Um.. where did my cervix go?

[WindyCityMom]

I've been feeling alot of cervical pressure (and quite frankly, pain), so I figured I'd check my dilation and see if anything was going on, since I started dialating with DD around 30wks and I'm not around 33wks. (btw, I'm a firm believer that checking my cervix myself is much safer than my midwives- who are still in themselves highly medicalized. They are by no means gentle with my cervix and almost always have spotting if they touch it- so I've made it clear, they won't be going down there!)

For some reason, I could NOT find my cervix! I felt like I literally had to shove my hand up there (I didn't), but I reached pretty far. Got into many positions to try and bring it lower but nothing would work! I just couldn't find it.

My cervix is typically a bit low (even on it's "high" days). A few weeks ago, I had to treat myself with cream for a yeast infection that would not resolve itself by other means Which barely even worked, but that's another story. Before I would insert the cream every night, I would feel for my cervix to make sure I didn't collide with it .. and it was always right there, ready to be found.

It just boggles my mind- why can't I find it? Where could it be hiding? Could it SERIOUSLY be up THAT high? I'm going to try again later today, but sheesh. This is ridiculous!

Anyone have any tips?

[MsBlack]

mmmm....I think it's hiding from you

You are due in december? If I have that right, then why do you need to do a cervical check anyway? As a UC mama, I never did them....as a mw, I *only* do prenatal VE at mom's insistence (and she has to insist, because if she merely asks I try to talk her out of it). So, with all due respect...here is a little story for you

I was having a conversation with a friend of mine, a woman who years ago aspired to be an 'all crunchy DEM'. She ultimately became a CNM instead, and practiced for several years in hospitals and birth centers, finally quitting because it was all too medicalized and political and stressful. In the last year or so she returned to her original dream of 'all crunchy DEM'. We have had some conversations in which I gently have tried to help her turn away from the medicalized approach she learned in her earlier medicalized practice. I wasn't sure that I was making any headway, to be honest!

But then we had a conversation the other day, in which she announced to me: "Suddenly, I hate doing VE. I've been thinking about this a lot, and I've realized that the whole idea of measuring, of quantifying progress with numbers [such as cms of dilation, % of effacement] is a MALE thing. It is NOT for women, not invented by women, not helpful TO women! It is something that came into being when MALE DOCs took over birth! And I'm just not doing it anymore, at least not routinely, not prenatally for sure.....etc etc and so forth"

I cheered out loud

And I submit to you what I tell any woman who will listen--It's your body, and if you really want a VE for that info, ok, I won't stop you or judge you. But you can really truly trust that whatever is happening to your cervix is 99.999999999999% likely to be just the right thing at this moment! Having that quantified info is 99.999999999% UNlikely to help you or baby in any way!

Rant now done, I will say that 'clinically speaking':

sounds like possibly your cervix is effaced enough that there no longer is a knob of any sort to feel--it has melted away. And quite possibly the os is so posterior (toward your back) that it might even be hard for an HCP to find unless they had pretty long fingers or were going to shove hard against your outer parts in order to reach further up/in. This info would tell me as a mw that possibly you are going to have this baby in the next few hours....or days....or weeks...or not til your due date or well beyond! Not kiddin about that, WindyCity--trying to be humorous, but not kiddin' at all

[wrappedupmama]

I've always been able to feel my cervix. During the last month or so of pregnancy I simply can not find it. There have been some good threads in the past about this topic.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1117325

http://www.mothering.com/discussions....php?t=1128099

[WindyCityMom]

Thanks to you both

I do agree on your views, MsBlack. I think it's mostly curiosity that's done it for me, which always seems to get me. With DD I had horrible PTL, but then again, she ended up sticking around until 41w2d. I know that every pregnancy is different and I just kind wanted to check & see if everything is at a standstill (which i'd almost rather it be..). I know that dialation has virtually no say in when you're going to go into labor, but like I said.. curiosity gets the best of me sometimes.

I however DID wake up from a nap and dreamt that I had felt my cervix and that it was between 1 and 2cm. I usually do feel for it's position before DH & I have sex, just because if it's in the way of things (sometimes it REALLY is) I don't want him poking around down there, and I'd rather us do some other form of intimacy.

BUT.. like I said, thank you so much to ya both

I know that my uterus was tilted for awhile, so my cervix was pretty much angled towards my back. Sometimes my cervix even hides to one side or the other, which really boggles my mind.

[turnquia]

Its possible your fully effaced and not dilated as well.

With my DD that happened and the doc couldn't find my cervix because lol it was gone... I actually stayed pregnant for several more weeks. I was 1cm and 100% :P

[WindyCityMom]

Well, couldn't find it .. I think I'll just leave it at that and let it do its thing.

[BanditaMamacita]

Hey, i'm in the same boat! I'm 34+4 and have only been able to find my cervix once in the last couple months... It must be pretty high. Is that normal, for it to be so high at the end of pregnancy? Of course, I couldn't even feel it in labor when i tried to check myself with my other two pregnancies, so i guess it doesn't mean anything. I was mostly surprised cuz I can feel the baby's head extremely low and definitely locked in place (like, less than 2 inches in! eesh) , so i guess i just assumed my cervix would also be low, but i guess not.

[WindyCityMom]

What exactly does the head feel like? I'm actually having issues figuring out her position.

[BanditaMamacita]

Externally, it feels like a cylinder above your pubic bone. You can put your fingers on either side of it, maybe 4 inches apart, and feel how round it is. No idea what a butt would feel like, but a head is pretty clear, once you know what you're feeling for. Of course, i'm guessing mistakes get made or there wouldn't be so many surprise breeches. Internally, hard to describe. As soon as I get past my pubic bone, I can feel her head... hard and round, where it used to just feel kind of visceral. I dunno if that helps at all? Good luck! You're due right around xmas, right? I'm due the week before

[WindyCityMom]

Got it Yep, due 12/24.

Well.. I did feel a part of my cervix, I think. I tried again, and felt a mushy spot at the end of the "tunnel", lol. Not sure if it was my cervix or what, but I was barely able to reach it.

[wholisticmidwife]

If your cervix is low and the baby is low it is probably just very posterior. They push it back behind the head and the os faces towards your back. It will come forward with contractions. Its SO normal.

[BanditaMamacita]

That made me feel so much better! I was wondering why the head seemed to be so far in front of my cervix...

[wholisticmidwife]

its in front because you are doing so great and your body is perfect. You will have a beautiful normal birth.

[WindyCityMom]

I had a midwife check me because she wanted to do a FFN on me. Reluctantly I agreed (the ffn was negative and she's not going near my whooha again unless I get to my due date. end of story!)

Anyways, she basically just stuck her finger in there, made some faces while trying to reach my cervix, and said, "well, it's gotta be high up because I can't feel it, which is good. If it were low I'd worry."

Anyone have any comments on her comment about my cervix? the "worry" she was speaking of is in terms of PTL.

But yeah... a midwife couldn't even find it. lol.

[Hesperia]

Originally Posted by WindyCityMom

I had a midwife check me because she wanted to do a FFN on me. Reluctantly I agreed (the ffn was negative and she's not going near my whooha again unless I get to my due date. end of story!)

Anyways, she basically just stuck her finger in there, made some faces while trying to reach my cervix, and said, "well, it's gotta be high up because I can't feel it, which is good. If it were low I'd worry."

Anyone have any comments on her comment about my cervix? the "worry" she was speaking of is in terms of PTL.

But yeah... a midwife couldn't even find it. lol.

The six stages of the cervix before birth, (which I cannot remember off the top of my head, I'm sleepy ) includes moving downwards, from posterior to anterior, softening, thinning, opening & one more (mind blank!)

If she cannot feel it to tell if it is soft, thin, forward, down then no worries basically.

[WindyCityMom]

Originally Posted by Hesperia

The six stages of the cervix before birth, (which I cannot remember off the top of my head, I'm sleepy ) includes moving downwards, from posterior to anterior, softening, thinning, opening & one more (mind blank!)

If she cannot feel it to tell if it is soft, thin, forward, down then no worries basically.

Aah, thanks

Oh, and I got checked -again- today. I was in L&D, baby hadn't moved from the night before. So I was worried- baby was good, still being a lazy one though. Anyways, they found I was contracting every 3 minutes or less (love my midwife because she had me do NO IV and let me just drink two tons of water). She checked my cervix when I started contracting and when they discharged me (still contracting, painlessly). And...

0cm, 0% effaced, and just a "little" soft.

So I guess I've got nothin' to worry about. This baby will go "postdates", I am sure