How can I tell how the baby is positioned?

[Viola]

I've been trying to figure out how the baby is lying, but I can't. Some friends were feeling my tummy today, and they both agreed that the baby's head is on the upper right of my abdomen. I was dismayed to find that out since I've been doing my best to encourage the baby to put her head down. But then tonight I leaned back in the chair and felt a definite round, hard shape in the upper right that seems like it could be a head. Plus at one point the doctor told me what I was feeling was the baby's knees, and that was just below the navel on the left, which would make sense. Yet I have been feeling a lot of pressure down below lately, and was kind of hoping that was the head. I guess I'll go check out those links about position again. Anyone else have problems telling how their baby is positioned?

[StarMama]

I'm clueless and have never been able to figure out where Orion is lying (but since they do u/s's at all the NST's I get to see him headdown twice a week), but I've heard that the way to figure out 'butt' from 'head' is to see if you can wiggle the hard roundness a little bit. A butt won't "wiggle" and a head will. Again I've only heard this said from others, never got it to work on myself...

[Eman'smom]

Let me see how I can explain it, and see if it makes sense.

Try to feel for two big round spot, think the size of the head/but, you are due right after me and the best guess is about the size of a grapefruit for the head.

Ok so you have your two round spots, now wiggle one, if it's the butt, the back will move too, if its the head the rest of the body shouldn't move.

I can't do this myself however dh can do it.

[its_our_family]

I agree with the head will move butt won't.....

If youa re curious about face up face down that is pretty easy. If you can find a butt thats good. Aith Tracy I could only ever see feet and hands and he was definetely face up.

Good luck getting your little one to turn!

[Viola]

People have told me about that wiggling method, but it just all feels the same to me. I just feel my big old stomach. Maybe I am just too fat? I really don't know. It doesn't seem like anything wiggles, but my friend was wiggling the head and she said that it was definitely the head and she could feel the neck. The other mom agreed. I guess I just need to feel around a lot more and practice.

So should I go lie on my ironing board slanted up now? I've been lying with my butt up in the air quite a lot, but that hasn't seemed to do anything. Maybe I'll go in the pool today and visualize her turning.

[Shanghaimum]

Amy,

I have been having the same problem... my doctor actually made me go for an xray yesterday to confirm the head is down...fortunately the head is down (thank god)!

My mum who is a doctor said that the head feels much harder - the bum is 'squishier'.

good luck,

Emma (38 weeks)

[Wooby]

Here are a couple of great websites that talk about optimal positioning (babe would be head down and anterior) and give fantastic tips on how to achieve it.

http://www.spinningbabies.com/Pages/Page3.html
http://www.artofbirthing.com/id276.htm

Worked for me! My homebirth last week was 4hrs with only the last 1.5 hours being a bit intense! Good luck!

[Viola]

I've been trying to lie in the ways suggested on the spinning website, but part of the problem is that I can't tell where the baby's back is, so I'm not sure when to lean over and when to sleep at a right angle. I end up moving during sleep anyway. When I wake up in the morning, the baby seems to be on the side on which I'm not lying. Sometimes I think that it is the back that I'm feeling.

I've also been doing pelvic rocks and doing knee to chest positions where I'm either squatting and my knees come up, or where I'm lying on the bed on my knees which are spread apart, and my butt is up in the air. I'm not exactly sure what is meant by knee to chest position because it seems like you can achieve it in several different ways.

I'll keep trying it all. Tonight I felt hiccups in the upper right hand side, but nothing towards the bottom. I just thought from the pelvic and lower back pressure I've had lately, that the baby's head was down and posterior. Most of the things I feel are either bumps or hiccups--I can't distinguish things like hands or feet moving, although sometimes I think I am feeling knees and maybe that is really another part.