ABOVE LEFT: a front view of the uterus. The uterus is shown as if cut in half, so you can see the thickness of the walls compared to a small amout of empty space inside.
ABOVE RIGHT: a side view of the uterus and other nearby organs.
Your vagina is passage way between the inside of your body and the outside
of your body, but it is not a simple hole. It is made of serious muscles
which can pull and push. When you are not using it for anything, your vagina
is quite narrow, and about four or five inches long. If you put a finger
in it, you can feel its strong muscles hugging your finger. It will hold
a tampon in place, but it might become deeper when you are sexually excited,
or stretch wide enough to let a baby pass through it. Your vagina isn't
straight up and down. It leans toward the small of your back. At the end
of it, if your finger is long enough, you may feel a little round bump,
like the end of a nose. This is your cervix.
Your cervix is the narrow end of your uterus (or womb), which is at
the far end of your vagina. There is a little hole in its center called
the os. The os will let menstrual fluid out, and sperm in, but it will
not let a tampon in. If you give birth, the os will open wide enough to
let the baby's head through.
Your uterus is smaller than you might guess. It is about as big as your fist. You might imagine it as an upside down pear. If you cut a uterus in half, like a pear, you would see that there is almost no empty space inside. It is a ball of very strong muscles. This little thing has to be flexible enough to grow with a fetus, and strong enough to push out the finished baby. Your cervix is the narrow end of your uterus (or womb), which is at the far end of your vagina. There is a little hole in its center called the os. The os will let menstrual fluid out, and sperm in, but it will not let a tampon in. If you give birth, the os will open wide enough to let the baby's head through.
The inside lining of the uterus is called the endometrium. This lining
triples in size every month in case a fertilized egg needs to plant itself
there. It is full of blood vessels and other nourishment to support an
embryo. When you have your period the lining disintegrates, passes your
cervix and runs down your vagina.
At the top of your uterus are two horns. These are called the Fallopian
tubes. They are about as wide as drinking straws, and about five inches
long. They work like escalators to bring your eggs down from your ovaries
to your uterus.
At the end of the Fallopian tubes are little fingered things that look
like sea plants. These are called the fimbria. They actually hang above
the ovaries and draw the released eggs into the Fallopian tubes.
The ovaries are are where your eggs are made. They also produce hormones
that regulate your whole cycle. They are attached on either side of your
uterus. If the Fallopian tubes are the "horns" of the uterus
then the ovaries are definitely "ears". They are wrinkly and
about the size of a walnut. During each menstrual cycle one of the ovaries
should release one egg. Sometimes, though, two eggs are released, and if
they are fertilized then you have fraternal (not identical) twins.