I asked my girlfriend about her first exam last night. I made sure to get every detail I could. I will tell it from her perspective.....
It was the July between my sophomore and junior year. I had turned 16 three months prior. I wanted to go to a cheerleading camp that was coming up soon, but I needed a sports physical in order to participate. I told my mom, and she said she'd make the appointment for me.
Later that evening after dinner, she came to my room and told me my appointment was for next Friday. She then told me that she talked to the doctor, and they agreed that I should have my first "big girl" exam. I had an idea what that meant, but I asked anyway.
My mom said, "Well, you're going to be a junior in a couple months and you are 16 now, so now is as good a time as any. And I was your age when I had my first."
I was horrified, but my mom explained the whole thing to me, and I felt a little better knowing what to expect. In my past physicals I was always able to keep my bra and panties on under the exam gown and only the waistband of my panties was lifted for a quick visual check. Then at my last physical it was to remove everything except panties and put on the gown. I received my first breast exam and was shown how to do a breast self-exam. After the breast exam, while still lying down, the doctor covered me back up with the gown, then he told me to bend my knees and bring my heels to my bottom. Then as he was snapping on latex gloves, he told me to lower my panties to my ankles, and let my knees drop open all the way to the sides. He then parted my labia and looked at the opening to my vagina and my urethra. He said all looked normal and to pull up my panties and sit up. That was bad enough, but the thought that I was going to get a much more thorough exam petrified me.
That Friday morning came and I showered and shaved, including my bikini area. That was the first time I shaved myself completely bald, because for some reason I felt embarrassed about the doctor seeing me with hair down there. I ended up liking it bare, so I've kept it that way ever since. My mom and I were going to my aunt's house after to go swimming in their nice inground pool, so I wore a shiny gold bikini. It was a halter-style bikini top and low-cut hip-hugger bikini bottoms. I wore a short, snug-fitting black wrap-around skirt and a tight white camisole-style tank top. I put on strappy sandals, and we were off.
When we arrived at the doctor's, I signed in and filled out some paperwork. Eventually, I was called back. My mom asked me if I wanted her to go with me. I hesitated, then said, "No, I'll be fine."
The nurse took me back and took my vitals and had me provide a urine sample. The nurse told me to remove everything except my panties and to put on the gown, opening in back. She left and I slipped off my tank top, unbuttoned my wrap-around skirt and took it off and removed my sandals and bikini top. I put the gown on, tied the strings, and sat up on the table to await my fate.
Soon the doctor and nurse knocked and came in. I handed the doctor the form for the sports physical. He asked what sport, and I said cheerleading. He said that my physical will also include strength and range of motion tests. He began with the eyes, ears, nose, and throat exams. Then he undid the top tie of the gown, slid it down my shoulders, and listened to my heart and lungs. Then he told me to let my gown drop down for the breast exam. After examining me sitting up, he had me lie back. He pulled out the table extension for my legs and did the breast exam again lying down. Then he listened to my heart some more, then had me lie on my left side and listened to my heart some more. Then he told me to lie on my back again and explained that he was checking my heart in different positions to make sure it was healthy, since I will be training hard.
Then he had me slip my arms back into the gown and raised the bottom of the gown all the way up to my rib cage. He saw my bikini bottoms and asked me if I was going to the beach afterwards. I said, "No, going swimming at my aunt's." He said to make sure to use plenty of sun screen! He then listened to my abdomen, then pushed and prodded my abdomen thoroughly from my rib cage to my bikini bottoms, which started a few inches above my pubic bone. His fingers slipped under the waistband and pushed around some more. Then he checked my femoral pulses by slipping two fingers under my bikini bottoms into the crease of my thigh on one side, then checked the other side the same way. He then pulled the gown down and checked my legs and pulses in my feet. Then he moved each leg one at a time in all directions, checking range of motion. He then had me sit up, checked my reflexes, more range of motion and strength tests for my arms and shoulders and had me stand up for some balance checks, do some squats, and bend over and touch my toes while he checks my spine.
Then came the most dreaded words I could hear at that time. He told me to remove my bikini bottoms and have a seat at the end of the exam table. I reached up under the gown and hooked my thumbs into the string sides of my bikini bottoms and pulled them down and off, placing them on top of my other clothes on a chair. I sat on the table, and the doctor pulled the stirrups out while the nurse elevated the head end of the table to about 30 degrees or so. The doctor explained the whole exam, showed me the speculum, which he called a virginal speculum. It was a stainless steel one with very narrow blades. I had told him that I was a virgin, which I was, so I'm glad he used that one! He showed me the ayre spatula and cytobrush he was going to use for the PAP smear, and the glass slides for the samples. He asked if I had any questions, and I said no.
He told me to lie back, and he helped me put my feet in the stirrups, since it was my first time in them. He had me scoot down until my butt was just over the edge. He told me to relax and let my legs fall open as far as I can. He turned on a lamp and shined it between my legs. He pushed the gown up just above my belly button. He put on latex gloves and told me he was going to check me externally first. He parted my labia and checked my urethra, then he said he was going to partially insert a finger to milk my urethra and check my Bartholin's glands. It felt weird having him do that. At that point in my life I had only had tampons inside of me, so a finger felt strange to me.
He said, "So far so good. Now for the speculum exam and PAP."
The nurse ran warm water over the speculum, handed it to the doctor, then he said to relax, I might feel some pressure. I felt him parting my labia again, and then cool hardness entering me. As it went deeper into me the pressure increased. Then he said, "I'm going to open the speculum. Try to relax. You might feel some more pressure."
As he opened the blades, I felt the pressure intensify, but it didn't hurt. I did feel a fullness inside of me, though. He told me he was going to take the samples for the PAP smear. First the ayre spatula, no problem; then the cytobrush being pushed into my cervix and rotated around. That one hurt a little, mostly some cramping, but it was over quickly. He smeared the samples on the slides and the nurse sprayed a fixative onto the slides. The doctor then closed and removed the speculum. He said everything looked good that far.
He stood up and told me he was going to perform an internal bi-manual exam. He lubed his index and middle fingers, told me to relax and breathe deeply in and out. I felt his fingers first touch me, then slowly pushed them into me as far as they would go. I gasped because he had big fingers, and the virginal speculum didn't even fill me up like that! He asked if it hurt and I said no, just uncomfortable. He told me I was doing very good for my first pelvic exam, and I felt him pushing down on my lower abdomen with his other hand. He wiggled my cervix back and forth and front to back, asking if it hurt. I said no. He then pushed up on my cervix and with his other hand pushing down and he thoroughly checked my uterus. Then I felt his internal fingers shift to my left side while his abdominal hand trapped my ovary and he felt it between his fingers and hand. I winced a little in pain, and he said, "Sorry, but the ovaries are difficult to feel, so I have to press firmly." He repeated the exam on my right side.
As he slid his fingers out of me he said, "All done. Your cervix, uterus and ovaries are nice and healthy."
The nurse handed me some tissues to wipe with. I wiped myself and she held up the waste basket and I threw them out. She then told me to push against the stirrups and slide back, then she helped me sit up. I pulled the gown down to cover my thighs. The doctor went over the results of my physical, said I was in excellent health, and I was very brave and relaxed for my first pelvic exam. He filled out and signed the sports physical form, then the nurse handed me a pantyliner saying I might have some spotting from the PAP smear, told me there were baby wipes on the counter if I wanted to clean up some more, then they left. I used the baby wipes to freshen up, then took a tampon out of my purse and inserted it into my vagina. I knew about the possible spotting ahead of time, thanks to my mom, so I brought a tampon so I could go swimming.
I then pulled on my bikini bottoms, my bikini top, wrapped my short skirt around my hips and buttoned it, pulled my tank top on, then sat down and put my strappy sandals back on. I left the exam room and met my mom in the waiting room. We got out to the car and on the way to my aunt's we talked about my exam. I told her that although I was highly embarrassed and it was uncomfortable, it wasn't that bad, and I felt good knowing I was healthy and developing normally. And the doctor was very good at explaining everything and he was very gentle. I went to him every year for a PAP and pelvic for several years after that until he moved out of state.