Panicking Pregnancy question

[The Huwe Family]

I know I am panicking, but as a first time mother-to-be there are a lot of
things I don't know.

I am around 6 1/2 weeks away from the 34 week mark my doc wants me to reach
for possible delivery. Up until now, everything has been going very well.
But the last couple of days, coworkers have told me that the babies had
dropped. I chalked it up to what I was wearing at the moment, but after
talking to my husband, he agreed with them. I took a good long look in the
mirror, and sure enough, the beach ball I had under my ribs has turned into
a tear drop.

I was always under the impression that the babies drop right before you go
into labor. My doc has been keeping good watch on my cervix and told me
that if I went into preterm labor it wouldn't be because it was weakening.
I'm worried about what this means, and what is happening to my babies. (I
don't have another appointment until Wednesday)

What happens when the babies drop? Does my uterus just loose it's firmness?
(My stomach still feels hard as a rock). Does the placenta of the top baby
just move to a lower position? Does the placenta loosen and detach? I
don't feel the babies move constantly, never have so I couldn't tell if one
stopped.

I just need some reassurance please.

--
Thanks,
Gayle
(EDD 11/11/03 Triplet BBG)
/

[James W. West]

The expression "the babies have dropped" to me just means that one baby has
moved into the birth position, head down, in the space in your pelvis. This
usually leaves more room for the other babies to move around into a more
comfortable position. When I was having my twins, the firstborn twin
engaged at 24 weeks. She never moved from there. From 30 weeks on, I felt
like she was pressing hard on the cervix and I was quite uncomfortable,
feeling like the head was already on the way. I thought that I would be
sure to go into labour early because of this, but I lasted the full 40
weeks.
The placentas don't move once they are attached. They sometimes appear to
move because of the uterus stretching as the baby grows. It is also very
unlikely that the placenta would loosen and detatch, though this does happen
in very rare cases, but has nothing to do with babies "dropping".
Talk to your doc about your fears. Don't worry so much. If you are feeling
fine, the chances are that the babies are fine too.

Alison



"The Huwe Family" > wrote in message
.com...
> I know I am panicking, but as a first time mother-to-be there are a lot of
> things I don't know.
>
> I am around 6 1/2 weeks away from the 34 week mark my doc wants me to
reach
> for possible delivery. Up until now, everything has been going very well.
> But the last couple of days, coworkers have told me that the babies had
> dropped. I chalked it up to what I was wearing at the moment, but after
> talking to my husband, he agreed with them. I took a good long look in
the
> mirror, and sure enough, the beach ball I had under my ribs has turned
into
> a tear drop.
>
> I was always under the impression that the babies drop right before you go
> into labor. My doc has been keeping good watch on my cervix and told me
> that if I went into preterm labor it wouldn't be because it was weakening.
> I'm worried about what this means, and what is happening to my babies. (I
> don't have another appointment until Wednesday)
>
> What happens when the babies drop? Does my uterus just loose it's
firmness?
> (My stomach still feels hard as a rock). Does the placenta of the top
baby
> just move to a lower position? Does the placenta loosen and detach? I
> don't feel the babies move constantly, never have so I couldn't tell if
one
> stopped.
>
> I just need some reassurance please.
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Gayle
> (EDD 11/11/03 Triplet BBG)
> /
>
>

[C Straka]

I'll echo the other remarks. My singleton daughter "dropped" about 6 weeks
before she was born. It felt sort of like that ache after you landed on the
crossbar of your brother's bicycle.

Claudia