how do u know if the baby has flipped???

[mirpmama]

i didnt know she was breech, i knew she felt different from ds, but i did not know she was breech, so how would i know if she flipped - i am afraid if i get her to flip and dont realize it and keep doing things to try to get her to flip then she will flip back up to breech.....maybe a silly worry but oh well............

[maya's mommy]

I could tell when the baby was moving. it felt different than other movements. There was also a time when the baby was tranverse and just by looking at me it was clear the baby was in an "odd" postion. I had no idea that the baby was head down when we had an ultrasound done last Monday, but I haven't felt the same kind of movement since so I am hoping that the baby will stay head down.
so that is my very limited experience.

[Lolafanana]

I have the same concern, martinshockeymom!!!

I just learned on monday that baby girl fliiped to a breech position at 38weeks and have been doing all sorts of things since to try to get her to flip. I just got back from acupuncture and i THINK she may have flipped (felt strange movement) but won't know for sure until i go back to the doc on monday, so do i continue with the home exercises and practices i've been doing or should i stop? if she has flipped to a head down, i don't want her to flip back by doing all these exercises. I totally empathize with you!!!!!

for me, her foot was (or maybe still is) sitting in my vagina so i would be left with these AWFUL sharp shooting pains in my vagina and through my stomach. I haven't felt those pains in a day or so, so hopefully, she has flipped. It's so hard to tell- positive thinking, music and love will hopefully turn her on her own. I am definately not into having my doc do a manual version, i'll let her flip on her own.

I hope she turns for you! Keep us posted!

[orangecanoe]

This babe was breech around 36/37 weeks and flipped back just before 37 weeks. I had taken pulsatilla for two days and had been doing some of the knee/chest exercises and then just had a sense that the babe had turned transverse.

When the head was up, there was just one hard lump at the top and during movement it felt distinctly like a head butt to the ribs. When the babe flipped transverse it felt like the babe was totally across the top of my belly and I didn't notice as many kicks down low.

Now that the babe has settled head down there are more smaller parts up top...one being the butt and I think the others are from time to time side of hip/thigh/knee. I think the easiest way for me to tell was to poke about a little bit when the babe was moving. The upper movements have more of a popcorn popping quality (though I suppose that depends on the activity level of the particluar babe!).

As soon as I got the sense that this babe had flipped out of breech, I did stop doing any of the turning exercises----not because it was recommended, but just intuition. I did, however, start focusing on posture --especially while sitting --leaning forward, sitting on birth ball, etc.

After discussing the ECV with the mw before I knew that the babe was back head down, I was also leaning against not doing it for the lower success rate and potential complications. I think I only might have opted for it if the babe was more transverse and had less way to go to flip to vertex.

[MAMom]

Here is a link to an article for a technique called Belly Mapping

You may also be able to tell from your baby's movements (kicks high instead of low, feeling hickups down instead of up)

On a side note, you may want to consider having an ultrasound if your practitioner still thinks baby is breech before scheduling a c-section....just in case they are wrong and baby is head down!