Hey ladies, I am 39 weeks & have had 3 internal exams so far to check for dilation/thinning. The check at 36 weeks was mandatory, it hurt pretty badly so I was going to decline the following week. During that week I had been having some abnormal symptoms so my doctor said he thought it would be best to check again. It hurt even more that time. I didn't want anymore checks after that because of how terrible it was. I felt like a huge wuss.

Last night I ended up at L&D they wanted to check me, I allowed. Huge mistake. It's like the more I have them done the more painful they get. I should mention after all of this I am only 1cm & 60% effaced. So all of that basically for nothing.

Does it hurt like this for most of you? I asked my OB & he said it may just be because the position of my cervix is still pretty high. I'm usually not a wimp when it comes to pain. This is very discouraging for me because the thought of having multiple exams while in labor is horrifying!! & I keep thinking that if the exams hurt me this bad that I won't be able to handle labor! If yours are painful, do you have any coping techniques that you can share? I'm so nervous for my 40 week appointment on Friday because I know he wants to go for another exam. Help 😢