Everything A Guy Needs to Know About Dilation
Posted on 01 31, 2008 under Predad by Noodad |
There are many things in this world that men naturally do not grasp right away. How to spend more than 5 minutes getting ready in the morning is one. The difference between a duvet cover and a bedspread. The appeal of Matthew McConaughey . But one of the hardest concepts to grasp for a predad is the idea of “dilation”.You will hear the word dilation (along with the word’s variations: dilating, dilated, etc) many times over the course of a pregnancy. The definition of dilation, as it is described in our very own Predad Dictionary , is:
DILATION
Noodad Definition: The amount the cervix has opened. When the cervix dilates to 10cm, it is called “fully dilated” and it is time to push.
Why You Need To Know It: Because the doctor will be fingering your wife and then telling you a number. You should know what that number means.
You may first hear the term during childbirth class to which, if you were like me, you will either imagine some mysterious, pulsating, cave or the Sarlacc pit on Tatooine . But it really isn’t that scary. And your wife’s cervix won’t slowly digest you for 800 years.
Here is a list of everything you need to know about dilation:
- Doctors measure dilation by fingering your wife. Get used to it
- Without the cervix opening, you ain’t gonna have any kid (vaginally). But that doesn’t mean your wife still won’t experience contractions .
- The water can break before your wife is fully dilated sending out a small trickle of amniotic fluid
- She could also be fully dilated without the water breaking
- Dilation goes from 0 - 10cm. 10cm is called “fully dilated”
- Don’t spend much time dwelling on how big 10cm is to your wife. It will result in pain for you
- Don’t spend too much time dwelling on how big 10cm is compared to how endowed you are. Joking about that out loud will result in pain for you
- Fully dilated doesn’t necessarily mean you can start pushing. She also needs to be 100% effaced (the thinning of the cervix measurement from 0 - 100%)
- She could be a little dilated for weeks. As long as the water hasn’t broken, induced labor will not happen. If the water breaks, the baby needs to be delivered within 24 hours
- She could be 1cm dilated for a week and then make up 9cm in an hour
- She could, although rare, also be 9cm for a week and it could take a week to make up the last cm
- Some friends, family, and colleagues will know what dilation and effacement means. Do not get into this discussion with them unless you are willing to sit through up to 30 minutes of them sharing their own stories
- You are better off just revealing this knowledge to your wife and the doctor and playing dumb to everyone else
- Dilation is not painful for her. Waiting for her to fully dilate can be
Hopefully this knowledge will help you stay calm, attentive, and helpful during childbirth. Good luck noodads.
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"Dilation is not painful for her"?? Yes, it is
very painful!
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I hesitate to disagree with a woman who may have experience childbirth firsthand but I am pretty sure it isnt the dilation that hurts, its the contractions that do.
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