Very intimate question

[Pippaandpolly]

I'm sorry if this is just too gross - I'd be far too embarassed to ask someone in real life this question! I want to start monitoring my cervical mucus as we're having no luck with the 'shag till it happens' approach. However, I have never noticed any in my pants/when wiping, so I guess that means I have to actually reach inside? (Argh. Sorry. I'm blushing.) I'm fine with putting in a tampon or a mooncup etc but I'm embarassed to admit that I don't know where my cervix is/what it feels like. So...do I just put in a finger and see what I find? Am I looking for...a hole? ridge? bump?

Am now going to go and hide my face behind a pillow and thank God Mumsnet makes use of nicknames.

Thank you in advance for being nice about my crassness and ineptitude...

It's more of a bump.

you're looking for a rounded, smooth bit that is about as firm as the end of your nose (but bigger, unless you have a huge nose!) it feels quite different to the general inside of your vagina.

and don't worry, it's yours just as much as your ears or your toes, no reason not to touch it!

im inner cringing as im reading, its a questions that always been on my lips (mind the pun)
i dont know about you but the thought of digging round in there..... makes me cringe more than asking the actual question!!

Im just gunna contine the shagathon and keep my legs and fingers tightly crossed afterwards!!

Good luck, with finding the "bump"

hmmm....don't your sexual partners 'dig around in there'? can't be that bad, then?

Oh I don't mind digging around - I just wasn't sure what I was looking for...thank you for the 'directions'! I'm guessing that most of the time (i.e. when not ovulating) there won't be anything to really find there, and then when ovulating there'll be ewcm? (I'm slightly scared I won't find anything at all as I've never noticed it before. Presumably that would be a problem?)

Good luck MrsB33 - hope you have good news soon!

ewcm?
you mean the 'egg white' stuff?

I presume if you have a menstrual cycle you will have that, even if you hadn't noticed before

can someone please explain this to me please?

you can feel around inside to see if you are ovulating? how?

your cervix changes and produces different kinds of mucus at different points in the cycle- iirc, at ovulation it becomes much runnier, which makes it easier for the sperm to get in!

if you want to monitor things and chart there are lots of lovely helpful ladies on here

Otherwise, as I have been taught by those wise ladies

Cervical mucus - changes through the month, generally after AF in this order - dry, watery, egg whitey, creamy then dry again. Ovulation most likely when it is watery or Egg Whitey (EWCM)

Another check is the cervix - which is "up there" and feels a bit like a hard tube with a slit in the end (at least thats what mine feels like!) Depending on its status you should be able to tell OV - low, firm and closed (the hole) means not OV and when it is high, soft and open you are most likely OV-ing. But everyone's is different, so for example, I have already had one vaginal birth and so my cervix is always slightly open so for me open means, more open. IYSWIM?!? And as for high/low - when mine it only takes one knuckle to reach it but when its high I can only just reach it!

I hope that helps, it is quite crass to talk about (thank god for MN!) but very interesting!!

If you don't find and EWCM don't panic, you can still get pregnant. I've not noticed any for quite some time. Mine seems to be creamy throughout most of the month. This might be because of my age, as I am nearly 41. Regardless of this, have become pregnant within 3 cycles 6 times (just hoping this one sticks!). It does aid conception, obviously. Your body produces it for a reason. There are things you can do to help increase your EWCM, drinking grapefruit juice and taking Robitussin cough medicine both help apparently. You can also get various lubricants that do the same job, like Preseed. There are others but I can't remember the names of them.

Good luck up there !