how to tell when baby has engaged?

[readytobedone]

i think i'm dropping some, but is there any way for me to tell baby has engaged or if she's in the pelvis at all yet? at my 36 week internal the doctor said she wasn't in there yet, and i've been getting chiro adjustments to move her down (my pelvis was asymmetrical). i suppose i could check my cervix?...if i knew how to do that

but is there any other way to tell? i don't want to have to get an internal at the OB just to find out this info. but i really want to know if the adjustments are doing anything. any tips?

sorry if this is a stupid question.

[AbbieB]

Not a stupid question!

I couldn't reach so I had to have my husband help. Basically when you press up by your cervix you can feel the hard head. If it's still floating you will be able to push it back a bit and then feel it move back down. If baby is engaged the head will not move around and it will feel like it's right on your cervix.

This is my understanding, anyone else need to correct me?

FYI, my DD never was engaged. But she was born at home no problems (just a bit of a long labor, she needed to get her hand out from under her chin - we think - and then things moved along pretty quickly.)

[SwissMama]

Abbie, i think you are mostly right, but I have something a little different. My midwife told me she could feel the head and as she pushed, it pushed back (i.e. it wasn't floating) but she also said it wasn't completely engaged either. So maybe that just means its "halfway" engaged and not completely at the "engaged" station. (im not really sure - i'm 38 weeks so I'm trying to figure this one out myself)

Can babys become UNengaged, I wonder?

A lot of people say you will pee more or have less heartburn, but I never saw any of those changes with either baby. in fact, with the last baby (who was fully engaged) my heartburn got worse and worse right up until transition. It was actually one of the worst parts about labour, and it was natural!

[Spark]

Just popped in to give a good link since you mentioned checking your own cervix.
http://www.joyousbirth.info/articles...xlearning.html

I trust your body is doing just what it needs to be.

[St. Margaret]

Hey, I just read that whole article, and it's by the head midwife at the health center I use!

We just tried checking mine last night, but I'm going to check again with teh tips learned here about the head's position, too...

[gibsonsmom]

quick tip about engagement

Just a trick I used around my due date with my first and will use again with my second. If you want to assist engagement start walking stairs. Not a stair master or exercise machine but a staircase. The motion helps to natural position the baby and pelvis/hips. With my first child I lived near an outdoor staircase with 77 steps. My husband and I would walk up and down them a few times a day on the advice of my neighbors who all had several children. My son was born naturally 1 day before his due date.

Good luck.

[gibsonsmom]

quick tip about engagement

Duplicate post, sorry

[UmmIbrahim]

Hey

well...my son "engaged" early...like 33 weeks or something like this...I could tell he was down becos I had alot more pressure on my pelvis (more so than before), I peed a bit less and I just felt "heavier" down in my pelvis...plus I started to have really bad lower back pain....and only a hot bath and tiger balm would help.

Umm Ibrahim