Can you tell the direction your baby is lying?

[GingerbreadPudding]

I feel big, hard bumps to the left and right of my belly (34weeks) nothing low down. I assume this means she's a transverse lie at the moment? Can you feel which way your little one is lying?

As a clueless FTM, I would say that sounds right!
I'm 26 weeks, have been feeling a hard lump on one side, level with my belly button, and my midwife said that as my kicks are low down, it's probably her head and she's oblique.

Yes but it's difficult to tell which hard lump is the head and which one is the bottom.
DD1 was discovered to be breach quite late on as two very experienced midwives weren't sure which way around she was.

I wouldn't be concerned until 36 weeks perhaps.

The website Spinning Babies has useful tips on how to work it out, and how to encourage optimal positioning.

I know where everything is but I don't know the technical terms. His head is engaged and his bum and back are across the middle and his little bastard feet are right up under my ribs on the right hand side.

I'm 33 weeks and if I was to feel how he was laid I would guess transverse. I can feel 'bits' to both the left and the right but nothing in the low pelvis region.

Luckily (?!) I have to have additional growth scabs due to gestation diabetes so I know from those that he is actually laid head down, with his back on the maternal left and his feet under my ribs. Midwives check for his head everytime I visit (which is now almost thrice weekly!) and have told me it is "well down" and I have yet to feel anything remotely head like in that region! I asked the midwife and she laughed and said she had spent 3 years learning how to do this before qualifying

Obviously every baby is different but I just wanted to say don't panic if you're not sure how they are laid. It could just be my incompetent untrained hands but currently I can't tell bum from arm and Ive got a diagram showing me where they are

Growth scabs obviously I meant SCANS

I have to echo what Tiggy said. At 31 weeks my baby was breech, i then felt some shuffling around and was convinced that baby was transverse as I couldn't feel anything down low-just all across the middle. Turns out the baby is in fact head down, and the big hard lump under my belly button is the bum.

Without the midwife I wouldn't have a clue what was what!

I'm sure my little one is back to back. All movements are at the front, none at the sides. It feels like I have an octopus in there!