QuestionI am 23 years old and this is my first pregnancy. I am 33 weeks pregnant and the first date of my last period was March 1, 2004.
I am feeling major pressure in my lower region so I requested that my doctor see me so that I may be checked.
I was told that I am closed but thinned to 60%. I was seen two weeks ago and was completly thick.
I was told that I would not make it to my due date and that they do not see her coming within the next week or so but to keep her in until I am 35 weeks complete.
My question is do I have to get to 100% efaced before i start to dialate? There is ALOT of pressure below and she has also already dropped down. The doctor can feel her head on the other side of my cervix even though I am closed.
Thank you!
Janeen
AnswerUsually, in the first pregnancy,you will first efface and then start to dilate your cervix. HOwever, you can efface and dilate at the same time. If you are still closed, although are 60% effaced, the object is to try to keep the pregnancy in your uterus until, at least, 35-36 weeks, when the baby's lungs become mature. When you start to have contractions, at the level of your belly button, every 3 minutes from the beginning of the contraction to the beginning of the next contraction, and each contraction lasts for at least 45 seconds, and this continues for an hour, go to the hospital or call your doctor. If the doctor believes tht it is too early to deliver, you may be started on a tocolytic agent (terbuterol).
