You know how showing a friend around your city can make you see things in a different way, or even see things you never noticed before? I thought I'd do the same thing, but instead of taking you around New York City (there's many folks who could do it better), I want to take you around your neighborhood. Your personal neighborhood. I know y'all have likely sat through an excruciatingly embarrassing health class on this subject, but I also know how incomplete those classes can be. Today I'm going to focus on your inner anatomy; click through to the link, and come on back.

I'll start with your vagina, the subject of misconceptions (it's what's inside, not outside), theatrical productions, and juvenile attention. It's a muscular tube that is lined with mucus membranes. It opens between the urethra (where you pee) and the anus (where you poop)--the middle of our three holes, so to speak. The vagina allows for things to enter (tampons, fingers, penises, vibrators) and exit (menstrual blood, babies). This is where your gyno inserts the speculum to do your pelvic exam and your pap test.
 
At the far end of your vagina is your cervix. The cervix is the opening to the uterus; this is where your gyno collects a few cells of tissue for your Pap test. The cervix is at the entire end of the vagina, and is why foreign objects--tampons, slipped condoms, the contraceptive ring--will always stay in the vagina and not get lost. It is normally open less than a finger's width, but will open (dilate) to ten centimeters when you're in labor and before you give birth.
 
The cervix leads into the uterus, a.k.a. your womb. Your uterus has a lining that prepares for a pregnancy every month. If pregnancy doesn't happen, the lining sheds and you get your period (also called menses by doctors and Latin language experts). If you do become pregnant, your uterus will slowly and greatly expand to accommodate its guest for nine months. Most women have a uterus that tilts forward toward their bladder, what doctors call "anteverted." If your gyno says you have a "tipped" uterus, she likely means that yours tilts back toward your tailbone, or is "retroverted." While not as popular as the va-jay-jay, the uterus still makes an occasional appearance in the world.
 
There are several great books that can give you more info if you'd like it. Tomorrow I'll move onto the rest of the organs inside your pelvis that can give us so much joy and grief. Have any of you wondered what exactly your gyno is foraging around for when she does your pelvic exam?