is there any way to check your self to see if your dilated? or someone else?...when your OB/gyn checks you does anyone know how they tell how far dilated you are??...
2006-11-12 19:21:49 · 6 answers · asked by I love you 2 1 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
Yes, you can check yourself. This is easiest if you are already familiar with your body, but anyone can try it.
Make sure your nails are well-trimmed and wash your hands. The best way to reach your cervix is usually sitting on the toilet or standing with one foot up on something like the side of the tub.
Your cervix normally feels kind of firm, like the end of your nose. If you have started to efface then it will feel more like your cheek.
There will be a little dimple in the middle of it.....the os or opening. If this feels more like a hole than an indentation, then you've started to dilate. Dilation is measured in centimeters, so you'll judge by how wide the hole feels to your fingertips. One fingertip is usually about 2 cm.
All that said, how far dilated and effaced you are really says nothing about when you will go into labor. You can walk around for a week or more at 3-4 cm dilated and 100% effaced (I did). Or you can be closed up tight as a bank vault and have a baby a few hours later. Cervical checks really give very little useful information.
2006-11-13 00:30:03 · answer #1 · answered by momma2mingbu 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sure, you can check if your fingers are long enough and the baby is low enough. It would be pretty hard for me to explain to you what to feel for though. Maybe your doctor could explain it to you and teach you.
If you are going to try (or your partner is going to - easier) it is essential that your hands and fingernails are very clean. Clean and wearing an exam glove is preferred. Then get comfortable and insert your index and middle finger. Try to feel for your cervix. It should be very soft and mushy at the end of pregnancy. You want to find the opening (called the OS). You use your fingers to measure the size of the opening, without stretching.
The real question is why? Knowing if you are dilated really doesn't tell you much unless you are in active labor. Some women can go from 0 cm. to active labor in a few hours. And I've known women to walk around at 5 cm. for several weeks.
The more vaginal exams, the greater the increased risk of infection. Is it worth the risk?
Claudine Crews CPM, LM
2006-11-12 19:35:28 · answer #2 · answered by claudineintexas 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
yes you or your husband can check you. It isn't a highly scientific process to check dilation, although don't take your measurements too seriously because it can take some practice. Just clean your hands really well, and reach up with two fingers, find your cervix and feel for the opening. 10 cm. is about as wide as you could stretch those two fingers apart inside the opening, 1 cm is about one fingers width, and you can guess anywhere in between. Try drawing circles on paper with rings going from 1cm - 10cm wide, and use your two fingers stretched to either side of the circles' sides and get a feel for it.
Again...clean your hands very well! You don't need gloves your's and your husband's germs are safe to you. If you feel something soft and squishy bulging it could be the water sac, something hard maybe the baby's head, but don't worry about that, just don't go poking at it..lol
2006-11-12 19:27:58 · answer #3 · answered by Rochelle C 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
they can tell how far you are dilated by the number of fingers they put into the cervix.
2006-11-12 19:30:08 · answer #4 · answered by Char 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
i dont think you could check your self because the doctor measures you by inserting his hand to feel your cervix.sounds gross but you could only tell from the inside in the beginning of your dilation.Good Luck
2006-11-12 19:27:55 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hire an illegal immigrant to do it for you.
2006-11-12 19:37:55 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 5⤋