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In an older post I wrote, I talked about how to check your cervical fluid with a folded piece of toilet paper or your clean fingers. 

BUT! What if you’re doing that and not finding anything? What if you, like many women I talk to, think that they don’t have any cervical fluid?

Well, you’re in luck, because I’m about to explain how to measure your cervical fluid, even if it seems like you don’t have any! Are you ready for this? You’re so ready.

Things you’ll need:

Hand mirror
Clean towel
Soap and water

So … it goes a little something like this — CRAM YOUR FINGERS IN YOUR VAGINA!  Just kidding. Not really. Kind of. Kidding about the “cramming” thing, but not about the “in your vagina” thing.

First things first, wash your hands. You don’t want to introduce any foreign bacteria into the vagina — it’s got a whole host of its own friendly bacteria that keeps things running smoothly, and you don’t want to upset the balance.

Now that your hands are clean … wait a minute! Okay, a lot of you reading this are probably very familiar with your vagina, where it is, how it looks, and every little nook and cranny inside and out.  But some of you may not be. For those of you in the second camp, there is an extra step.

Grab a hand mirror!

Okay, was that hand mirror very dirty? Did you take it out of the woodshed or something? Is it your husband’s shaving mirror? If any of the above are true, wash your hands again.

Now get naked from the waist down — think gynecologist’s office, but significantly less unpleasant. You can leave your socks on. No cold stirrups (hopefully). Now sit or squat on a clean towel on the floor, and hold the hand mirror between your legs so you can actually get a good look at your vulva (external genitalia). As women, our genitals are positioned in such a way that they are very hard to get a clear look at without the aid of a hand mirror, so unless you’ve done this before, you may be surprised at what you see. Look at how beautiful you are! So many little folds of soft delicate skin, so many different shades of color. Vulvas come in all shapes and sizes and colors, and each are perfect and beautiful and packed with nerve endings, so don’t you even dare consider labiaplasty, even if the vulva you see in the mirror doesn’t look like the ones you may have seen in certain adult movies (or Canadian strip clubs). Yours is perfect. I promise.

Have a look and a feel around! Gently spread your inner labia apart and take a peek at what’s in there. You’ll see your clitoris, vaginal opening, and, if you have keen eyesight, the urethral opening. Neat, huh? You may even see some cervical fluid at the vaginal opening.

Now see where your vaginal opening is? Gently slide one clean finger inside, see how that feels? Okay, now you know WHERE to stick your finger when checking your cervical fluid internally.

Crouch in a squatting position, and place one or two (if they fit) fingers in your vagina, until you feel something like the tip of a nose (if you are fertile it might be much softer). This is your cervix! The place from whence all cervical fluid hails! The motherland!

Now draw your finger(s) gently out of your vagina and have a look at them. They will be slightly damp, because the vagina is a mucus membrane, like the inside of your mouth, so wetness is a given. Other than that, is there any “substance” on them? Anything that looks like grade school paste, or hand lotion, or raw egg whites? If so … there is your cervical fluid!!!! You found it! Hooray!

If not, you may be a) on the pill, b) in the pre-ovulatory infertile phase of your cycle, before you’ve started to make cervical fluid, or c) in the post-ovulatory infertile phase of your cycle, after ovulation, and your body may have stopped making cervical fluid for the remainder of your cycle.

If you don’t notice any, check again later in the day, and several times tomorrow, and every day after that! Soon you’ll have something to record on your chart! :)

Now you can stand up, wash your hands (again), pull up your pants (this step is critical), and go about your day!

Oh man, I am totally going to post this on WikiHow! HAHAHAAHAHAAA! Go forth, world, and inspect your crotches!

Wheeee!!!  Any questions on that?  Ask me in the comments.

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  Reply

  Diana

  5:09 pmFebruary 5, 2013

  I just want to say that I love you!!! Your spirit comes out in these blog entries and I just love your openness, frankness and encouragement! Thank you for being one of the few voices helping to empower women to understand our bodies, be comfortable in them and, heck, maybe even love our bodies as they are! :)

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    Reply

    Kati Bicknell

    5:43 pmFebruary 5, 2013

    Hi Diana!!! :)

    I want women everywhere to LOVE being women!:) Thanks for your encouragement. <3

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  Reply

  Jen

  3:59 pmFebruary 7, 2013

  Loving the “grade school paste” descriptor! If I’m not seeing fluid when I know I should be, beyond just feeling around the opening of the cervix I will use my middle finger to swirl/circle around the upper part of the cervix and almost always find something there.

  Also, make sure to drink enough water every day and not too much caffeine. I and others on the TCOYF forum have noted that when dehydrated the CF doesn’t “let down” as well.

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    Reply

    Kati Bicknell

    5:52 pmFebruary 8, 2013

    Hi Jen,

    Thanks for sharing your tips! Very useful. :)

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  Reply

  Lauren

  11:29 pmMarch 14, 2013

  Strangely, for me, checking internally sometimes doesn’t yield results, even when I know I am fertile. Maybe my cervical fluid tends to be too slippery so it doesn’t stick to my fingers or something. Anyway, what I do instead is sit on the toilet, simply cup my fingers gently under the opening of my vagina and do a few Kegel exercises (similar to the semen elimination technique described in TCOYF). The cervical fluid inside comes right out onto my fingers so I can examine it. If nothing comes out, I check internally to make completely sure there’s nothing there, and if not, I consider myself dry. I generally do this every time I use the bathroom (it’s important to do it more than once a day! I’m often dry in the morning and only start having cervical fluid in the late morning or afternoon.)

  For me, this method has proven more reliable than checking internally alone. Just an idea for any women who are still having trouble finding their cervical fluid!

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    Reply

    Kati Bicknell

    10:04 amMarch 15, 2013

    Great tip Lauren! Thanks for sharing it. :)