Question about movements for those who have/have had an anterior placenta

[sel2223]

Morning ladies,

I'm 25 weeks and was told I have an anterior placenta at my 20 week scan. I didn't feel anything at all till I was over 22 weeks and, even then, it was just tiny little flutters that I wasn't even sure was baby at first!

Anyway, they've been getting steadily stronger and more frequent over the last couple of weeks but I would still describe them as flutters/bubbles/waves rather than actual strong kicks if you know what I mean.

Then yesterday and today they've suddenly gone back to how they were when I first felt them.....really muffled/faint and a lot less frequent. I've tried a cold drink, sugar, moving around, a cup of coffee, lying on my side etc but it doesn't seem to make any difference....I can only feel something very faint when I lie still for ages and really concentrate and yesterday that was only twice in the whole day.

Anyway, my question is, is this normal when you have an anterior placenta? Is it just that baby has changed positions so harder to feel her? I'm a FTM so no idea what's normal or not and it's not like there's no movement at all, it's just the movements are a lot fainter and less often than they have been.

I feel fine and i know it's too early to have a pattern yet so I don't want to start bothering my midwife unnecessarily. I guess I'm just looking for reassurance about what's 'normal'.

I’m also a FTM and have an anterior placenta. I’m now almost 38 weeks so movements are very obvious. I also only felt movements from about 22 weeks and they were as you described. I definitely had ‘quieter’ days at around your gestation and on a couple of occasions got checked because I was anxious that something was wrong. Baby was obviously fine and midwife reassured that at this stage they still have lots of room, so if they change position it can really make a difference in what you may or may not feel. If your movements are still there but faint I would try not to worry too much as this happened to me a lot. Triage are great tho and always saw me if I was worried, so don’t hesitate to call if you are worried. From my experience of an anterior placenta, what you are experiencing sounds normal. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy

FTM here also, 38 weeks today with an anterior placenta.
I think the first time I felt any movement was around 22-23 weeks; with it being being sporadic most days. I went in twice with reduced movement between 25 and 30 weeks; both times baby was still quite active, I just couldn’t feel it. Any slight change in baby’s position would drastically change how much I could feel, some days it would be real noticeable kicks, other days nothing more than a slight churning feeling in my tummy. Didn’t help that my boy spent a lot of his time transverse so he was diagonal with limbs in random places!
Never worry about calling your midwife if you are concerned, but rest assured that what you’re feeling sounds totally normal (in my experience anyway).
With a head permanently on my cervix and a foot under my ribs, I’d take the quiet days back in a heartbeat! Lol

I'm nearly 23 weeks, FTM with anterior placenta.

Some days, like today, I feel her moving loads. Yesterday, not so much. I figure she's just moving positions in there.

I'm 28 weeks and its really only the last week I have really felt a lot of strong movements. I had a quiet morning yesterday which panicked me a bit, I spent a good few hours in the morning doing everything to get some movements. Finally managed with a can of fizzy juice and then the baby didn't stop all day! So I'm guessing the baby was just in a weird position at the time. I had my midwife appt today and she confirmed to always call if you are worried, they would much rather check. My baby is currently sitting with feet down so I'm getting lots of elbows and punches around the middle and my bladder is being stamped on, so reassuring though. It's such a nightmare having an anterior placenta. I'm a FTM too, would love to know how differently things would feel without placenta in the way.

I'm 24 weeks and also have an anterior placenta. My other 2 pregnancies weren't so I'm finding this quite strange. I felt the baby around 18 weeks which is later than the others and by this stage I was feeling proper kicks which I'm not feeling yet with this one. It's normally in the morning or evening when I've been lying down for a bit that I feel a movement. No where near as strong though. Hoping I do feel proper kicks at some point - it's definitely reassuring.

It might not help you but I have had an anterior placenta with four out of five of my successful pregnancies and I’ve never struggled with feeling movements personally. It took slightly longer to feel the stronger kicks (so I felt quite strong kicks with the posterior placenta from around 16 weeks whereas it probably took me till 22 weeks with the anteriors to feel kicks that strong) but that was it really.

Thank you to everyone who replied, it's been so helpful reading everyone's experiences and has put my mind at rest that this is (unfortunately) fairly common with an anterior placenta.
As long as I'm still feeling her move, I'm not going to panic or worry too much.
Thank you ladies!

Hi, I’m in a very similar position - a FTM and first felt movements properly at 23 weeks. Then got into a great routine of regularly feeling movement throughout the day. Strength of movement built as the weeks progressed (I’m now 27 weeks) which was really reassuring and my hubby and mum felt their first kicks through my bump. Then last week, I’ve had much gentler movements. They are still regular but not quite as many (I think the baby is moving just as much but I just can’t feel it!) After three days of lighter strength movements, I rang the Triage team and the midwife said that I was right to call but given my anterior placenta, it’s likely that everything’s ok and it’s just a change of baby position. She said that as long as I regularly feel the baby move then she’s happy but they were more than happy to see me if I still wasn’t happy later on.

Hi OP,

My first DD was anterior placenta and I would describe movements really similar to how you have. They did definitely get more obvious as time went on but they were defo 'muffled' by the placenta... I am 35 weeks pregnant with my 2nd and I have posterior placenta and felt movements really early on. I know with your 2nd you do feel them more etc but I felt movements from 13/14 weeks this time round and they were much stronger.

It is totally normal not to feel them as much and also totally normal to worry too- like you've said as long as you feel movement all is good 😊

Best of luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

Hi,

I'm also a ftm with an anterior placenta and turned 25 weeks yesterday. Have had movements since 19 weeks however the last few days they seem to have got quieter, yesterday I had a good few hours with no movements so tried the cold fizzy drink, had a bath as he usually kicks during my baths and had nothing was going to call midwife and then luckily felt a few kicks. He is quiet again today but he woke me up around 4am with strong kicks so thinking its more his position and the anterior placenta. I know its too early for a pattern yet but have downloaded the kicks count app so I can start to get an idea of how many sessions he has a day. Its definitely helpful to read other experiences

I'm also 25 weeks and have an anterior placenta, I'm really fortunately that I had movement since about 17 weeks and get strong kicks often, however it does also sometimes switch to what you're describing - suddenly changes back to flutters/ much lighter. I can't help but panic!
I ended up going in last weekend as didn't feel the baby for hours, everything was fine and a strong heartbeat so I'm guessing the baby had got into a position I couldn't feel as much.
Definitely call your midwife though if you are worried, I understand you don't want to bother them, but I'm sure they'd rather you call than be there really worrying.
As much as I love feeling kicks, I'm also finding it quite stressful. Hope everything continues well for you.

Thanks ladies, great to hear that so many of you are in a similar position.

It can feel frustrating sometimes when I read of others feeling such strong movements early on and I'm stuck on 'flutters' but it's reassuring to hear that they do get stronger later on in pregnancy.
I'll probably be wishing for these days back when I'm getting kicked in the ribs at all hours 😉