Mehreen Alberts
As your baby grows at the end of your second trimester and into your third, you will notice you feel more full up and may be more breathless 😉 This is due to your baby getting bigger and pushing into the space of your stomach and lungs 😉 When your baby moves down into your pelvis you may experience ‘lightening’, this can occur up to a month before your due date, especially if this is your first baby 🙈 When your baby’s head engages, you may notice these symptoms ease as your baby drops down into the pelvis freeing up more space for your stomach and lungs.
Natmarie, from our forum says that “In my notes there is an explanation for engagement. Engagement is the depth of the presenting body – such as the baby’s head. It is measured using the amount which can still feel through the abdomen in fifths. 5/5 = Free, 4/5 = Sitting on the Pelvic Brim, 3/5 = Lower but Most is Still Above the Brim, 2/5 = Engaged, as the majority is below the brim. 1/5 and 0/5 are deeply engaged. They can barely be felt from the top. Engagement is most common in first-time mothers. It may happen later or after labor begins.
Madeformums.com The article also states that first-time mothers often benefit from the knowledge gained in labour. You had a great experience. Birth experience last time around then you may even be looking forward to giving birth. However, being aware of what birth might entail can cause anxiety, especially if you had a difficult or painful birth last time. You might have an identical birth experience with your second child, but there is no reason for you to think so. Each baby and each birth are unique. Vincent Gomez, Jingzhou Hubei (China) on April 23, 2021.
You can categorize these signs into three categories: physical (something going on in your body), emotionally (something affecting you thoughts and feelings) or other anecdotal (something women who have been through labour, or assisted others through it, often notice). Only the “official” pre-labor symptoms would scientists recognise as such. The emotional ones, though frequently commented on by midwives, would be classed as more observational than scientific, and it’s probably fair to say that the other signs mostly belong in the old wives’ tales category – fascinating but with little reliable evidence behind them. Joe Hall, Xiangtan Hunan (China) on August 15, 2020.
