# When could you first feel your baby by palpating externally?



## 13thMonkey (Sep 30, 2004)

Hi,
I was in another discussion here and I was saying that I would be too early yet (at 18 weeks) to tell anything conclusive by palpating. When I said that, I thought palpating meant that a midwife or doc can find the baby and maybe get it to move by feeling around externally. But someone said that she can palpate herself and she doesn't even know what she's feeling for. So, I am confused, does it not mean that you can feel the baby from the outside? If not, then what does it mean, that your abdomen feels a certain way, or what?
Thanks!


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## Ravenmoon (Mar 2, 2002)

I can feel my uterus which at 18 weeks would be below the belly button still.I can feel the area my babe is in and if i push around she kicks me.


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## 13thMonkey (Sep 30, 2004)

I feel what I think is my uterus, but no kicking. How hard should I be pushing?


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## pamamidwife (May 7, 2003)

At 18 weeks, it's not common to actually feel position of the baby or even to feel kicking. I remember being around 16 weeks and lying on my belly with my hands over my belly to feel movement.









Abdominal palpation is when the provider (usually a midwife) feels not only for placement and position of the uterus, but also starts feeling for position of baby.


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## Ravenmoon (Mar 2, 2002)

I don't push hard,just in.I can feel the shape of the baby in the mornings when i first wake up.It is always on my right side and by using my fingers i gently push in a bit and she will kick me back.The uterus is quite hard in the mornings especially and her body is about 6 inches in size or so.


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## 13thMonkey (Sep 30, 2004)

I tried it this morning. I can feel that my uterus is firm, but I can't feel a strong shape of anything specific, i.e., a fetus. My normal clothes size would be size Medium/8 Misses, which for my body is an average size, not my "thin" size-- so I already had a whole extra layer of body fat. Also I have never had a baby before. I don't know what it "normally" feels like from inside or from externally. Also I have not had an ultrasound to give me an idea where to start. Also, midwives say that your baby is well-cushioned by amniotic fluid, that the baby can still move around quite a bit until the end of the fifth month, and that the placenta could be in front. Couldn't all or some of this be interfering?

Ravenmoon mentioned that her baby is staying on one side all the time. Also, I noticed she has had kids before. Ravenmoon, I was wondering if maybe you are kind of thin normally and if maybe you had an ultrasound so that you had an idea where to look? Also if you remember, could you feel your baby by palpating this clearly this early in your first pregnancy?


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## Ravenmoon (Mar 2, 2002)

I have felt the uterus on my right side the whole pregnancy.Last pregnancy it was mostly my left side.My midwife thinks it has to do with me carrying my toddler all the time.I weigh 175 now at 5'5.So no i am not on the thin side.I carry my weight well so you would guess i weighed around 140 by looking at me.I can feel the baby at various times during the day which with my first i could distinguish the kicks by 19 weeks.My uterus in the morning is about an inch above my belly button and is very hard in relation to the top part of my belly and the baby is usually on the right side.


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## 13thMonkey (Sep 30, 2004)

Hmm. Okay now I just feel inadequate, because my extra weight also tends to distribute pretty evenly- so we probably have about the same amount of belly-fat so I can't use that as an excuse why I can't find anything.







Hmm. An inch above the belly button sounds more like me than an inch below it because my belly button has started to shrink just recently as through something were pushing it out. I've tried the stethoscope on all the parts that feel relatively more firm to see if I could hear that "watch ticking under a pillow" sound but no. Would help if I had a watch that ticked so I could stick it under a pillow, because I can't properly imagine how a ticking watch under a pillow ought to sound. I just keep thinking of a regular ticking watch instead.

A lot of people think I might be having a molar pregnancy, but I can't get medical care at the moment so I haven't been able to find out. To tell the truth it does feel pretty soft in parts. Molar pregnancies are supposedly softer. But I thought I felt movement a couple of times before, but now that I am actually trying I can't seem to find anyone in there or get him or her to kick me or even make those butterfly feelings that make me feel dizzy... If I could it would be a relief especially since I just found out that a molar pregnancy can cause cancer if you just leave it go on. I will just have to keep trying and waiting!


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## Ravenmoon (Mar 2, 2002)

Maybe try drinking some soda or eating some food and then lay down and start feeling around or lean forward while sitting and see if you can get some kicks.I always get movement after eating and drinking some caffeine.


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## Ravenmoon (Mar 2, 2002)

If you don't have money to go to an actual DR what about a clinic that helps those that are low income.Or maybe go to one of the ultrasound shops that are popping up around malls and such and are fairly cheap.It might be worth it just to find out.


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## Lisashepp (Feb 12, 2002)

Go and have yourself an orgasm, your uterus will be rock hard and slightly painful after orgasm and you will be able to feel your uterus easily. Well if it is your uterus that you are feeling. A tumor or fibroid would not act the same way.


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## 13thMonkey (Sep 30, 2004)

Raven- At lunch I'll find a soda and see what happens after that!

Lisa- That's got to be the most interesting advice I've gotten yet!


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## Moon Faerie (Aug 2, 2004)

Yup, I second the orgasm idea. My uterus contracts very hard for a good 2-3 minutes afterwards. It kinda makes it hard to breathe, more like "real" contractions, but then again I'm almost 30 weeks pregnant and ds just turned 1.


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## kavamamakava (Aug 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *13thMonkey*
Hi,
I was in another discussion here and I was saying that I would be too early yet (at 18 weeks) to tell anything conclusive by palpating. When I said that, I thought palpating meant that a midwife or doc can find the baby and maybe get it to move by feeling around externally. But someone said that she can palpate herself and she doesn't even know what she's feeling for. So, I am confused, does it not mean that you can feel the baby from the outside? If not, then what does it mean, that your abdomen feels a certain way, or what?
Thanks!

My baby camped out right at the top of my fundus a few weeks ago. I think I was around 21 weeks. We got to "hold" the baby. It was so fun. The kids were bragging about it for days.


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## aquarianmom (Oct 9, 2004)

Thank you ladies for describing how it all works. I can't wait to try it in the morning!


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## happymamajenni (Jun 2, 2004)

I'm jealous at all this baby feeling talk. I put my hands on my tummy to feel kicks and jabs, but more pressure is kind of painful and uncomfortable. I am not looking forward to the doctor feeling around for the baby, and it really hurts when she measures my uterus and presses hard on my pelvic bone.
OUCH!


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## wtchyhlr (Oct 15, 2002)

Well.. i'm 23 weeks, and I can't feel the baby by palpating myself. My midwife has said i'm difficult to palpate because i'm not a "sticker outer" (evidently thats a technical term














- i can however feel my uterus... and i third the orgasm suggesetion... cuz it gets ROCK hard, and is very easy to feel.
I was 5'4 and 170lbs when i got pregnant, and am up to 187 now, so i'm not any skinny thing, either.


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## Lousli (Nov 4, 2003)

I'm also 23 weeks, second baby, and cannot feel the baby by palpitating my uterus. I don't know if it is her position currently or not (I just tried it). I'm slim, at 117 pounds during my 23 week of pregnancy, 105 pounds pre-pregnancy weight. Oh, and I'm 5' tall. 13th Monkey, have you tried going to the finding your tribe area here or the practitioners database to see if there is someone here who would at least do an exam for you for free?


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## kavamamakava (Aug 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Lesleyluu*
I'm also 23 weeks, second baby, and cannot feel the baby by palpitating my uterus. I don't know if it is her position currently or not (I just tried it). I'm slim, at 117 pounds during my 23 week of pregnancy, 105 pounds pre-pregnancy weight. Oh, and I'm 5' tall. 13th Monkey, have you tried going to the finding your tribe area here or the practitioners database to see if there is someone here who would at least do an exam for you for free?

Well, today, when I was at my midwife appointment, we used a doppler to listen to the heartbeat and the baby was deep down there and definitely not in a place that we could palpate. I think that it depends on the baby's position at this point in pregnancy.


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## carlasher (Sep 20, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Lisashepp*
Go and have yourself an orgasm, your uterus will be rock hard and slightly painful after orgasm and you will be able to feel your uterus easily. Well if it is your uterus that you are feeling. A tumor or fibroid would not act the same way.

I recently started feeling kicking during a organsm. It is a wonderful feeling.


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