Dilation and Effacement Measurements

[worththewait78]

Weeks: 36+1
Dilation: 1 cm
Effacement: 90%
Station/Engagement: Baby is low and engaged

This is my first pregnancy.  I've had preeclampsia.  My doctor has been planning on inducing me once I reach 37 weeks.  My induction is scheduled for the 19th.  But when I heard how effaced I am, I'm thinking that maybe my body can do this on its own!  It's the most amazing feeling!!

[worththewait78]

So it really is just a waiting game.  I guess it's good and the baby will come when the time is right.  And if that time isn't until the 19th when I'm induced, then so be it.  I can't get myself worked up thinking I'm going into labor every time I have contractions! :)

I have actually had the opposite effect with my checks.  My first few when I wasn't dilated and wasn't effaced at all were AWFUL.  When I was dilated to 1/2 centimeter, it was "okay."  But when I was just checked and 90% effaced and dilated to a 1, I was like, "Wow, I hardly even felt that!"

Sigh ... good luck to you ... good luck to both of us!!

[PetiteWonder]

At least pretty close together..

What i found with my checks is that they have gotten more uncomfortable the more I am dilated.. When I got checked when I was having preterm labor issues back at 32 weeks and was closed, almost no discomfort... then at 1cm a little more.. but then when i was 3 cm, it was ike holy ****.. that is a bit more intense...  I also thought the same thing I had never spotted before after being checked but liek you that was before i was dilated.. My doctor says once oyu dilate and efface, your cervix is alot softer and more sensitive... so thats probably why..  though when I was checked the 2nd time at the hospital when I was still only 3 cm after the very painful intense contractions, i didnt spot that time....

[worththewait78]

Okay, so you sound SO much like me!!  I have been into L&D SO many times.  Because I have preeclampsia, I have to go in there every 2-3 days to have my blood pressures monitored.  And every time I've been in, I've been contracting.  I'll have the regular patterns where they come every 2 minutes and last a minute.  I'll labor like that for an hour, then it will let up (and I hadn't been having any changes) so they'll send me home.  But, like you, when I ask when to come back (contraction-wise) they'll say "When they're close together - coming every two mins apart and lasting for a minute or more."  I'm like, "ummm ... that's what's happening right now!"  She did mention the "when you can't walk or talk through them and they take your breath away."  But when I'm at home and contracting, and they're coming that close together, that's what already happens!  So ... sigh ... I just don't know!  

I was wondering if the bloody mucus this morning could have been from being checked too.  But I'd been checked about 4 times before and never got the blood.  But maybe it's because this time I was actually dilated and effaced??

Hmm ... who knows?!!

You and I might be having babies at the same time, it sounds like! :)

[PetiteWonder]

yeah i learned alot from making frequent trips to the hospital but i mean i was having real labor contractions because i went from 1 cm to 3 cm over night...  but its so hard  to tell..

When i went in, I had been having contractions 3 minutes apart for 2 hours... because i was told to go to the hospital if they were coming regular and at lest every 5-7mins apart...  so when they sent me home, i asked them when I would know to come back.. they said probably when the contractions are 3-5 mins apart.. and i was like but they aalready are.. so she said when they start to get more intense.. while they did get more intense, like extremely painful so i went back a 3rd time and found out there was no change.. these contractions continued for a while longer than died out..  at that point, they told me to come back when something is different...  they said it may sound unclear but it will make sense...  She said the contractions will get really intense to the point where you cant think, talk, walk during them, will be coming quite frequently, and will not be dying down... Of course how long you have to wait to see I dont know because like i said both times before i went into the hospital, I was timing contractions for over 2 hours..

for me, my contractions have stopped.. i still have some periodically but i think these ones are BH ones again because they dont form any pattern so I guess, maybe its true, ill know if i start gettng more intense contractions again that start coming regularly..

As for the blood tinged mucous, it could be a bit of a bloody show/mucous plug.. or it could be from your check.. I had it both times after my checks at the hospital, mainly the next morning.  It is a sign that things have been stirred up there...  today when my doctor did my membrane sweep, when she took her glove out, it was coated in mucousy blood (tmi sorry)...  the membrane sweep she did last week, that didnt happen.. She referred to it as a bloody show still

I believe the cramping is normal and can generally be related to the thinning of the cervix having the babys head move down causing more pressure..

[worththewait78]

Petite, thank you for responding!!  And I TOTALLY feel for you!  I'm sorry that you've been "stuck" in this place.  And you're right - it's SO hard to really tell.  Even though I feel fairly educated about this whole process, the one question I DO have is "How do I know if it's REAL labor?"

We were thiiiis close to going into the hospital last night because I was having heavy and steady contractions again.  They were lasting about 1 - 1 1/2 minutes each and coming about 2 minutes apart.  I labored like this at home for about an hour.  Just as my husband called his mom to see if she could come and watch our two year old (who was adopted- this is our first pregnancy) while he slept, the contractions let up and became mild.  So we all went to sleep.

I woke up at 5:00 this morning with some blood-tinged mucus.  Is this the "bloody show?"  Or losing my mucus plug?  I have pretty bad cramping, but I heard cramping is normal???  I haven't had really strong or regular contractions this morning.  Just small infrequent ones.  If they get intense and regular again, I think we'll head to the hospital.  I just hate to go in and have them tell me it's all pre-term still!  I just don't know since this is our first pregnancy!  LIke I said - even though I have educated myself a lot, I still feel clueless when it comes to the "Am i actually in labor?" question!!

[PetiteWonder]

Its really hard to tell, I hope for your sake that you do go into labor naturally just because its nicer than being induced... but its really hard to tell... At 37 weeks, I was 3 Cm dilated and somewhere between 80-90% effaced depending on who did the check......   Im still pregnant here at 39 weeks 4 days... its really annoying and im sure i didnt progress at all over the last week and i have been trying everything but castor oil...

baby has been at station 0 for so long...  I really hope that things move along for you between now and the 19th, you have time!!! and it would be so awesome if it just happens naturally. =)