Just a morning thought and some insight!

So I was thinking...I have been getting asked more and more lately whether or not I've been feeling the baby move.  While I do, it isn't as often as I would have thought...so this made me curious!

So, I have been told a few times now that the baby's placenta is attached to the anterior wall  (front) of the uterus...I didn't think much of this, because I was also told that it is nothing to be concerned about.  The only reason I bring this up is because I was doing some reading about feeling 'quickening' and movements.  I feel quickening sometimes but not as often as I would have thought or hoped for by this point, so I did some reading out of curiosity  (shocking, I know!)!  We consistently find the heartbeat with the doppler and are able to hear baby moving around, so I'm not necessarily worried - just wishing for more movements! 

Anyways - - - back to the point, apparently anterior placentas provide a 'cushion' between what the baby is doing and what I am able to feel...so instead of the baby having to kick against my skin/tissue for me to feel it, I have to wait until it is strong enough to kick against the placenta and my skin...which makes sense and helps me understand why my movement feelings are fewer than expected at this stage!  I also read that the placenta often travels up as the uterus grows and that the baby, as it grows, will start to get stronger and sometimes kick around the placenta too.  So while this causes no harm to me or baby, it just makes those special moments between it and I fewer.

Anyways...this is just my morning thought!  I never gave it much attention until now and feel like it all makes more sense!  The only disappointing aspect of the anterior placenta is it takes longer for others to feel movements too.  The positive is that they say as movement increases, the cushion helps moms-to-be sleep through the night with less interruptions!  Always look at the bright side!  Who knew there were so many different aspects to this whole being pregnant thing!

Here is a picture of what I'm talking about. In the first, baby is positioned "correctly" with the placenta behind him, the second is an Anterior Placenta where the baby is located behind the placenta instead of in front.