Fundal Height

JNR6510 · April 2017

Now that we are getting to be further along, have any of you ladies tried measuring how high your uterus has grown?

DH and I were bored yesterday and decided to give it a whirl. I was totally surprised that the top of the uterus was just 1-2 inches shy of my belly button. I'll be 17 weeks exactly tomorrow.

Being able to actually feel how much Laurel has grown is amazing! It definitely has helped calm the PGAL anxiety.

jessieR358 · April 2017

At 20 weeks it should be about the height of your belly button. So that sounds about right!

mrsmarygs · April 2017

Mine is still about half way between my pubic bone and belly button. I'll be 16 weeks tomorrow.

babmama95 · April 2017

How do you measure how high your uterus has grown

Sugargirl1019 · April 2017

I would say mine is about 2 inches below my belly button as well! 17+4 today. I lay in bed and can actually tell where she is based on firmness! It's a little more squishy on the side she isnt. Now if I could just feel this little chipmunk kick!

JNR6510 · April 2017

babmama95 said:

How do you measure how high your uterus has grown

Essentially you lie on your back with your head and upper torso slightly propped up (lying on a bed with a pillow supporting your upper torso and head). Then you or a partner cups your hands and presses gently on the top on your belly sliding down toward the pelvis until you feel the uterus. It will feel more firm than the rest of your organs. There are YouTube videos of it that you can watch too.

babmama95 · April 2017

Thanks!!!! @JNR6510

mrs_tacos · April 2017

I'm 17 weeks today, and mine is about an inch below my belly button. I have a really short torso, so I think that's right about on point.

ColoradoHiker · April 2017

If you google fundal height chart, there are lots of pictures that will show up and give you an idea of approximately where your uterus should be. I think my midwife with DS started measuring it at 20w.

harleyquinn0621 · April 2017

i am terrible at feeling around for things like the fundal... however at my last OB appointment I did ask her to show me where it was and it was like, 2 inches or so under my belly button which she said was right for 17 weeks... by 20 weeks it should be at the belly button

BigBadWolf12 · April 2017

This makes me nervous....I'm 15+1 and I don't know what I'm feeling. Sometimes I think "is that it?" But I feel like it should be more definitive..

i poked my belly so much that if a baby is still in there I probably didn't do it any good

can you hurt a fetus from too much poking??

You guys are further along than me...when did you feel around and be like, yup that's my ute!

i might also be too chubby so everything feels soft? Idk and think I might need to step away from the bmb for a couple of weeks because it's causing me so much comparison anxiety...

Becky012016 · April 2017

BigBadWolf12 said:

This makes me nervous....I'm 15+1 and I don't know what I'm feeling. Sometimes I think "is that it?" But I feel like it should be more definitive..

i poked my belly so much that if a baby is still in there I probably didn't do it any good can you hurt a fetus from too much poking??

You guys are further along than me...when did you feel around and be like, yup that's my ute!

i might also be too chubby so everything feels soft? Idk and think I might need to step away from the bmb for a couple of weeks because it's causing me so much comparison anxiety...

Your ute should be softer most of the time. I can only tell where mine is (16+4 or 6)when I have a Braxton hicks contraction and it tightens up. With my first I was oblivious to my ute until after 20ish weeks when the midwife pointed it out for me. Take a break if you need one from the BMB, but know that you're completely normal for where you're at and that you can't hurt your baby by poking around trying to find it.

mrsmarygs · April 2017

@BigBadWolf12 The uterus feels like flexed abs even though you're not flexing. Also, and I know this might sound weird, but I can feel from the inside when I'm poking. Just like your skin has nerves, your organs do to. Which makes sense, I just never really thought about it until a few years ago when I had mono, my spleen was swollen and I could feel it hitting my ribs. But my uterus is just a little more tender than my intestines.

wyomama0427 · April 2017

@Becky012016 I had a BH this morning when I was laying on my back, it was so weird. I never had them this early with DS, only in the last few weeks! But I felt the whole thing tighten up and then I pushed on it and sure enough the whole ute was tight! Crazy.

Swazzle · April 2017

(Not sure if this is considered TMI so apologies if it is.....)

After sex the other day I was like HOLY CRAP WHY IS THERE SO MUCH HARD IN MY BELLY NOW. So, maybe this is what I was feeling?

wyomama0427 · April 2017

@Swazzle uterine contractions are totally normal when you have an orgasm!

Swazzle · April 2017

@wyomama0427 During the first tri I definitely felt crampy after sex which I read/was told was normal but then that stopped a few weeks ago and this hardness has just suddenly (to me) popped up so it was really weird for me! I made DH feel it and he was like "maybe it's the baby" LOL The changes in my body over these months never cease to amaze me.

wyomama0427 · April 2017

@Swazzle my doctor told me that the cramping is normal too and sometimes the cramps/contractions after sex feel like period cramps! I'm sure the change is because your uterus is higher up and you can actually feel when it contracts now

pregnancy is such a wonderful STRANGE thing! Wait till the third tri when you're trying to get it on and baby shoves a foot out or kicks you or your SO lol total buzzkill lol

OmSweetOm · April 2017

I have a bicornuate (heart shaped) uterus and it's SO weird when I feel around because it's literally only one "half" is up near my belly button and the other side is not even detectable by touch.. well, by me anyway. I never really felt around for anything with my son and although my belly was moderately lopsided with him I didn't really take notice til much later on and actually always attributed it to his positioning.... now I know! Can't wait til babe is bigger and I don't feel so asymmetrical! Lol

msashley2010-2 · April 2017

Mine is about an inch below my belly button. At 18+3 I think that's pretty close to where it should be. I'm just so excited I'm catching kicks now and then but so far SO has not been able to feel them yet.

BigBadWolf12 · April 2017

@becky012016 thanks, that reassures me a lot

JNR6510 · April 2017

@OmSweetOm Yay for a fellow bicornuate uterus bumpie! It definitely is a bit weird seeing how Laurel is shifted all to the right side. Although it seems like it makes it easier to feel her move / kick since she is basically inhabiting only half a uterus.

@BigBadWolf12 I'm sorry you are having a rough time. Definitely take a break away from TB if you need to.

cmar1006 · April 2017

I don't know where mine is or should be. Trying to find out this kind of information with twins is next to impossible because every twin/multiple pregnancy is different.

BigBadWolf12 · April 2017

I went to the midwife drop-in time today and asked for literally any confirmation that things are still going ok (I've had a rough week, but won't rehash)..I gave several options lol...heartbeat check, u/s, or fundal height check were my suggestions. I figured she'd do a fundal height check since she's already told me several times no to heartbeat until 24+ weeks and no to extra u/s beyond the a/s. She said they "can't" do fundal height checks until after 20 weeks because you can't feel anything yet". I said, "oh, that's surprising to me, because they do them in Canada after 14" but I so badly wanted to say I HAVE INTERNET FRIENDS WHO ARE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS DOING FUNDAL HEIGHT CHECKS IN THEIR BEDROOMS lol. (despite the weirdness, there was good news though, she gave me an u/s, which is even better!)

lovesclimbing · April 2017

BigBadWolf12 said:

I went to the midwife drop-in time today and asked for literally any confirmation that things are still going ok (I've had a rough week, but won't rehash)..I gave several options lol...heartbeat check, u/s, or fundal height check were my suggestions. I figured she'd do a fundal height check since she's already told me several times no to heartbeat until 24+ weeks and no to extra u/s beyond the a/s. She said they "can't" do fundal height checks until after 20 weeks because you can't feel anything yet". I said, "oh, that's surprising to me, because they do them in Canada after 14" but I so badly wanted to say I HAVE INTERNET FRIENDS WHO ARE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS DOING FUNDAL HEIGHT CHECKS IN THEIR BEDROOMS lol. (despite the weirdness, there was good news though, she gave me an u/s, which is even better!)

*lurker from June*

This seems like a very sketchy practice to me. I've never heard of waiting so long to measure and listen for the heartbeat. My midwife listened to the heartbeat at my very first appointment around 10 weeks (although she told me not to be concerned if she couldn't find it because sometimes it can't be detected that early with a Doppler). She also felt for my uterus to measure the fundal height at that appointment, even though she said she probably wouldn't be able to feel it (and she ultimately wasn't able to) because it was probably still down in my pelvis.

ETA: Seriously, what do they even DO at your appointments if they don't measure the fundus and listen to the heartbeat?!

wyomama0427 · April 2017

@lovesclimbing if I remember correctly BigBadWolf lives in Europe. I think. Don't quote me on that.. not sure if they do things differently there tho. Also your eta seems a little snarky, I'm sure that wasn't your intention, but I'm just warning you that's how it seems

BigBadWolf12 · April 2017

@lovesclimbing yes, @wyomama0427 is correct. I'm in Europe and when I was freaking out to a friend on here about the lack of first tri care here, she sent me a study showing that this country actually has fewer pregnancy complications and birth complications than Canada and the states per capita. So I'm trying to keep that in mind...they must be doing something right...

in terms of what they do, the answer is they don't...at least not in first tri. The schedule is:
- dating scan (maybe)
- first appointment which is bloodwork, hemoglobin and blood sugar, and a huge questionnaire on thoughts on alcohol, drugs, domestic violence, and family history.
- a/s at 17-20 weeks
- once a month until the last 4-6 weeks when it becomes every other week. By the time of regular appointments starting they do fundal height checks and heart rate checks. Just not until after the a/s so they literally just don't have first tri or early second tri baby checks....

Unless you do genetic testing or have had 3 consecutive miscarriages or are otherwise high risk) then there's absolutely nothing between 8/9 weeks and a/s

JNR6510 · April 2017

lovesclimbing said:

BigBadWolf12 said:

I went to the midwife drop-in time today and asked for literally any confirmation that things are still going ok (I've had a rough week, but won't rehash)..I gave several options lol...heartbeat check, u/s, or fundal height check were my suggestions. I figured she'd do a fundal height check since she's already told me several times no to heartbeat until 24+ weeks and no to extra u/s beyond the a/s. She said they "can't" do fundal height checks until after 20 weeks because you can't feel anything yet". I said, "oh, that's surprising to me, because they do them in Canada after 14" but I so badly wanted to say I HAVE INTERNET FRIENDS WHO ARE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS DOING FUNDAL HEIGHT CHECKS IN THEIR BEDROOMS lol. (despite the weirdness, there was good news though, she gave me an u/s, which is even better!)

*lurker from June*

This seems like a very sketchy practice to me. I've never heard of waiting so long to measure and listen for the heartbeat. My midwife listened to the heartbeat at my very first appointment around 10 weeks (although she told me not to be concerned if she couldn't find it because sometimes it can't be detected that early with a Doppler). She also felt for my uterus to measure the fundal height at that appointment, even though she said she probably wouldn't be able to feel it (and she ultimately wasn't able to) because it was probably still down in my pelvis.

ETA: Seriously, what do they even DO at your appointments if they don't measure the fundus and listen to the heartbeat?!

My doctors office also does this. They wouldn't check for a heartbeat until after 16 weeks and I had to beg for them to do it then. They normally don't check either until 20 weeks. Appointments for me are basically pee in a cup and the OB or MFM comes in to ask if I have any questions. It really feels pointless.

Sugargirl1019 · April 2017

Guys

I was laying in bed this morning and feeling my stomach.. the fundus definitely is up in line with the bottom of my belly button, and it's SO hard!!

new mom feelings..

daisy62103 · April 2017

fundal fun - i haven't felt for my fundus myself, but my dr did yesterday and it's a whopping 25 weeks! Ahh!!

wineren · April 2017

I got this from an e-book I checked out from the library... Probably copywrited but I took a screenshot for reference. It shows about the level of the uterus expected as you go.

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5020794/uploads/editor/ln/fuesa3pbh339.png

cmar1006 · April 2017

@daisy621-2 that's amazing! My OB hasn't measured me yet, but I'm sure it would be something like that.

daisy62103 · April 2017

@cmar1006 Yeah, my OB first measured me at just before 15 weeks and i was measuring 19 then, so about 4 weeks "ahead," and now i'm 6 wks "ahead." It's a little nerve wracking!!

cmar1006 · April 2017

@daisy621-2 so exciting that those babes are growing!!!! I was comparing pics from this pregnancy with DD and it's starting to become noticeable the difference in my size each week.

cmar1006 · April 2017

I'm so excited I can compare now!!! I am 15+3 and OB measured my fundal height today and said it's "right below the belly button." So after looking at the chart it looks like I'm measuring right around 20 weeks!

angeladowns1 · April 2017

At 17 weeks I'm pretty sure mine is right at the bottom of my belly button.

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