr should be able to get a good idea of where the head is by feeling your belly. I can't remember when my dr starts checking this, but at my 35 week appt with DS my dr felt for the head position and speculated that he was breech so he did an u/s at 37 weeks to confirm, sure enough he was breech. I had him flipped with an external version at 37 weeks and in both breech and head down positions I never really felt movement up in my ribs. So I think it's hard to tell just by where you feel movement. 

cecemama1

I asked my doc this at my appointment last week.  He said that towards the end, they will sort of palpate your uterus to feel out what position baby is in.  He said if there is any doubt as to whether baby is head down, they will do a quick ultrasound to verify the position.  I also think they might do a quick check in triage when you check into your hospital to deliver (this is what DH told me from when he was in residency, so it may vary).

MOMama987

Thank you. This is exactly the type of info I needed. (Love this board!)

 

Mama-Bear

Yep, your doc can feel your belly.  He/she is so experienced that they know what they're feeling for more than you or I (just like the U/S tech knows more what they're looking at even when the pic isn't super clear for us).

Joyfullnoise

As he gets bigger position can be discerned simply by palpitating. You'll be able to feel body parts and, for example, my left side was bigger in my first pregnancy because that is where the torso was.

jayro10

I had an appt this morning and asked my OB if she could tell which way the baby is laying, just out of curiosity. She said she doesn't check or pay attention to it much at this point since the baby can still move and flip a lot. But she said she could guess where the head is just based on where she found the heartbeat with the Doppler. I found that interesting because at my appt two weeks ago, she found the heartbeat on the opposite side than where it was today!

kmcd23

At my 28 wk appt yesterday, my MFM was teaching a med student how to tell what was what by feeling, and to know exactly where to put the Doppler based on that. He was so firm, and he woke Baby McD up, so when she tried, she got kicked pretty hard and she jumped back. Her face was hilarious!

I guessed he was head down and facing to my left, and I was right. It's cool that I'm starting to be able to tell!

bananers

I asked the NP at my last appointment (at 28w5d) and she said they don't bother to start checking until 36 weeks because the baby can move so much between now and then and women start worrying unnecessarily if their baby isn't head down. After around 36 weeks, they'll check by palpitating and if there is any uncertainty they'll quickly whip out the in-office u/s machine to check.

pearlsonthebeach

hey, check out spinningbabies.com, and look into "belly mapping".

 

some of the info they want you to pay for via e-book, but i was able to gather from the little bits i could the general gist of things, and my mw confirmed what i had gathered from my lo's movements- she is head down, little feet kicking my right ribs, her torso is on my left side.

 just some really interesting stuff, if you wanna check it out!  

MitoRachel

pearlsonthebeach:

hey, check out spinningbabies.com, and look into "belly mapping".

 

some of the info they want you to pay for via e-book, but i was able to gather from the little bits i could the general gist of things, and my mw confirmed what i had gathered from my lo's movements- she is head down, little feet kicking my right ribs, her torso is on my left side.

 just some really interesting stuff, if you wanna check it out!  

This. DH got so good at belly mapping that the last couple months of pregnancy he could hear the baby's heart beat just by putting his ear on the correct part of my bump. I have an anterior placenta this time, so he will probably just hear my heart beat if he tries to listen!