Hopefully not TMI, cervix/internal queastion?

[honeybunny65]

So, my mw checked me last week (36w) for the 1st time...no dialation, 50% effaced, cervix soft.

I know that as a FTM my "ripening" and getting ready for birth will take weeks, but I've been restless and curious. So I thought I would try and figure out if I had started dialating or if anything was going on "in there". Dh has been doing perenial massge w/ me and he had mentioned that it was WAY different from before I was pregnant.

So, today.....I'm 37 weeks and went for a feel Everything seems really swollen and plump. I don't think I even reached my cervix?? I had a leg on the bathtub, but I honestly don't know what any kind of progress would feel like, kwim?

I guess I'm looking for any signs/differences inside to see if anyhting is progressing. I'm pretty positive I haven't dropped yet....So any helpful hints/descriptions to the changes internally would be greatly appreciated!

TIA ~HB

[SequoiasMom]

:
Yeah, i'm interested in knowing this, too. My MW does no cervical checks, so I have no idea where I am. It'd be cool to know if there is any physical action going on...

[BoringTales]

I'm no help. I have no clue what a cervix feels like normally, much less when dilated or how to tell!

I keep threatening with each pregnancy to bring my husband with to a few midwife appointments to see if she'll teach him. He hasn't yet taken me up on that offer!

[mysticmomma]

http://www.joyousbirth.info/articles...xlearning.html

[CourtBChase]

I can't speak to the whole cervix/effacement thing, but I can tell you that I have felt very "plump" down there my whole pregnancy. It's very strange. I assume it has to do with more bloodflow to that part of the body?

[tracymom1]

Normally, your cervix feels hard compared to the rest of the parts in there - kind of like the tip of your nose. Most people really have to reach and stretch to feel it (I check my own and its not easy to find but I eventually figured out what to look for). When it starts to soften, there is usually a progression - parts of it will be softer than others. If you can't feel a ridge in the center of the cervix or an obvious opening, then you probably haven't started dilating.

And I would try standing up, exhale into a deep squat and then checking. This seems to work for me.

Happy cervix hunting!

[Reha]

If it makes you feel better, I have lots of experience feeling different cervixes, as a midwife, and it is hard for me to find my own at the moment! It takes lots of digging around to even find it, since everything is so soft right now and I have a huge belly in the way. And, since I don't really want to do much digging around at this point, I don't even really try.

Its hard to feel your cervix when you are term! It can be done, with maneuvering and determination, though.

But, no matter what your cervix is doing right now, its all perfectly on schedule. Your body knows just what to do to get ready to get your baby born.

[haren.13]

I've been trying to check my own, but it's hard (as pps said) with the belly in the way. I asked DH last night, but he's not comfortable checking I shouldn't be surprised ~ he has no problem doing perineal massage but is hesitant to even palpate the baby because he's afraid he'll hurt him or her! He thinks I press my belly too hard (and I don't do even half as hard as my midwife ). So, when it comes to cervix checking, he's worried about hurting the baby (even though he wouldn't) :P