about that cervix check...

[FuzzyOne]

can we just say OW! i decided to go ahead and have it done today and it was fairly painful. the baby has dropped and she can feel her/his head right there, but my cervix is behind the head (more towards my butt) so she had a hard time feeling it. she stopped after it became apparent that it was painful - she said she *thinks* i am dilated to 1. and now i am bleeding - yuck. she also told me that she suspects i will have more low belly cramps as my cervix moves forward to get under the baby's head. i say bring it on!

[maliceinwonderland]

I've never had a check that wasn't painful, although the nurses at the hospital when I had dd seemed down right mean spirited when they were doing them..they could atleast try to not make me feel like I'm being turned into a puppet..kwim?

[MommyTeesa]

Ugh! I am contemplating having one at my appt. tomorrow, since I'll be having the GBS swab anyway ... hmmm ... pain and bleeding doesn't sound fun.

[FuzzyOne]

i think it was painful and caused bleeding because she had to try to reach so far back to find my cervix - but i certainly wasn't expecting it - i've never had a painful exam before. my ob has really nice long fingers

[crysmomofthree]

Originally Posted by FuzzyOne

my ob has really nice long fingers

I'm sure he would take that as a compliment

[amyleigh33]

Yipes! I didn't know it would hurt! I don't know if my midwife does them, but maybe I'll decline in that case!

[FuzzyOne]

i didn't mean to scare everyone - like i said, i really think it was painful because my cervix is in a bit of an odd position right now. don't worry everybody - i bet your checks won't be painful at all!

[VOBetz]

I had a gbs at my last appointment a week ago, and my doc did an internal. He was also concerned that babe was breech, so he tried to feel for her head against my cervix. OW!!! Not only did he have to get way way up there, but he took the opportunity to push down on the top of my belly (to puch the babe down to see if he could feel her head).

OMG. I was pissed. I sat up and said "was all that really necessary?" No more cervix check for me, thanks.

[Adamsmama]

My cervix checks haven't been painful until this last one early in the week. She was really reaching to find the cervix and then when she did--she kept poking around (I think to feel the head) and it was very painful. I haven't bled -- but like I wrote in another post lost my plug the next morning and now I'm continuing to lose huge chunks...and have a lot of contractions.

[MoonStarFalling]

My cervix is the same right now. It's tucked way up behind the head. I had a ve while in labor with ds with a very posterior cervix. OMG that was so painful!! I'm not a screamer but I think I was screaming then. Sorry if that's scary but fyi they can really hurt during labor. Looking forward to ZERO ve's this pregnancy!!

[MoonStarFalling]

Originally Posted by Adamsmama

My cervix checks haven't been painful until this last one early in the week. She was really reaching to find the cervix and then when she did--she kept poking around (I think to feel the head) and it was very painful. I haven't bled -- but like I wrote in another post lost my plug the next morning and now I'm continuing to lose huge chunks...and have a lot of contractions.

She could have been stripping your membranes.

[txbikegrrl]

What exactly does "strippping membranes" mean/entail?

How is it different from breaking the bag of water?

And (how) can they do it without your permission?

[Rico'sAlice]

My midwife offered at my last appointment, but I declined.
IMO the risks outweigh the possible benefits.

[Ilana]

I had my midwife check me last time too and it was painful but pffftt....we're about to give birth!! This is nothing compared to that The only reason it was painful is because she practically had to shove her whole hand up there to reach my cervix.

ILANA

[VOBetz]

Originally Posted by Ilana

pffftt....we're about to give birth!!

When I gave birth to my son, I was highly medicated.... After the cervix check being so painful, I'm scared (again) have this baby without meds.

[Rico'sAlice]

Originally Posted by txbikegrrl

What exactly does "strippping membranes" mean/entail?

How is it different from breaking the bag of water?

And (how) can they do it without your permission?

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/...Membranes.html



I have read several threads on here about providers doing this w/o informing the patient.

[Eaglevoice]

No cervical checks for me until I'm in active labor. I hate them.

[roadfamily6now]

stripping the membranes is just when they run their finger around the opening of the cervix

Honestly, no one should do that with out permission but they do it all the time.

Cervical checks SHOULD NOT HURT and you should not bleed after one.
If you do, then more likely then not your Midwife/ob was stripping or trying to. Shame on them!

One more reason to avoid internals.

[FuzzyOne]

i honestly don't think she was trying to strip my membranes - she asked me beforehand if i wanted my membranes stripped and i said no. she also asked me if i wanted her to tell me the results of the cervix check and i said yes.

[JanB]

I had a check this morning when my OB did the GBS swab. (I actually was glad, because I've been feeling kind of "contractiony" and wanted reassurance that everything was closed up.) It wasn't painful at all, just felt pretty much the same as when I used to check my own cervix daily when we were using FAM for birth control.

For the record, cervix is closed, and baby is "nowhere near the pelvis", which IMHO is a good thing at 35 weeks.