Question About Pregnancy

Updated on April 05, 2007
S.C. asks from Norwood, PA
7 answers

i am currently pregnant with my 5th child (5th pregnancy). i am 12 weeks along and i keep feeling this strange sensation to the right of my belly button that almost feels like the muscles underneath my skin are pulling away. i don't think it's the baby, that's a little too high for that. besides i think i felt the baby move slightly in my lower abdomen, first on my right then on my left a few seconds later. i do also feel that i am much bigger this time for only being 12 weeks, and i know that the ob tried to listen for 2 heartbeats at my last visit...then laughed and said i would know more at my u/s which shouldn't be for another 8 weeks. does anyone have any thoughts on this? sorry so long. thanks!

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So What Happened?

well, i'm still anxiously awaiting my big u/s. i am very excited to know what it is and if it's healthy. the twins question is still on my mind though. i was at the ob after i wrote that request and saw a different dr in the office and still was told my uterus was large to date. maybe my due date will change. whatever it is i'll try to post and let everyone know. thanks!

More Answers

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L.S.

answers from Philadelphia on

Perhaps your feeling the rectus muscles of the abdomen separating. (These are the long vertical abdominal muscles.) I used to teach a pregnancy fitness class, and we used to teach women to feel for the muscle separation. (We'd adapt some exercises if muscles were separated.) If you lie on your back and pick your head up slightly off the floor, sort of in crunch fashion, and feel your abdomen with your fingertips just below your belly button, you should feel a groove running vertically from the belly button downward. If that groove is three fingers width or wider, the muscles have separated. For some women, this happens with the first pregnancy, in later pregnancies for some, and for some it never happens.

Then again, maybe you're having twins! :)

Good luck and congrats!

1 mom found this helpful
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K.E.

answers from Reading on

Describe this muscle feeling to your doctor at your next OB appointment or if that isn't for a while, call them. I am not trying to be an alarmist, but it sounds similar to the feeling described to me by a friend whose uterus detached at the top. (I'm not sure that was the official medical wording, but it had to do with the top portion of her uterus breaking away from where it was supposed to be.) She had to have surgery to reposition it.

Best of luck,
K.

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D.Z.

answers from Pittsburgh on

Hi i'm on my third pregnancy and i have the same thing going on. i also havent had an u/s yet. and my doctor wouldnt even try and listen for a heart beat yet. I'm 12 weeks and 5 days. sorry i'm no help. good luck.

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C.M.

answers from York on

I'm not sure if this is the samee feeling that you are having but in my second pregnancy I had a strange almost snapping sensation on the side of my stomach it was the strangest feeling I have ever felt and it's very difficult to explain it. The first time it happened I thought that my son had thrown something at me. I asked my midwife and she said that this happens alot in subsequent pregnancy and that it is a muscle spasm because your stomach muscles have been stretched out they make like spring type of movement and thats what makes that feeling. Well I hope this helps.

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K.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

Hi S.,

I had twins , they were my 4th pregnancy, I too had movement on both sides, my doctor thought he heard two heartbeats, but didn't tell me he just told me he wanted a ultra sound, my twins are now 19, back then u didn't get ultra sounds like now, but I didn't think much of it . Do u have twins that run in yr family, My first daughter also had twins, so much for it skipping a generation.Well good luck.

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K.D.

answers from Allentown on

Hi S.,

Congratulations on your pregnancy! I too am a fellow mom who's been pregnant five times. My fifth pregnancy sounds a lot like yours. I would get "weird" sensations that I couldn't explain. I would feel things on one side and then the other. Never thought it could be a multiple pregnancy. Even my midwife didn't suspect anything. My belly too grew much faster than with my other pregnancies. But I didn't suspect twins was the cause. Just thought that well this is my fifth time, I am a bit older and my belly was still kinda stretched out from number four kinda thing. I did notice that my pregnancy symptoms...like morning sickness seem to be a lot worse than my other pregnancies. All my symptoms seemed just like so much more than before. Even my appetite...I just felt so much more hungry. Wasn't until my 20 week ultrasound that I got the surprise of a lifetime! I indeed was carrying two! Only being 12 weeks, it's probably a little on the early side to hear heartbeats. Has your doctor found that you are measuring on the larger side? Do they think your date matches up with how you are measuring? I would talk to your doctor. If it's something that really concerns you, see if they can't move up the ultrasound. I am a bit surprised though. I thought if drs. suspected a multiple pregnancy they automatically order an ultrasound to confirm that fact. No?? As in my case, no one suspected that so of course I only had the first one done at 20 weeks. Hope that helps a little anyway. Twins are a double blessing! Feel free to contact me anytime. Best of luck with your pregnancy!

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G.M.

answers from Philadelphia on

I am not positive but my guess would be that this is round ligament pain.

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