Baby's position

[nevernever]

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, and I apologize in advance if there is a better place for this.

How can you tell what position the baby is in? I'm 28 weeks right now. How far along is the baby able to make changes in position? I'm having a hard time telling what I'm feeling (elbow? hand? foot? whole body moving?) and I'm just curious if this is something you learn with experience?

Thanks in advance for any insight.

[alexisyael]

http://www.spinningbabies.com/BellyMapping.html

28 weeks may be a little early for some moms to be able to distinguish parts... but you can figure it out, it just takes practice (by which I mean, you just keep trying to figure it out!)

Oh, and at 28 weeks, your baby can move ALL around, usually. Things start to get crowded in there at different times for different babies, tho. With my pregnancy, it's only been in the last few weeks that I've noticed baby is starting to be crowded (I'm 38 weeks along). I have a pretty roomy uterus/ belly, tho... don't know why, since this is my first, but there you go.

[ice_chick]

Well, I am also 28 weeks & when I was at my MW appt. last week I asked her if we could tell the baby's position & she said it was really to early to tell by feeling & the baby still has enough room to move around (I do feel him flip occasionally) that even if you could tell the baby's position, it could change the next week. She said we could tell more after 32 weeks, but even some babies don't get head down until labor starts. Definitely, position is not something you need to worry about at 28 weeks because it can & probably will change.

[Max'sMama]

I think it can depend on your body and position itself of baby. With my first, I couldn't tell, additionally, I went to an OB who didn't get excited trying to show me what position baby was in, I had much better stomach muscles and I think for me that made it more difficult to determine position as well.
With this pregnancy, my second, my muscles aren't nearly as taught, and I can feel individual parts better;) my midwife is good at pointing out different parts and gets so excited with helping figure out position.

I can tell different parts by how they feel. The head to me is more 'sensitive' to me when I push on it. If I think I have the head, I push on it and can almost feel like I can push a circle with all five fingers around the head. The rump is more 'squishy' to me. Plus making a 'circle' around it is more difficult. The back is really easy, since it seems to go on forever, and is really soft and nicely curved.

Before my 26 week appt I would sit at night, when baby was most active, and just let it move under my hands, I felt like I got really good at detemining position. At the appt. I was right on (according to mw) with what parts I was feeling and what position baby was in. It was very cool to be able to feel things this time.