he's an odd (and maybe fun) question about feeling the baby inside of you

[Anonymous]

I can hold my menses and "go potty" for it.

I am so jealous of you! Totally serious. I always wished God, in all her wisdom, had given us this ability! I wish you could teach the rest of us how to do it.

[Anonymous]

Not only do I not believe your MIL, I think it's not recommended for lay people to start grabbing bell bulges and move them around in utero. Who knows what you are pulling on?

[Anonymous]

I agree completely with you MIL. I was stretched to the limit in my last tri. My son's foot was often in my ribs, it made for a very uncomfortable 3rd tri. I would gently push on the side and the top of my belly and he would switch position. It wouldn't last very long before his foot was back to where it started, but I was able to get him to move positions regularly. Now...actually grabbing the foot, No, you can't grab the foot through the uterus, but you can manipulate how he is positioned. Also, if I had not felt him move in a while, I would give the belly a little push and a shake and he would wake up from his slumber and let me know he was still doing okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not only do I not believe your MIL, I think it's not recommended for lay people to start grabbing bell bulges and move them around in utero. Who knows what you are pulling on?

Oh, relax. I think most women have a sense of what kind of contact is safe for their unborn baby. No one is suggesting a chiropractic adjustment for the fetus.

As for calling OP's MIL a liar, have you been pregnant? (If so, are you very overweight?) I think what she said is perfectly plausible, based on my own experience.

[Anonymous]

I posted this on expectant moms, too (truncated version) and got a few different replies. I responded there saying how interesting it is to see all of the very different responses, ranging from some people saying they absolutely were able to manipulate baby around and some people saying they thougth this sounded completely crazy. It's fascinating to me how differently we all experience our pregnancies.

I think it sounds like many of you were able to nudge baby around (though i have to agree that I'm not so sure she could actually grasp things in utero!). I don't at all agree that it's unsafe to give baby some nudges. I give little pokes to my belly all the time to try and get him or her to kick a certain spot. It hasn't worked yet, but it's nothing that seems dangerous, and my doctor is the one who told me that sometimes babies are responsive to this. Now, going in and digging around is not my thing, but I don't think that's what my MIL was really doing.

As for the person who complimented my relationship wth my MIL, thank you! I would have to give her the same compliment though -- it is a two way street. My sister has a MIL who is just plain old mean, and their relationship is as strained as mine with my MIL is easygoing. So I guess it all depends on how all parties behave, but my approach with my MIL has been to just enjoy her. We've had our own rough patches, but who doesn't? And it helps that she is a truly caring person and we both happen to think my DH is the most charming man on the planet, so we've got something pretty major in common, ha ha. After we had the disconnect (which was really no big deal) on natural childbirth, she was worried sick that she'd offended me by making fun of something that was important to me. I was not offended by this at all, but it was very nice that she made the effort to make sure of it. The more I get to know her, the more we learn how to interact and enjoy one another. I know I'm lucky in this sense!

[Anonymous]

I was only ever able to pick out one body part, her foot. As she got bigger, I could actually feel the outline of her toes. Now I couldn't see the toes, all you saw was a ripple across my stomach but when she stretched out, I could feel them. I mentioned it to my OB, who said it wasn't possible, but then, right on cue, she did her party trick for him and he felt it. I would sort of poke or nudge her and get her to move temporarily when she was all up in my ribs!

The whole thing is so amazing....isn't it!

[Anonymous]

Late in my pregnancy, there was one spot that my daughter was push against and a lump about the circumference of a silver dollar would show through my skin. It was right below my right rib and it was very obvious, even through a thin shirt. The lump itself didn't look like a foot or elbow, just a lump, but I always thought it was the back of her foot. She did it during one of my appointments when the OB was getting ready to do an in-office u/s. She guessed the same as me. We couldn't tell on the u/s because it was too close-up. I was afraid to push on it... that would have freaked me out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I can feel my ovulation.
People don't really believe me when I say I do.
I can hold my menses and "go potty" for it.
People don't really believe me on that one either.

I can't wait to get pregnant and move my baby around =]

I think most women can feel ovulation pain, and most women, if sitting can hold blood in their vagina and run to the bathroom. Dont think you are holding your menses, you are just feeling a bunch of pooled up blood.

the cramps are different than the actual ovulation.

the ovulation process causes cramps all over the uterine area.
this pain is different from the pain of the egg cell ripping out the ovaries and migrating to the tubes.

the menses are another thing.
I have plenty control over the muscles round my vagina.
If I'm home all comfortable (no underwear) cooking and I don't want my pj pants to get dirty I lock it in, finish what I'm doing and go to the bathroom.
I let it go, wash it all off and get my undies on.

[Anonymous]

I don't find this that hard to believe, but then she said that if DH (while in utero) had his foot somewhere she didn't like (such as in her rib cage) she was able to physically move his foot from the rib cage to somewhere more agreeable by grabbing his heel.

OMG! My MIL said the exact same thing to me. I would fear my husband would read your post and think it's me, but our baby is over 2 now and the rest of the family history is different. This bothered me my entire pregnancy because every time we talked she told me same freaky story - "he'd move and I could see his little foot imprint through my belly, when you baby does that, you just pick it up and move it." MOVE IT? I had no idea what was going on inside and I sure as hell wasn't going to move anything! I looked at her like she was insane. I asked my mom and girlfriends if it was true and they too thought it was weird. She told the story at my baby shower and most people there had already heard me tell them, so they just nodded and smiled (as they were previously instructed to do so!).

My MIL too is very sweet and most people would kill for her as a MIL, but that story was my only pet peeve during pregnancy. Now she is a wonderful grandmother who sticks to her one job in life - spoils her grandson with lots of love.

[JenD]

The ovulation thing, that's a real phenomena. It's called "Mittleshmertz" I think, it's a german term.

"Some women even experience “mittleshmertz” — a twinge or ache low in the abdomen and to one side, when they ovulate."
http://www.todaysparent.com/pregnancybirth/pregnancy/article.jsp?content=20040521_113439_3432&page=2

I get this. It feels like a sharp pin prick in one side of your abdomen. Basically where your ovary is.

[Anonymous]

JenD wrote:The ovulation thing, that's a real phenomena. It's called "Mittleshmertz" I think, it's a german term.

"Some women even experience “mittleshmertz” — a twinge or ache low in the abdomen and to one side, when they ovulate."
http://www.todaysparent.com/pregnancybirth/pregnancy/article.jsp?content=20040521_113439_3432&page=2

I get this. It feels like a sharp pin prick in one side of your abdomen. Basically where your ovary is.

Exactly!
It's like a little shock, like from statics... on the side where the ovulating ovary is.

You got me!

[Anonymous]

I could definitely feel where the head and butt were at various points in the pregnancy, and where an elbow or foot was (was never sure which was which, could just feel the pointiness!) And yes, I moved her around occasionally if she'd found some really uncomfortable position. A little gentle pressure, and voila.

Congrats on your baby and your MIL (ha)!

[Anonymous]

You definitely can move the baby around a little bit -- gently -- but by the last weeks there's no more room. This is something that can only happen up to the last few months. By month 8 and 9 there's jutst not a lit of wiggle room.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not only do I not believe your MIL, I think it's not recommended for lay people to start grabbing bell bulges and move them around in utero. Who knows what you are pulling on?

All pregnancies and people are different. I absolutely believe your mom. I just delivered baby #2 a few weeks ago and with both my DC I could tell exactly where the body parts were and the ultrasound confirmed it. I had 10lb babies and I am not a very large person, so by the end I could see feet when they poked way out and I could cup their little butts. My coworkers didn't believe me when I told them about my first pregnancy until they saw it happen with this last one.

Both my DD and DS would push their leg out and I could see the outline of the foot if I gently pushed down around the area and even gently grab it. I would "play" games with grabbing their feet and them pulling it away and then pushing it back out.

I completely believe her!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The only thing I could truly identify was the butt and the head.

I kept telling my OB my baby was breech and he insisted no, it was a butt in my rib cage. I said no, it is too hard, it is a head. I ended up having a c-section it was the head.

Gee, this one sounds familiar to me. I too kept feeling this big hard bulge in my rib cage. Felt strangely like a head, but doc said late in pregnancy that baby was in perfect position for delivery. Until I had my last ultrasound and the tech said, "Oh, did you know your baby is breech?" Um, no I did not!!! C-section here I come. I do have vivid memories though of sitting on the couch one night watching TV and my stomach rolled about like something from outer space. I actually screamed, I was so surprised and freaked out by it. Maybe that's the night he turned the wrong way and never went back.