I can't believe how close we all are - you guys more than me though haha.
Misspriss - can I ask why you don't want to be induced? I myself have heard lots of bad things about induction so it's something I'm frightened will happen!! I was lucky my first came at 39+6 so no tampering (sweeps or cervix checks) happened and he came all on his own so I'm praying this one will be the same! In England we hardly see our midwives!! I saw mine at 36 weeks and she thought baby was breech!! So I had a scan the next day but he was still head down thankfully! I will see my doctor on Tuesday next week for my 38 week check up although I'm not sure what they can actually do because they are only GPs and won't have the dopplers etc so guessing just a check over with BP, urine etc. then I won't see my midwife until 40 weeks exactly - she said with 2nd babies they don't tend to touch you until 41 weeks but if I would like a stretch and sweep that day she would do one.. So we will have to see... Kinda hoping he comes before then to be honest!! Wishful thinking!! Haha
I've never gone into latural labor, and this is my last pregnancy. My inductions have been difficult, painful, bad experiences.
With DS, I was induced at 33 weeks due to severe pre-e. It was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. Scratch that, THE most traumatic experience of my life (I haven't had many traumatic experiences). The induction ultimately failed, ended in EMCS, it didn't help that maternal complications kept me from my son for 27 hours after his birth, and he was in the NICU. It was an awful experience. The induction part was just a small piece of the process, but it was rough. I was on pit for over 24 hours with no pain relief. Just 1-1.5cm progress, that was it.
With DD, I was induced at term for PIH, given my history of pre-e. DD was a little crooked coming down and got stuck. I was denied food from Tuesday lunch until I got someone to bring me fast food in the middle of the night Thursday night (after she was born), despite the fact that I wasn't in "active labor" until around midnight Thursday morning. I was discouraged by my doctor ("your chance of success if going down"). I was on pitocin for almost 12 hours without pain relief and with no progress, which is very discouraging. After I got the epi (which took multiple tries) and they broke my water, things moved along much better and she was born about 9 hours after. The ending was good, the birth was incredible, and I was glad I didn't have a RCS.
But each induction has been filled with anxiety, pain, and my body just doesn't seem to respond well to induction. There is also an increased risk of issues on account of the CS I had with my first. I really wanted a homebirth with my first, I wanted the experience of going into labor. I want to be able to tell my daughter what it's like to go into labor when she is pregnant, not just shrug and say "well, all of mine were induced, so I don't know what to tell you". I know homebirth is out of the question (not that I want that anymore) but I still really want an unmedicated, uncomplicated vaginal birth that I go into regular, natural labor with. So I'll know for sure if pit contractions are really worse than natural contractions. So I'll know if I have long labors or short labors.
Induction itself is an intervention that opens the door for many more interventions, which increases your risk of complications. I also suffer from anxiety, which does not help.
