Monster Inside
Oh man, I don’t know what baby Kate is doing in there today but I feel positively ill. I woke up feeling great, sat up with my computer, got some kicks to the ribs like usual. So I got up, puttered around, got some food, watched some TV. It was there on the rocking chair that I started feeling very… not good. Not contractions, definitely not contractions. At first I thought I had to go to the bathroom, but that didn’t work very well. I took the dog for a walk around the block in the hopes that would sort things out. Nope. Still feeling kind of like I need to go to the bathroom, but now my belly hurts on top of that, and my lower back is feeling achy.
So I drew a bath and layed in it for a while – that felt a little better. While laying there I started feeling around my belly. That’s when I noticed she was entirely below my belly button, no legs up high like they have been. Plus I felt a hard spot across, culminating in something – a foot? a knee? – on my right side. Lots of firmness below the belly button – and very uncomfortable when I press on things, as if I’m pressing on body parts that are in turn pressing on my internal organs. Like my bladder. And my bowel. And every so often I’d feel a stab in one of those internal organs. I’m also getting random punches/kicks to the cervix. All I could think was, girl, WTF are you doing?! It almost felt like she’d turned transverse again, wedged sideways and squished up against everything down low. Not impressed, not impressed at all.
I’m laying down and she apparently has flipped back over to face outwards and I’m getting kicks on my right side, so she’s probably not transverse – but everything still aches bad down below. I’m wondering if it’s a combination of her position and me still needing to go to the bathroom. Or maybe she’s dropped. Or maybe it’s just one of those days. Whatever it is, it hurts. I’m back in bed and thinking I’m going to stay here for a while.
Later: Well I really don’t know where she is now. I just felt hiccups for the first time from her, and it was on my upper right. And after all that pressure earlier today, it very well could have been her flipping to breech. But I’m still feeling her limbs (whichever they are) pushing into my ribs and kicking out all over on my right side, just like normal. I don’t get any big kicks down low. Sooo… I’m confused. I have an appointment with my midwife on Tuesday so I’ll ask her what she thinks. Not that I’m concerned about her position for birth, it’s still very early, but I like to know where she is!
I’ve given up on trying to figure out where baby bear is. I drove down to my mothers house recently and had a large body part…dunno what? pushing up into my ribs. and every time i lean forward he stretches out like “um HI!? this is my space lady, not yours.”
I soooo remember those days. Evie was trying to rearrange her ‘home’ some days.
hi natalie! ive been following your blog for a while and can relate to that feeling. im 29 weeks tomorrow with my first baby girl and yesterday she was definitely in an odd position that was causing me all kinds of discomfort! i found a hot water bottle/wheat pack helped a little bit. feeling all those kicks is the most awesome thing tho, even if a little uncomfortable at times!
Baby Kate sounds like my little monster when you talk about her movements. My DS turned breech at 35 weeks and it was so uncomfortable while he was moving. It took him ages to flip and at times was excruciating. It feels like your organs have been re-arranged!
One thing that helped me when Austin would do this was to get down on hands and knees and do pelvic rocking – arch your back up like a cat’s and tuck your bum under then return to the starting postion of a flat back and pelvis, and do this several times. Gravity and the pelvic rocking kind of dislodge the little beastie and let you get some breathing room. I can remember having to do this in the middle of the night sometimes, and I think once a coworker caught me doing it on my office floor.
I was always trying to guess what body part was what and amazed at the midwives’ abilities to distinguish and tell me exactly what position the baby was in. Good luck with your appointment and I hope baby Kate settles just enough to stop upsetting your digestion!