How to know if baby is engaged?

[chezababy]

I'm not sure if baby has started to engage today. I don't think I really felt it with dd as I only knew when the midwife said at my 36 week appointment. Today I've felt lots of pressure and some sharp pains behind my pubic bone and some sharp pains on my cervix. My bump doesn't seem to have changed shape but it is a very compact bump anyway.

 

[K8te]

I went to the midwife today and she say baby is starting to engage, his head is just at the top of my pelvis.

She said to expect a lot of pressure low down, even more so when walking and sometimes you can get sharp pains and some period type cramps.

X

 

[Spiffynoodles]

This might gross you out, but one way to know if baby is engaged is to feel use a finger and feel the inside of your vaginal wall (not your cervix). If baby is engaged, you'll feel a nice, hard, round head pushing against your vaginal wall, whereas if you're not engaged, it'll still feel kind of squishy.

 

[chezababy]

That sounds like what I've been getting K8te and it was definitely worse when walking my dd home from nursery.
Spiffynoodles - I'm not sure I'd have a clue what I was feeling up there at the moment it's so swollen.

 

[K8te]

That's exactly like me. When I'm walking to school and back I get shooting pains really low down, I usually have to walk slowly just so it doesn't hurt as much. Makes me want to bend over just to see if it eases.

X

 

[BethMaassen]

Baby had dropped for me about a week ago. Over this past week the pressure in my pelvic area has gotten more intense. I can feel it in my back and hips. It is really bad when I stand or walk. It has also been pretty painful to sit after being on my feet for a while... Like something punched my pelvic area. NOt sure that means baby has engaged, but dear goodness it is intense.

 

[MyFavSurprise]

I've also started having stabbing pains in my cervix, and my bump has gotten noticeably lower in the last week.. Plus lots of pressure in my bump as well as my pelvis, and my hips are killing me! I think it's my sciatic nerve, it shoots all the way down to my feet.