Internal Exams

[kerikadi]

So who else is saying no to internals?
My MW doesn't do them routinely unless you want her to. I have to admit that I am curious and this morning I started thinking I might want her to check me. But cooler heads prevailed

I know intellectually that what she would tell me wouldn't mean anything. I mean, she could say I was high and closed and I could go into labor today or she could say I was strechy and 4cm and I might not go into labor for another 2 weeks so what's the point?

On my way to the MW today I asked myself what I would want her to tell me and how that would make me feel and I realized that nothing she could tell me would be helpful - it really is a double edged sword and that I would probably regret having her check me afterwards.

Anybody else just waiting it out?

Keri

[shalena]

My midwife doesn't offer checks either. I get one during active labor, but thats it.

[Bennifer]

My OB doesn't check either. I'm curious as well, but feel the same way as you do Keri...it's not going to tell me anything helpful. I've got 9 days til my edd and I'm just itching to meet this baby already!!

[BrookeAD]

I was checked last week when I went, but I refused this week. I just don't want to get my hopes up for nothing.

[Arwyn]

I adore my midwife and her assistant, but I'll be just peachy keen happy if neither of them ever touch my genitals. (: no tearing!

Like you said, there's no reason to do them, and there are lots of reasons not to.

[mamafish9]

If I get really curious, I do my own (and I don't poke around nearly as much as the professionals). Done one so far, but I find that telling myself "you can check for yourself any time you want" pretty much takes away the "need to know". My m/w thinks it's pretty funny I can still reach my cervix, and I'm sure she would do an internal if I asked, but she's never offered. As for internals during labor, if this baby comes as fast as his older sister, anyone trying to check me risks getting their fingers squished .

[Full Heart]

My mw hasn't offered and I haven't asked. But I feel the same as you, no matter what I was told I wouldn't be happy. If I was closed I would be upset nothing is happening, if I was open wide I would be upset I wasn't already in labor . I attempt to check myself and I can only feel the edge of my cervix and I know I am effacing and softening.

My mw might check in labor if I am going slowly (my cervix has a tendency to slip behind the babies head during labor) or if I am worried about pushing with an incomplete cervix. Again its not likely to tell me anything otherwise.

[Wild Flowers]

The only person who has checked me is my dh
He actually checked me throughout labor with my 2nd. I didn't think I was in labor, it wasn't until he said, "You are at least 6 cm" that I thought, hey maybe I am actually in labor. He does pernineal(spelling?) massage. I really don't know if it does anything. My first midwife said something about it, he did it, I didn't tear, and now we just do it because well, I like not tearing. But I don't like midwifes checking me, because like someone said, it doesn't mean anything. My dh can look at me and say you feel softer, even if I don't and it kinda like saying your butt is smaller. It makes me feel better. I know the midwife isn't going to lie to me

[MotheringHeart]

No checks here! My midwife will do it if you want, but I declined. It doesn't mean anything anyway and I don't like people feeling all around up there. I'll do a check when I'm in labor, but that's it.

[mamafish9]

Originally Posted by Wild Flowers

My dh can look at me and say you feel softer, even if I don't and it kinda like saying your butt is smaller. It makes me feel better. I know the midwife isn't going to lie to me

Now there's a good idea!! (To which my DH is currently replying - "do I have to check with my fingers?")

[MissInformed]

no checks here either. i suppose my mw would check if i asked, but i don't want it done. she's very hands-off unless a need arises...which i so LOVE about her!

[risen_joy]

My mw does only if I ask for it - but I feel funny asking cause she doesn't seem keen too...of course that could be my crazy pregger mind working overtime!!

I'm dying to know if anything is happening but like pp/op - what good will it do??? Oh I wish I had a pop up button to announce it's time!!

[Nicole77]

My midwife will also check if you ask but I am not asking. I know that it doesn't actually mean anything and that the number will likely mess with my head so I am skipping it all together. I actually do not plan on having her check me while I am in labor this time either, at least not until I start pushing. Last time I had her check me when she arrived at the house and then I spent the better part of my labor convinced I was still at 3 cms when really I was deep in transition. Numbers/schedules just mess up my mindset when I am dealing with labor. We will know she is coming because I will need to push and then we will see her head. Don't need to know more as long as all is well.

[MsElle07]

I had no checks during labor, and it was so nice. I loved not having to think, "Six centimeters! I have so much time left!" It just allowed me to let labor unfold without external pressure. I was also GBS+, and not doing checks really limited the likelihood that the baby would be infected. (Didn't do antibx, and she was fine.)

[kerikadi]

Originally Posted by MsElle07

I had no checks during labor, and it was so nice. I loved not having to think, "Six centimeters! I have so much time left!" It just allowed me to let labor unfold without external pressure. I was also GBS+, and not doing checks really limited the likelihood that the baby would be infected. (Didn't do antibx, and she was fine.)

Me too! I wasn't checked in labor with either of the girls and don't expect it this time either.

Keri

[Astromom]

I got through dd's and new little ds's pregnancies, labors, and births with no checks...

[pinuchkin]

I refused all offers of internals (including a heated discussing with a backup OB about manual pelvimetry) until I hit 40w, so had my first last night. I just posted a big rant about the obsession with internals on the 40w+ thread!

[Yo Becca]

well, I broke down and asked for one at my last appt with the HB MW - early last week. I had sworn no checks until I was in active labor and wanted a status check, but I had been having so much BH and prodromal labor and even thought I may have had a fluid leak (really, just took a punch to the cervix...).

But I'm over it. No more checks until I'm truly in labor. I think at that point, i'll appreciate it as a status check. After my 19 hour labor with DD (including pitocin I didn't want due to a stall), I feel mentally prepared to labor for 24 hours + and don't feel lots of pressure to progress (I didn't with her labor either - but I was in the hosp so my willingness to let it ride wasn't respected). So I don't think i'll take checks, even if they show slow progress, as pressure - I can celebrate every 1/2 centimeter. Not that I'm planning *that* many checks. I've heard enough bad stories of pushing prior to full dilation, which caused cervical swelling and slowed everything down a bunch, that I wouldn't be comfortable pushing if I didn't know I was well dilated. Definitely planning to keep the number to a minimum though.

A friend sent me the link to the You Tube video "Snakes on a Homebirth," a HB parody of snakes on a plane (obviously done by a couple planning a HB and wanting to enjoy their birth pool prior to labor), and the mom in labor asks her partner to check her cervix and he says, "if you wanted your cervix checked, you should have *checked* into the hospital." If I asked my DH to check my cervix....it would be worse than sending him to the grocery store. who knows what he'd find and what he'd do with it.

[chemE_momE]

I am waiting it out as well. Like you said, there is nothing she could tell me that would make me happy, so what's the point? [Unless she was like, whoa, you're 10 cm and ready to push! LOL!]