# How can you check how many cm dilated you are in labor??



## Marlarky

Hi everyone!! I am unsure if I should have put this in 3rd tri, or where I should have put this is general, but I was really wondering if there is anyway to check how many cm dilated you are during labor.

I am probably going to give birth in a hospital with my OB, despite the fact that I wont be able to be active or anything and basically just get hooked up to a machine and have them tell me I need epidural and I need a csection, etc etc.

ANYWAYSSSSS, since I already had my little rant about that and am not really fond on switching to a midwife because I am comfortable with my doctor, I was hoping I can labor at home until I am maybe about 5 cm.?? (Someone told me you can usually labor to there at home before going in.) 

Well, anyway, I am hoping to labor at home as long as I am able to, and was wondering if I can tell how many cm I am or when I know what the "last call" is, to go to the hospital.

Any ideas or am I a lost cause here?? :haha:


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## Sophist

There is going to be variation--my doctor would say I was 4 cm and 90% effaced, but later that day the hospital nurses would say I was at 3 cm and 20% effaced...(with my son we had several false alarms because I was a very excited first time mom, so we went to the hospital a LOT!)

When I was in active labor and deciding to go to the hospital with my daughter I waited until I was starting to feel the pain was unmanagable. To be honest, I thought I was transitioning (7-10 cm) and when we got there found I was "only" at a five. For a first time mom, its going to take 1-2 hours of *active* labor per cm. So if your doctor checks you at your office visit and says you are at a 3, and then you go into hard labor you could figure 2-3 hours of laboring at home is going to get you to a five. If you aren't dilated at all, it's going to take even longer. If your contractions aren't hard & hurting yet, you may be dilating more slowly so it may take longer. I think a lot of first time moms start having regular contractions and think "great, I'm 10 minutes apart, I can go in!" but if you wait until you are having a harder time getting through them, and then go in, chances are you will be much farther on when you get there.


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## Marlarky

Wow thank you, that was very very helpful!! I guess I can pretty much wait until the pain is unbearable then??


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## claire911

I was wondering this too. Only thing is, I'm worried that I will find the pain unbearable and not even be dilated :haha:


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## Blah11

It took me a long time to go from 2-3 to 7cm but 7 to baby being out was a lot quicker. I went into the hospital to be checked over after my waters broke and they found my BP was up so i was kept in. I was 2-3 at about 2am and by lunchtime I was only 5cm. I had amelie at 3.15pm. SO, the 1cm every 1-2 hours doesnt really work for everyone.


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## Marlarky

Oh my goodness I know and I agree!! I am really scared of having regular contractions that hurt unbearably, and then going to do the hospital to be barely dilated. 

I am hoping and praying to be one of those women who are already like 2cm and partly effaced a week or so before going into labor!

For now we can only try to reassure ourselves, ladies!


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## NeyNey

There are articles online about checking your own dialation - but it's a very controversial topic and not everyone agree's with it. DH did try to check mine a few days before I was induced, as I was told by Dr I was already 2cm but he was totally lost as to what he should or shouldn't be feeling.


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## milkmachine

read this :D https://sarahvine.wordpress.com/201...-assessing-dilation-without-an-internal-exam/


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## KandyKinz

The only person I will allow to perform an internal vaginal exam on me is MYSELF!


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## Sophist

milkmachine said:


> read this :D https://sarahvine.wordpress.com/201...-assessing-dilation-without-an-internal-exam/


VERY interesting article, thanks!!


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## Blah11

lol @ 3. irrationality! my friend when at the end of transition decided she was just going to go home, have a sleep then come back when she was rested to push :rofl:


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## Blah11

has anyone ever done an internal when heavily pregnant? I couldnt shave my legs so i very much doubt i would have been able to feel my cervix :wacko:


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## KandyKinz

Blah11 said:


> has anyone ever done an internal when heavily pregnant? I couldnt shave my legs so i very much doubt i would have been able to feel my cervix :wacko:

I was able to do it last time... But I was actually in shape that time around... Hopefully I'll still be flexible enough to maneuver around the belly!


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## Marlarky

milkmachine said:


> read this :D https://sarahvine.wordpress.com/201...-assessing-dilation-without-an-internal-exam/

Hey, this was a great article!! Thank you!

Now I am more scared of not getting to the hospital soon enough though :haha:


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## milkmachine

Blah11 said:


> lol @ 3. irrationality! my friend when at the end of transition decided she was just going to go home, have a sleep then come back when she was rested to push :rofl:

i told everyone i wasnt pregnant it was in my head and i was going home lol


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## milkmachine

Blah11 said:


> has anyone ever done an internal when heavily pregnant? I couldnt shave my legs so i very much doubt i would have been able to feel my cervix :wacko:

i can reach my cervix i have been checking in hope that my random bursts of contractions are actually doing something but i struggle to shave my legs lol


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## bubbles

#3 made me laugh too, I tried putting my pants back on at this stage with DS


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## snagglepat

There are some other little tricks I use to assess the dilation of my doula clients - internal examinations are most definitely out unless the client does it herself. :)

The first is the purple line. This doesn't happen for everyone, but it's been there for most of my clients when I've checked. It's a line that appears during labour starting at the anus and working its way up towards the top of the bum crack/coccyx. When it gets there, you're fully dilated. If it's half way, you're about 5cm or so. In my experience it's proven very useful in assessing how far along a woman is before the midwife gets there, and afterwards sometimes too. Here's a bit of a write up: https://tums2mums.blogspot.com/2009/06/assessing-cervical-dilation-without.html

The other method is the hot legs method, but this only works if the woman isn't using water (even a bath - it affects her skin temperature). If she's on dry land you can use it. I can't find a write up of it online anywhere publicly accessible - I learned about it through the doula forums I'm a member of. Most women in labour find their feet feel cold. This coldness gradually extends up the lower leg as labour progresses until, by the time she's giving birth, it's at the top of the calf. My doula sisters and I hypothesise it's to do with blood being redirected away from 'non-essential' places when birthing, but whatever causes it, it also seems to work as a rough guide to progress. Get your partner/mother/friend to touch your foot/ankle and see if it feels cold. If it does, get them to gradually move their finger up your calf until your skin starts to feel warm again. How far they get between the ankle and the knee is a rough guide to how dilated you are. 

Obviously, if it's the middle of summer and you're boiling the latter method won't be as effective, but it has worked a few times for me when the circumstances have been right.

I hope these help!

Good luck!

Gina. x


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## KandyKinz

That leg warmth thing is very neat! I've never heard of that before!


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## butterbaby76

milkmachine said:


> read this :D https://sarahvine.wordpress.com/201...-assessing-dilation-without-an-internal-exam/

wow that is fascinating well done you for finding it, i especially like the bit about 3 fingers below bra line is roughly 5cm dialated clever !! :thumbup:


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## m&me

This seems like it would be hard to check. Has anyone asked their Doctor to show their husband how to check?


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## nicky

I went from having no pain and not realising I was in labour to being 10cm in 2 hours!! The 1-2 hours per cm thing def doesnt work for everybody!! I think you just have to listen to your body and go in when you can't bear it anymore.


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