33 weeks - "at the spines"

[loeylo]

I'm 33+1 and had my midwife today. Baby has been feeling really low and I have had a bit of pain (okay quite a bit of pain!) when walking etc - I really did feel like a wimp! I have also had painful Braxton Hicks contractions.

I looked at my notes and apparently my baby is at the spines! My midwife didn't mention it, but "routinely" told me to call triage if I have any fluid or pain it a change in movement. I was also really anxious at this appointment as I have been in hospital twice due to increased pulse, which has been chalked down to anxiety.

From what I'm reading online this means the baby is fully engaged and just has to start moving down the birth canal?!? Is this correct? If so, is this normal at 33w for a ftm?

She is already on the larger side for her gestation, though not particularly large - a few centiles above 50th - however myself and my oh are both short and slim framed so we would expect a baby below the 50th. I don't know if that makes a difference?

 

[BabyJayne]

Babies, especially for ftm, can be engaged for weeks. It just means babe is in position for birth, it's good news! I've never heard of it being called at the spines though - but from what I can gather I think that means the head is at zero station. Another way to say it would be at the brim. I think this means it hasn't started to engage, but it is in the right position. When engaged they usually say it in fifths, so 1\5, 2\5 engaged etc. If your baby is at zero station, it has 5\5 to work down to be fully engaged.

 

[Eleanor ace]

Don't panic, 1st LO's are often engaged for weeks before labour. My DS was engaged (3/5ths) for ages, and a biggish baby (97th centile I think) but he didn't come until 42 weeks, my MW reassured me that even if LO is on the larger size it doesn't mean they will put in an early appearance. Hopefully your LO won't keep you waiting quite so long though lol

 

[MrsHopeful]

My first was also2/5 engaged for weeks.....

 

[loeylo]

Thanks ladies! I still have 7 weeks to go so I'm not bothered about waiting a few more weeks!

From what I gathered, the spines are little bony protrusions from your pelvis and my baby has her head at them. Though I thought this meant she was engaged rather than that she still had to move down? I thought that only happened as I went I to labour? I'm so confused!

 

[BabyJayne]

No hun, at least I don't think so. The pelvis is split into ten little sections. These are -5 to 0 and 0 to +5. At the spines I think is 0. So baby still has all 5 engaged sections to go through. First babies engage earlier and can be +2, +3 even fully engaged (5\5) for a while. Second babies can be free until birth. Baby is fully engaged at 5\5, with head at the bottom of the pelvis and right at the cervix. If anyone knows better maybe they can help, but this is how I understand it.

 

[BabyJayne]

https://s948.photobucket.com/user/cdb333/media/BabyCenter/station.jpg.html

This might help - at the spines is 0.

If PIC won't show google pelvic station chart and look at the third pic on Google images.