Back to back @ 34 weeks - how do I sleep on my stomach?

[kampakat]

I had my 34 week mw appt yesterday and was told that my so far totally trouble free pregnancy has hit a problem - I knew it couldn't last.
My baby is back to back, but head down (so at least he has that bit right!)
The mw advised me to crawl around on my hands and knees wiggling my arse in the air - to the amusement of my DH...and having researched a bit further there is also lots of advice to sleep on your stomach.
So, any ideas how I can possibly achieve that - I have many many pillows but no matter how I position myself I am not comfortable and the likelihood of sleep is fairly slim.
Also, if you have any good stories about how your baby turned or how easy your back to back birth was that would be lovely - horror stories need not apply, I have read lots of them and now I am a little bit scared!
Thanks!

hi there, if you look at the due in june ante natal group, on page 13 i think there is a good thing someone has put up about trying to get them into a good position for birth.

My yoga preg teacher recommends doing the hands and knees thing, but circling your hips around in a figure of 8, so you could try that (in both directions - takes a bit of concentration!)

Good luck, but you still have plenty of time for baby to turn. I think there's also a good website (spinning babies?) with lots of good advice on turning.

The spinning babies website is the most recommended one.

Plenty of women have babies who are back to back. Many of them turn, sometimes in labour, some don't. Many women report unproblematic births with them. Many people have babies in a perfect LOA position and have all sorts of issues during labour/delivery.

What I'm clumsily trying to say is that it's not necessarily a bad thing. I had a back to back baby and probably because I had an anterior placenta. She just liked to face the placenta. No amount of leaning forwards, kneeling, inversions etc worked. She was comfortable where she was. And now I know her, I understand why it wasn't worth trying to persuade her otherwise.

Please try not to worry too much about it.

Thank you all for your replies. After a day at work I am slightly saner now than I was after a night of no sleep...so am now trying to work out how I can be on all fours and MN at the same time as watching the Gilmore Girls

hi there, my baby turned back to back at around 34 weeks with the head engaged. i spent a lot of time on all fours. if you practice yoga, do cat and cow position and also swirl your hips while on hands and knees. also, try swimming as much as possible (front crawl is the best for turning the baby). i swam about 60 laps 4 times per week. make sure you always sit with your knees lower than your hips and leaning forward. in terms of sleeping, you must sleep on your left side only (this is a killer). i am over 40 weeks now and sleeping strictly on the left side has been the worst part. i did manage to turn the baby back to anterior after about 3 weeks or so, though... my yoga teacher suggested an osteopath, but i held off to save some money. otherwise, would probably try that... also, some reflexologists told me they know which pressure points to work with to make the baby turn. hope you manage naturally with exercise. i also read that many babies turn themselves before the birth. wishing you the best of luck!

I had a back to back baby last time. She turned in labour and shot out!

Try sleeping in the recovery position, with a slim pillow under your bump and another between your legs. That is as close as I can get to sleeping on my front.

Btw my baby only moved back to back at the last minute so you have plenty of time for him/her to move around. Birthing/exercise balls are supposed to help too I think.

I did the spinning babies thing at about 36wks and it worked. Bloody uncomfortable when he turned, though. (I actually thought I was in labour and got all unnecessary.)

I also remember being advised to sleep on one particular side (maybe the right but check that bit) as the best position for the baby to engage is down the side so it can then turn a little in labour? Sorry a bit vague on that bit.

I think the left is better than the right???

My first son was back to back but having no internet access I had no idea what that actually meant for us. The 5 minutes on my hands and knees a day didn't work

So with DS2 I never slouched on the sofa, always leant forwards, Car seat was bolt upright as far as I could bear, I slept on my stomach the whole way through. Position is sort of semi on your stomach really. I had one leg (my left) straight and my right leg at a right angle. The higher I had the right knee the better. You can put a pillow under this leg if you want to. I spent virtually no time on my back for the whole of ds2 pregnancy and he was successfully the right way round!

DS and DD were both back to back during labour but turned before popping out. They were absolutely fine (homebirths) - although DD did get stuck on an anterior lip. But experienced midwifes helped her turn just in time. DC3 is also back to back now (38 weeks). Tbh, I find that sleep is more important than the baby turning, so I do turn over when I wake up so alternate between left and right side. I am sitting upright and doing the all fours thing - but DS and DD seem to think that is an excuse to climb on me, so don't do it too long.

As for the more important question - you need to be on all fours alongside the tv, rather than looking straight at it. That way you can put your laptop in front of you but still see Gilmore Girls from the corner of your eye. The real problem is typing while on all fours, but I hear that is good for core stability.

My ds1 was back to back. He's nearly 22 now and there just wasn't the information available back then, so I delivered him that way. It wasn't the greatest! A long labour mainly felt in my back and a forceps delivery and he got stuck on the way out.

Dd (nearly 5) was also back to back but I managed to turn her!! I lived on my birthing ball and hands and knees for the last few weeks....... she only turned right at the end though and 40+4, and was born at 40+10.

You really do have a chance of turning right up until the end!! I don't know about sleeping on your tummy, as I never did, but I did surround myself with pillows to make sure I stayed on my left side.