if you check your own cervix..

[sprouthead]

what is it supposed to feel like? how can you tell if it is, in fact, shortening?

thanks!

[josie423]

I was never able to tell! The position varies so much even throughout the day that it is very hard to tell. In the end of my other pregnancies most days it was too high to even feel, let alone determine whether it was getting shorter.

[justmandy]

Yeah, I have a hard time reacing mine so I don't any more. Dh has (he has a better angle) but doesn't really know what he's soing so I can't get specifics besides if it's dilating or different.

Also, I'm a firm believer that it doesn't matter. Your cervix can change very dramaticly in a short time. It can open, close, go up or down, it's really not that reliable. So even if you do get it figured out, take it with a grain of salt.

[lunita1]

I can reach/check mine at the end of pregnancy but right now it is too high and posterior. One of the changes that happens as your body readies itself for birth is that your cervix becomes more anterior, which I think allows it to respond to the pressure and dilate.

[hapersmion]

I really scared myself around 8 weeks or so by checking my cervix and noticing how short and soft it was! But I'm still pregnant, heading for 32 weeks... I eventually had to quit checking, it was just making me nervous. I did finally check again last week, and it's quite soft and feels rather open. But it's so hard to tell, and I think it can be different for everyone, so I don't think we're really likely to get any useful information from it, unless you check sometime and a baby pops out...