thoughts on being over due

[merristems]

Hi ladies,
Im 40.4wks today and aside from plug coming away slowly since dd I havent had much else to report! Im a home birth water birth hopeful in UK. I have already been offered two sweeps and declined, they want a home visit on Tuesday and could stretch and sweep then. Im in no rush for baby as I wanted things to just happ3n, at the same time I feel twitchy because if I get to 40+12 it will likely mean induction in hospital no water birth which I really want for my spd! I know i can request monitoring after 42wks but they dont seem keen on this.
Anyway, has anyone else gone over due and declined intervention and still laboured successfully?!

If I end up in hospital at 42wks to be induced does this mean no water birth? Or only if im hooked up to IVs?

SOrry for long post fx little one shows up on own accord anyway but mummy is feeling confused and a bit helpless
Thanks for input xxx

 

[BunnyN]

I refused a sweep. They tend to work fairly quickly if they do so I decided I would try only a couple days before I reached 42 weeks if I hadn't gone into labour by then. They say doing more than one close together works best so I would have done that but I went into labour naturally and had her at 41+10. Personally I don't really agree with doing sweeps before your due date. Sure I'd rather do a sweep before being chemically induced but I don't get what the hurry is.

Apparently average for a first birth is 40+5. Lots of women go over 41 weeks but few go over 42. So try not to worry too much about it yet, easier said than done I know! Chances are though you will go into labour naturally quite soon.

 

[merristems]

Thanks bunny,
Im with you on not agreeing to sweep before due date, they already offered me 2 and im 40+4! My friend will gife me acupuncture which I hope helps prompt things without poking around inside! Im loosing quite a hit of plug now but no contractions as yet? I will decline sweep until just before 42wks I think. Gotta hope baby just shows up without help before then!

 

[wannabubba#4]

I had 3 sweeps between 40+1 and 40+ 13 but none worked, then went to hospital to be induced 40+14. Artificial breaking of membranes only, very quick but very painful labour; was not allowed in birth pool, not allowed to eat or drink, fetal scalp monitoring on my bubs throughout. They wanted to do a VE and when I was lying flat on my back his heart rate dropped, then I wanted to push, they told me NOT to push (even though it was 4th baby and my cervix was probably just about to go entirely) frightened the life out of me and hubby, people screaming for theatre, resus team called, I pushed involuntarily, went 10cm fully effaced within a few seconds , and they put me in stirrups (not recommended for SPD) in lithotomy position (also not recommended for SPD) and used the biggest forceps I have ever seen (Andersons)to extract baby (also obviously not recommended for SPD lol). With totally no pain relief at all.

Don't mean to scare or frighten you, but I would take the sweep once prior to 40+12-will only work if baby is ready to come anyway and then refuse induction with increased fetal monitoring (obviously as long as bubs and placenta are doing okay)

My 14 day late emergency forceps extraction baby was born with an Apgar of 9 totally healthy, needed no resus, and was not the dried-out overdue baby we were told to expect; and his placenta was still healthy and fresh looking.

Good luck -Bet you go yourself in the next few days anyway. Hope you get the perfect home delivery xxx

 

[BunnyN]

Thanks bunny,
Im with you on not agreeing to sweep before due date, they already offered me 2 and im 40+4! My friend will gife me acupuncture which I hope helps prompt things without poking around inside! Im loosing quite a hit of plug now but no contractions as yet? I will decline sweep until just before 42wks I think. Gotta hope baby just shows up without help before then!

I lost a piece of plug in the afternoon and went into labour about 11pm that night so hope it's a sign for you! At least it means things are going the right direction. I had booked a massage to help 'induce' me at 41+10 and planned to do acupuncture too then I probably would have done a sweep at 41+11 and again at 41+12 and 41+13 as a last attempt. Where I live it is standard to induce at 41+7 and the doctors had ideas of inducing me before my due date because baby was 'too big' but I found an independent MW for a home birth who was willing to go to 42 weeks. I was really starting to feel the pressure though. It's silly because I did a lot of reseach about it and was comfortable going to 42weeks and maybe a couple more days so it wasn't that I was worried about the baby, it was just the doctors and everyone else who stressed me out as they acted like I was overdue the minute I hit 37 weeks. The likelyhood of a first baby coming at 41 weeks is way bigger than coming at 38 weeks so I think the pressure isn't really fair.

 

[BunnyN]

I had 3 sweeps between 40+1 and 40+ 13 but none worked, then went to hospital to be induced 40+14. Artificial breaking of membranes only, very quick but very painful labour; was not allowed in birth pool, not allowed to eat or drink, fetal scalp monitoring on my bubs throughout. They wanted to do a VE and when I was lying flat on my back his heart rate dropped, then I wanted to push, they told me NOT to push (even though it was 4th baby and my cervix was probably just about to go entirely) frightened the life out of me and hubby, people screaming for theatre, resus team called, I pushed involuntarily, went 10cm fully effaced within a few seconds , and they put me in stirrups (not recommended for SPD) in lithotomy position (also not recommended for SPD) and used the biggest forceps I have ever seen (Andersons)to extract baby (also obviously not recommended for SPD lol). With totally no pain relief at
Don't mean to scare or frighten you, but I would take the sweep once prior to 40+12-will only work if baby is ready to come anyway and then refuse induction with increased fetal monitoring (obviously as long as bubs and placenta are doing okay)

My 14 day late emergency forceps extraction baby was born with an Apgar of 9 totally healthy, needed no resus, and was not the dried-out overdue baby we were told to expect; and his placenta was still healthy and fresh looking.

Good luck -Bet you go yourself in the next few days anyway. Hope you get the perfect home delivery xxx

Do you think they had your dates wrong? LO was 10 days over and although she was in perfect health she did look quite 'overcooked'.

 

[merristems]

Blimey wannabubba thats pretty full on so much for a nice relaxed birth! I cant believe how they reacted in theatre not professional or considerate to the patients needs! Did you complain? Your story is exactly my fear, strapped in stirrups on back with loonies all around me! Mmm ok this baby really needs to get cracking! XX

 

[wannabubba#4]

I had 3 sweeps between 40+1 and 40+ 13 but none worked, then went to hospital to be induced 40+14. Artificial breaking of membranes only, very quick but very painful labour; was not allowed in birth pool, not allowed to eat or drink, fetal scalp monitoring on my bubs throughout. They wanted to do a VE and when I was lying flat on my back his heart rate dropped, then I wanted to push, they told me NOT to push (even though it was 4th baby and my cervix was probably just about to go entirely) frightened the life out of me and hubby, people screaming for theatre, resus team called, I pushed involuntarily, went 10cm fully effaced within a few seconds , and they put me in stirrups (not recommended for SPD) in lithotomy position (also not recommended for SPD) and used the biggest forceps I have ever seen (Andersons)to extract baby (also obviously not recommended for SPD lol). With totally no pain relief at
Don't mean to scare or frighten you, but I would take the sweep once prior to 40+12-will only work if baby is ready to come anyway and then refuse induction with increased fetal monitoring (obviously as long as bubs and placenta are doing okay)

My 14 day late emergency forceps extraction baby was born with an Apgar of 9 totally healthy, needed no resus, and was not the dried-out overdue baby we were told to expect; and his placenta was still healthy and fresh looking.

Good luck -Bet you go yourself in the next few days anyway. Hope you get the perfect home delivery xxx

Do you think they had your dates wrong? LO was 10 days over and although she was in perfect health she did look quite 'overcooked'.

My dates were changed at my scan , moved forward by one week -so I technically was only 40+7 going by LMP and my sensible head now says 'why the hell did I not stand up for myself more' but I had already had 3 weeks of scare mongering from midwifes about placenta not working etc. But all my babies were late -and none looked overcooked lol -Maybe I just take a bit longer to bake my little buns lmao
xx

C'mon baby merristems -mummy wants to meet you xx

 

[Amygdala]

Maybe this will give you some more confidence: https://www.midwiferytoday.com/articles/timely.asp
I will be refusing induction if it comes to that and opt for monitoring instead, as long as everything is looking healthy. Lets hope it doesn't come to that for either of us, as I'd imagine the pressure must be getting worse the later you get, but it doesn't seem to me that there's is much evidence backing up the need to induce.

 

[babyface15]

I had my baby girl at 40+11. I turned down two calls for induction. I had two sweeps and two rounds of acupuncture before my water broke and I was finally in labor. I was actually resigned to accept the next induction call because I had 5 days of prodromal labor and was getting so tired. I'm so thankful it didn't come to that because I feel I had a perfect birth experience.

I think that getting a stretch and sweep when overdue can really move things along. I also walked so much every day while overdue to try and get baby moving.

 

[merristems]

Thanks ladies its good to read about your experiences and its giving me confidence to keep going, although I now have caught the first cold ive had since getting pregnant and dont feel like pushing particularly! I Will read that article now Amydala xx

 

[lynnikins]

ive told my MW's that with my first being born at 40+13 and second at 40+11 my third 40+3( but on my LMP EDD date ) then my plan is refusing induction unless there is a vaild medical reason for it and my being 40+wks isnt good enough so will have monitoring to keep an eye on baby. I was moved 6days forward from my LMP EDD so I am happy to sit waiting it out till the end of September even though my charted EDD is Sept 10th,
Strangely enough I dont feel like im going to make it that far into Sept anyway with this one

 

[merristems]

Lynnikins with that track record it seems you have a long gestation period anyway so I would trust you body and go with it. I have nothing to compare it to but being a first timer im expecting to be over by at least 7days. There's not much difference between my scan date and my conception date(2 days later) which im pretty confident about having charted for a year! Im feeling better about waiting it out now.

 

[BunnyN]

The reason for the policy of inducing at 41 weeks practiced in some places is that there is a slightly increased risk of stillbirth. However the statistics are frequently quoted incorrectly. The risk between 37 weeks and 43 weeks is pretty much the same. The higher risk of stillbirth is only because it's a longer amount of time not because it gets any riskier. So inducing at 41 weeks is an arbitrary number by that reasoning it would be better to induce at 37 weeks. After 43 weeks the risks do begin to raise. So the risks of waiting until 43 weeks are very low and need to be balanced against the risks of induction. I felt comfortable with the idea of going to 42 weeks and maybe a couple of days, to make sure I left room for a mistake in dates but if you are sure of your dates that helps too.

 

[merristems]

I read also today that the statistics they quote are from a study carried out in the 1950s an era when fetal monitoring and scans just didnt happen like they do now, obviously maternal deaths were way higher then as were still born babies because technology wasnt as advanced. The other reason we see a slight rise in risk is because we just dont let women go beyond 43wks these days so actually the statistics are probably swayed in favour of preterm labour because we know more about this than Post term labour if that makes sense!

 

[irish_cob]

Just remember it's always your choice, they can't physically drag you into a room in the hospital and force IVs and pessaries into you. And you can say no to anything you like. Even if you decide to go for induction you can decide how you want it to go, so you can agree to a pessary, but only one, and refuse pitocin. You can refuse to have your waters broken, you can refuse artificial membrane rupture, you can basically accept whatever it is you feel comfortable with and refuse what you don't. I would definitely push for monitoring first though, being induced is hard on your body and baby, and has an increased risk of interventions like forcep deliveries and sections, and why would you want to go through that when they haven't proved to you that there is any risk with continuing with the pregnancy? If the scans and monitoring show that there is a possibility of some problems with the baby, well you can make your decisions then, but it is entirely possible that you just gestate longer than 40 weeks. After all 40 weeks is an average, all babies are different, if they were all the same, they'd all be born on exactly the same day of gestation, weighing and measuring exactly the same, and so why the drs think every baby should be born at the same time is beyond me.

 

[merristems]

You're so right irishcob, we are all differe t as are our babies and our pregnancies. Im sure mine is just enjoying itself in there and in no rush! If it comes to it I will request monitoring of baby. I have mw today so hopefully baby is more engaged as was 3/5ths last week. Fx

 

[MrsTigs]

Hi Merristems, how did the mw appointment go? My little one was 3/5ths engaged last Friday and I really can't tell whether they have dropped any more since - don't feel any different this week really!

Are you still holding out til the weekend before considering a sweep? I keep wavering and wondering if having one earlier would give more time for things to start/ to have a second one before they start taking about inducing and hospitals etc....

Guess at 41 weeks today I'm just feeling a bit wobbly and emotional right now! Physically I feel great and baby is happy, but somehow that makes it feel even less likely that labour will just kick off on it's own!

Perhaps the full moon tonight will exert her influence and get the ball rolling?!

Tigs xx

 

[merristems]

Emoitional here too! Mw said babe is head down but head is wobbly? Started talkin seriously with me about booking induction date on my birthday next tues 27th! I said I didnt want to be induced but if sunday comes I will have sweep to kick start things. I came away feeling powerless and stupid not her fault just me finding it hard to make decisions whilst feeling vulnerable. Dh said he will come with me to hospital for the baby monitoring if I decline induction next week bless him, he so wants to be a daddy already but wants to support my wishes. Xxxxx

 

[MrsTigs]

Glad it's not just me who's an emotional wreck then! Seem to be swinging from feeling really relaxed and happy, to just so fed up and confused!

To make my rollercoaster worse, I was a bit concerned about baby's movements today, so took myself off to the Day Unit for monitoring - only to be lectured by random midwife for leaving my notes at home; why wasn't I carrying them with me at all times, what would happen if I had to be admitted right there and then etc etc? Er, great, I REALLY needed a telling off at that exact moment, when I was feeling a bit scared and wondering if baby was ok! Thankfully all was well, so I bought myself a huge bar of chocolate and headed straight home to scoff it and listen to my relaxation CD!

Anyway, like you say, it's really hard to think straight and make any decisions when you're feeling vulnerable. I guess, as others have said, we can only take one day at a time..... Midwife might be suggesting induction on X date, but it's only talk at this point - our babies might arrive on their own before then! And if they don't, well, maybe THAT's the time to be talking about next steps, not right now. Does sometimes feel like they just want to get their diaries in order!

Tigs xx