dilation and effacement question

[ging-ging]

OK, since Im in the forum where people generally dont get checked internally, maybe this isnt a great place for it, but Im asking anyway.

Ive always beleived that unless you are preterm, dilation and effacement mean nothing. You shouldnt get checked because there is an increased risk of infection and it is not a reliable indicator of when your labor will start... even though a lot of OBs will give false hope about "oh youll go in the next 48 hours" and that turns into 3 weeks.

Why I am asking is that my midwife and two of her doula students gave me an internal at my last appointment. Since I'd been feeling what I thought was effacement, and I dont mind being a guinea pig for students, I was fine with that.

My question is, while I know that there are MANY WOMEN who are dilated to 4 or 5 and fully effaced who walk around that way for weeks... is it really the norm? Don't most people who are that far progressed go into labor fairly soon after they reach that point?

I mean, when most women are 4 cm and 90% effaced, they are in labor, they arent cooking, cleaning, running errands, and picking up their toddler. Its really uncomfortable! I'd love to sit in my recliner and just wait for stuff to happen, but that's not how life works around here. While no one knows when baby is coming, and no one is making any promises or projections, I guess I was just hoping to hear that its not normal to be this dilated and effaced for weeks. Mainstream parenting boards give me no support because they all think Ill be in labor in the next 10 minutes, and the more "granola" boards I visit just blast me for even having an internal at all and tell me I wont go for weeks. So this seemed like an educated, openminded place to ask and look for support.

Thanks. I'm trying to not feel so emotionally fragile, and I am very glad I am not having contractions every 10 minutes for 4 days or something to go along with my progression... but Ive never felt like this before and just wanted to see what others thought.

Thanks.

[hedra]

Especially with a second baby, walking around effaced and/or dilated does not seem to be that unusual. I know a few women who did that.

It doesn't mean you will go into labor sooner.

What it does mean is that the first part of your labor will PROBABLY be smoother and/or shorter.

I know two people very well who were dilated 'early' - one was checked early in pregnancy due to being high risk. She was effaced and dilated to 4 at 6 months, just from walking around a lot one day. Three days of bedrest, and she was closed and hard again. The High-risk OB said they really didn't know if it was normal or not. There's simply not enough data, and no need to find out. It could be that people dilate and un-dilate all the time, and we don't know it.

But, the hardest/longest part of labor (according to the L&D nurses I know) is effacement. So if you've already effaced and dilated both, then the hardest work is already done. You get to skip to mid-way through the first part of labor instead of starting at zero.

The second person who dilated early was my little sister - she was walking around at 4 cm dilated for two weeks (prior to her due date), and when she went to 6, that was when she was in (very very quiet) 'real' labor. Very smooth, fairly easy second labor. Quick, too, since she started at 6 cm and fully effaced.

No data, just stories. Not much help for you, I'm afraid. You could go immediately, or not. But chances are very good that you will go smoothly and quickly once you start.

Good luck! Sorry there isn't more data available, but there isn't.

[tammy]

No hard & fast answers, huh? That's the way with babies...

I tedn to efface & dilate 'early' by 3 weeks before baby, I'm 3 or so- and by 2 weeks or so I'm at lke 4. It makes the doc antsy! *laugh*

But, I also have alot of braxton hicks, so my body is working out. and when labor comes- it doesn't take very long. And I know this doesn't make sense when you're hoping it'llb e any time, but after my babies were born and in my arms- I alwasy felt like I coulda stayed preggo for another week or so. Just because after birth they change and grow so quickly!

Best Wishes!

[karin]

I wasn't going to have any internals, but curiousity got the best of me. At 39w6d, I was 2-3 cm and almost 100% effaced. I didn't give birth until 41w3d. The night before I had any significant contractions, I was 4 cm 100% effaced. I think every woman's body is different. I had tiny contractions (that didn't hurt) for several weeks.

[hedra]

(Unfortunately, since we don't know how long the labor would have been, without the dilation in advance, there's no way to compare ...)

[Y Thingy]

I don't have much experience but just want to say: Good for you! You're already halfway there, without the pain and stress of labor. It really took me 3 days of painful contractions to get there last time. Hopefully it means you'll go into active labor any moment.

[catkrazy99]

I went into labor a few days prior to being 38 weeks. After laboring at home for 30 hours, I checked into the hospital and was 90% effaced and 2 cm's. Eighteen hours later, I was still 90% effaced and 4 cm's.

[midwifetx]

I walk around at 4cm for a month before I deliver. I still have to labor pretty hard to get to 'complete'

I've had ladies start labor as far along as 7cm. It's just not as big a deal as you might think, and their babies don't just fall out in the grocery store.

[djk42]

Again, I only know my own body, but it took two days of 'real' contractions to get from 1cm to 4cm with Abgail, then two more to 4.5cm and 'stretchy' before we lost patience a bit. We had no one to watch the older kids if Abigail wasn't born by Tuesday morning, and she was already three weeks late so we augmented labor (AROM) after much prayer, and had faith that if we had done the wrong thing, medically speaking, God was still in control and could fix our human error. However, once my waters broke she flew out (about five hours later).

With Aren I was 2cm about a week before he was due, yet on his due date I was 1cm, and he was born 10 days later.

I don't remember Beth's labor- I was busy with a toddler at the time. *lol*