# Having DH check cervix...



## Ooey (Jan 27, 2006)

I'm 37 weeks and I haven't had any internals done at all (since 10 weeks) and don't have any desire to have one done any time soon.

Last night well messing around with dh I decided to have him see if he could find my cervix since he was in the area anyway







He said it felt compleetly closed, but I couldn't feel him touching it so I'm thinking that maybe he didn't really find it.

Does anyone have a link to one of the sites that tell you how to check your own cervix? I know someone posted one a while back. I want DH to read up on it so he can do a more competent job next time








Thanks!


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## sprout 1 (Oct 18, 2003)

personally, I think if you want to check it, you'd do a much much better job checking it yourself. I read one birth story where the dp checked and said something like "3cm" and the baby was crowning like 15 min later. I wouldn't know what I was feeling in someone else, either! But I sure can tell what's in me, and if I have the right spot, etc. If you think you'd like the reassurance that things are moving along, doing it yourself will give you exactly that. If you really want your dh to check you, I'd take it with a grain of salt because there's no way to really "practice" accurately reporting what your cervix will be doing in labor


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## broodymama (May 3, 2004)

My DH checked my cervix about a week ago - I'm only 28 weeks, but I wanted reassurance that the contractions I was having wasn't causing me to dilate. (I went into preterm labor with DS and never felt anything more than BH contractions, even though I dilated to a 4 and eventually 6 cm.) DH had checked my IUD strings before but that was his only prior "experience" with cervixes.

I asked him (just now) if he was sure what he was feeling was the cervix and he said yes, definitely. He said the vaginal walls were much softer and squishier and the cervix was more firm and muscular, felt more like a sphincter. I couldn't feel him touching it, either.

I can't reach my own cervix even when I'm not pregnant so that's why I checked it.


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## Ayala Eilon (Apr 8, 2006)

I second check yourself. You don't need web sites or book to learn. Just put a clean two finger in and check for opening. It will feel like lips. When they are protruded, you are plenty of time. Once it is flat it will start opening and can be just a centimeter or two for acouple of weeks... you can measure by filling how many fingers go in the space. It you cannot reach it, you have time. It will come down when the time is right.


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## MamaTaraX (Oct 5, 2004)

I wish I could find one of these I've already writtenout.... I always feel like Im'forggetting something..

Checking yoru own cervix isn't too hard, assuming you can reach around







It works best if youput a leg up (like on a bathtub edge). howeve,r you asked about having DH do it.
Make sure his hands are clean. You can be in a variety of positions for someone else to check. What worked easiest for us was if I waslaying almost flat with my feet together and legs making "L"s. When searching for it, you'll want him to aim gently down (towards your spine) to find it. It will move during the pregnancy and as birth nears. It's pretty easy in that all you really have to do is follow the vaginal walls back. The cervix will feel tougher than the vaginal walls. If it is really taught, then it's closed. One fingertip in is 1cm. Two fingers side by side in is 2cm. 3 is 3cm. 10cm is when you have your thumb and pinky spread as far apart as you can get them, roughtly (I say roughlybecause obviously hand/finger sizes vary from person to person). It's not hard to do.
For the record, I only had DH check just forthe heck of it once. Every other time was in conjuntion with activities already involving such activity. I checked my own cervix, however, from time to time just for fun because I thought it ws cool to do.

Namaste, Tara


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