I am 30weeks along but how does he lay?

Question

Some things i read he is upside down..(head face down) and some things i read he is still right side up..is there any kind of clarification? Plus, i have felt him on my left side..way on my left side, almost to my back..THANKS!!

Answer 1

Some babies adopt a head down position (called vertex) by that time in pregnancy, some do not until much later. Some babies have even turned vertex from breech (butt down) in labor (wish I'd known that before I had a scheduled c/s w/ my daughter for her being breech). Babies roll around in utero A LOT! Sometimes they might have a favorite side and hang out over there. Who knows why. I think the average time a baby turns vertex is around 32 weeks.

To my knowledge, the favored position for the easiest vaginal birth is vertex and anterior (facing your spine). If the baby is posterior (back facing yours) it can make labor and birth more difficult, but it's still entirely possible to encourage baby to change from an unfavorable position to a favorable postion while in labor.

I used to have a link for a site that gave thourough and great info on baby positioning and how you can encourage the most favorable postion for birth as well as detect your baby's position yourself. I can't find it now, but you can maybe post a question about this on Mothering.com's pregnancy boards. I'm sure someone there has the link.

In general, if your baby is facing out (posterior), you will usually be able to feel lots of little bumps that are his knees, elbows, etc. If he is facing in you should be able to feel his back. If he is head down, you should feel kicks on the top of your uterus. Sometimes a head down baby can punch down on the bottom of your uterus, making things a little confusing. It's also possible for babies to lay sideways (transverse) especially when they are smaller or if you've had many babies.

If you have a home doppler, you could check the postion of the heart beat or you could note where the doctor hears the hb when using the doppler. If you get a good, loud hb down low, it's more likely your baby is vertex (and anterior). If it sounds louder and clearer up high, he may be still breech. If the hb is hard to hear at all, he is most likely posterior.

Answer 2

I just had my 30 week check-up on Tues- and the doctor was able to feel that the head was facing down. That doesn't mean it's gonna be the same for everyone, but I know that the doctor was glad when he felt that he was in that position. I have a friend who's around 36 weeks right now, and her baby is not head down yet and this has her doctor a little bit concerned.