37 weeks and head not engaged- will the baby be late?

[hmmmum]

Hi everyone this is my first baby and his/her head is not engaged yet and I am 37 weeks pregnant. Do you think this means that the baby will arrive late?
Did anyone else expecting their first not see the baby's head engage until quite late on?
Also they say that your baby should be moving a lot less now as they'll have less room, but my baby is moving a lot - it's like she's doing somersaults in there or something. I don't know what that means apart from that she seems to have lots of space/ be having quite a good time in there.. I'm like, "that's very nice, but let's get you all set to pop out in 3 weeks".
I suppose like every expectant mum I am keen for the baby to arrive on time(ish) if possible..... I guess I am considered to be "full term" now but 3-5 weeks seems a loooong time away.

[juneau]

She may be moving a lot simply because she still can with her head not engaged. Most babies have settled head-down by that point so they are more limited in the movements they can make. As for the first part of your question - don't know - but I remember reading somewhere that first babies usually engage earlier than subsequent ones. Second and later babies often don't engage until labour begins.

[BPrincess]

I read the other day that some babies don't engage until labour begins, so I wouldn't worry. What does your midwife say?

I'm 36 weeks now and don't think my baby's head has engaged either, and she's still moving around a fair bit.

Good luck with it all.

[hmmmum]

Thanks :) Yeah my MW didn't seem too concerned about it. I guess I'm just eager for things to get moving along.
Good luck to you too!

[CBear6]

DS (my first) didn't engage until I was 6cm dilated and well into established labour. Everyone I knew was telling me I'd go overdue because he wasn't engaged but I went into labour at 39+5 and delivered exactly on my due date.

[doireallywant3]

with dd1 the head didn;t engage until the very end and I was 10 dys late. am now 38+3 with dc2 and head not engaged and lots of movement too. not expecting head to drop until the end again and quite frankly, will be glad of the extra time to myself if the baby is late! (I've only just finished working and am dying to have a good 3 weeks to myself before the new arrival and while dd1 is in nursery).
good luck with it all though.

[cowboylover]

Nice to see your story CBear6 That really amakes me feel better!

I am 38 weeks and head still totally free, MW told me not to be concerned as this can happen and will then engage in labour but still feels different when 'everyone' elses seams to have already but not so obviously

[Kerri1983]

My DS was engaged from quite early on and I went 12 days over with him, therefore I am guessing that it didn'y make much difference in my case whether he was engaged or not :) x

[MamaLaMoo]

No, my first wasn't engaged on Monday appt at midwife when 37 weeks with DD1, I was disappointed as I was sure the bump had dropped the day before. Baby popped out following Saturday at 38 weeks on the dot, her chin was tilted upwards meaning she didn't fully engage until half way through labour, then shot out!