Tales from a cervix... (This is X-rated by the way!)

Alright... in the beginning I made myself out to be "alternative" and that this blog was going to be all about taking control and responsibility for my own body, with a knowledge and understanding of pregnancy that doesn't rely primarily on the medical world.

So... this post is not for the squeamish. This may gross you out. This may cause you to think I'm a complete weirdo - and that's okay. But, if you're game for this, read on...

Back when I had my second baby, a VBAC (vaginal birth after Cesarean), we hired midwives to deliver the baby - statistically, I had read that your chance of a natural birth with midwives after a Cesarean were MUCH higher than if you went with a doctor. The midwives were very open. They talked about EVERYTHING. And it was really quite refreshing. We learned so much from them - including, what changes a cervix goes through in late pregnancy/early labor. One of the things I remember is their description of your cervix: Before any "ripening" or dilation or effacing occurs, your cervix is a firm round knobby thing that feels like the end of your nose. As it "ripens" it becomes soft and "mushy" like a ripe peach.

By our third pregnancy, we weren't content to be innocent by-standers in regards to the whole pre-labor activities of my body! Especially, being someone who goes overdue... always overdue and very overdue, I wanted to know if ANYTHING was going on in my body that meant labor should eventually, sometime begin! So I think it was in this, my 3rd pregnancy, that we ventured into the assessment of my cervix. I found it rather awkward to "reach up there" myself, so I assigned my husband the task! Honestly... if we are comfortable having sex and all that... why shouldn't he be able to check my cervix? In fact, it should be a more natural thing than having a doctor - who I barely know - do it!

Okay, so that's the background in this. We became pretty confident and my husband became rather experienced over the next couple pregnancies figuring out how dilated I was and discovering the changes that sometimes happened WEEKS before I actually delivered. For example, I was 3-4 cm dilated for at least a week before I went into labor with my 5th... it was as though my body was slowing working it's way up to labor.

Now, onto this pregnancy. For one thing, I've noticed a crazy increase in discharge (ewww... such a yucky word!) over the past week or so. I don't know if I could say that I lost my mucus plug, but some women lose theirs over time, rather than having a specific "plug" that comes out. I do remember one of my pregnancies that was the case - it happened after some... err.. intimate encounter and it was like "oh gross, there it is, my mucus plug!" Other times, it can slowly melt away like a runny nose. Gross, huh!

So anyway, I've been curious. I decided to try for myself about a week ago to see if I could decipher what was happening inside. My goodness... you really need piano fingers for this job. I've found the best way to get a gander is to squat down, although some women (yes, I'm not the only one who does this) will stand in front of the toilet seat with one foot up in a lunge position. So anyway, I was in this awkward position, and I could just barely feel a knobby thing at the tip of my fingers - aha! Hello cervix - AKA the front door of my baby's current residence! It felt a medium-ripe, I guess, and I think it was also pointing more back than down. As you head towards labor, the cervix will actually shift and begin to point down.

Now yesterday... since I'm officially "overdue", I thought I'd see if there were any changes. I've also noticed a lot more funky feelings down there, so I figured that something might be starting to happen. This time, I could feel like my cervix had shifted a bit - maybe pointing more downwards. And it feels more squishy. The problem is, as you can probably guess, it is SUPER AWKWARD with a humongous belly to do all this assessment - let alone when you're not pregnant! Of course I'm sure a lot has to do with whether you have meaty oven mitts for hands or graceful, slender piano hands. I tend a little toward the former. So I needed a second opinion and requested my husband to "check me out". Well, apparently his reach is better than mine and he determined that I'm about 3cm dilated already! Yahoooooo!!! And he described my cervix as very "floppy". How romantic!

So, that's the latest, greatest update on my pregnancy. Of course, just because I'm starting to dilate, has little bearing on WHEN I'll have this baby. But it is a comfort to me that my body is heading in that direction. I'm on my way to labor-land....