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If your LO had a nucheal (sp?) hand...

LollyBug18LollyBug18 member
in Natural Birth
Do you remember feeling lots of jabs and punches very low in your uterus? I'm talking like along the bottom of my bikini line, in the front, almost like LO is punching me in the thigh where it bends while sitting... For well over a month now I've felt soooo much activity in that area and I'm fairly certain baby is head down so I'm assuming there are a couple fists down there boxing all around. Some times I feel it on both sides at once even! But now, getting closer to delivery, I'm starting to worry a bit that those hands won't move and it'll make things more painful and me more likely to tear. Am I just crazy and paranoid for no reason? Is there anything I can do to try and encourage baby's head to come out by itself, lol?
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DD born 5/15/11
DS born 11/12/12
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Re: If your LO had a nucheal (sp?) hand...

  • aylafsu88aylafsu88 member
    Now that you mention it I felt weird cramping/stabbing pains down there throughout my preg.  I would ask my OB at my weekly checkups and she assured me it was normal preg feelings.  I never gave it a second thought.  My LO was head down at 38 weeks.  When I was in labor and  pushing my LO out the pressure I felt in the birth canal was intense and I  freaked out.  My OB was sitting on the end of the bed and between contractions told me he was massaging my perineum because my LO had a nuchal hand.  The OB told me I was going to tear and that the massage was to help minimize the tearing.  I ended up with a second degree internal tear that took 9 weeks to help completely.  I hope that does not scare you to much!  I do know that it is normal to feel flutters that low when the baby is head down as they are moving their arms.  Mine always felt like stabbing cramping pains though.  I would not worry about it since there is not much you can do!
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  • CelynCelyn member
    It's normal to feel punches, pressure, etc. regardless.  Think about where a baby's arms and hands are in general when baby is head down.  A trapped nuchal hand is one that is wedged in the pelvis when the baby is dropped and engaged.  It can wiggle, but doesn't have much room for a punch.  Bumps would come higher up from the elbow.  Most midwives can tell a nuchal hand from a difference in the way they hear the heart beat, and try to change your position and move the baby back out of the pelvis.  If the hand doesn't resolve, laboring down slowly in a controlled way and allowing for a very slow stretch during crowning, with pressure on the perineum, can help minimize tearing.  
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  • pixieprincsspixieprincss member

    Both boys came out with a nuchal hand. I don't recall any correlation with specific movement locations.

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  • LollyBug18LollyBug18 member
    Thanks ladies! It's helpful to know that if LO's does actually end up with a nucheal hand that it may make for a longer labor. DD came pretty quickly for a first-timer (8 hours) so it's good to prepare for the fact that that may not be the case this time around!
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    Lilypie Breastfeeding tickers
    DD born 5/15/11
    DS born 11/12/12
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  • NineTwentyOhEightNineTwentyOhEight

    My daughter came out hand first and I didn't have a particularly long labor (first contractions at like 9:30am, got "real" around 3:45pm, water broke at 4:15pm, delivered at 10:38pm, about 40min of pushing. I don't remember any pain/movement that would have made me think this would happen, but she did always have her hands on her face/top of her head in my ultrasounds.

    I did tear pretty badly, all inside, almost through to my rectum. Having a natural birth, I do actually think that having them stitch me up was the worst part b/c I really felt it all (even with the "numbing" which I don't think worked). I was pretty well healed and had intercourse again around 16 weeks. It hurt when I pooped until she was about 6 months old. 

    Now that she is almost 1 everything is back to normal and I am thinking about doing it all again! hah.

    Oh also, like so many babies, my daughter's cord was wrapped around her neck twice - but because she had her arm there and her hand on top of her head, her arm protected the cord during contractions so they had absolutely NO indication that the cord was around her neck until she came out! 

     

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