40weeks & 5days...come on littleone

Yep, now im 5 days overdue! Im ok though, feeling good.
Saw the backup midwife this morning after i called and requested a check up appointment.
She still refused to do anything but my blood pressure and a ctg reading...
However baby was jumping around nicely and heartbeat was fantastic! Very reassuring. My midwife is back on Monday at 9am...so 2 and a half days or thereabouts. Im booked in tomorrow at 3pm for accupuncture and a stretch and sweep by another backup midwife. And also booked in over at Rotorua on Tuesday 3.30pm for an ultrasound bio-physical. That will check the health and function of the placenta and cord etc!

So heres where im at....
Feeling much better about everything despite my midwife still being away. Feeling great about babys health and wellbeing. Still getting irregular contractions and lots of back pain...clearly not putting me in active labor but definatley doing good things!! Hubby checked my cervix last night and was like 'woah everythings soo different down there.' My more foward and closer to the entrance, much softer and surprise he couldnt find my cervix like hes been able to before. When he last checked at the beginning of the week he clearly found my cervix, could fit 2 fingers in and slightly seperate them...suggesting 2-2.5cm dialated. So im thinking either we're both crazy or my cervix is even more open then last time and as hes not trained he couldnt recognise the 2 sides of it??!!

Im feeling much better now we have a plan. I think i started feeling a tad freaked out and uneasy because i didnt know what was going on with my midwife and everything. Now i have a set plan i can follow untill this gorgeous baby decides to become earthside!

So, accupuncture and stretch and sweep tomorrow.
Midwife back monday.
Scan tuesday.
Meanwhile just going with the flow and feeling good.

NOW...Before i start getting lectures and shit for talking about "induction" and hurrying the process along etc. STOP!!! Especially all you girls out there that have never been pregnant and want to tell me that my baby will come when its ready.....or any of you that want to tell me, oh they'll 'LET' you get to at least 10days overdue before they make you book in a cser. HAVE YOU NOT BEEN READING OR TAKING IN ANY OF MY BLOG!! (Haha. Granted this is a rant, dont get offended, im 5days overdue and allowed a wee rant here and there, right!)

So, lets do a little bit of revising...
-NOONE can make you do anything, wether it be a cser or otherwise.
-Noone can make me book in a cser for being 'overdue', wether it be 5days overdue or 5weeks.
-Noone can make you start natural remedies or anything to help induce labor and speed things along.
-Noone can make you have an ultrasound at any point during a pregnancy, even if your overdue.
-Noone can make you sign anything in hospital, even if they tell you you have to.
-Noone has the right to tell you what you have to do or decide about ANYTHING.
-You have the right to leave the hospital at any point of any stage of labor.
-Noone can pressure or scare you into anything...this is where your researching and auctual knowledge about each thing comes into it!

Got all that?!

So, ive voiced that i am against induction of labor purely because your over it and for any reason other then you or your baby need it. Eg, pre-eclampsia etc.

Now your wondering because of my new plans......
I am not being induced. I have made the decision to do accupuncture and to have a stretch and sweep not because i am over being pregnant or im scared to go any later then i am. I am putting the health and wellbeing of myself and my baby 1st. I BELIEVE that the best thing for me, my body and my baby is to birth naturally and normally with a spontanious onset of labor. Now accupuncture will NOT induce labor unless my cervix, body and baby are ready to go. Accupuncture will NOT put anything foreign or artificial into my body or into my cervix, like for example piticon. Accupuncture will help to stimulate the oxytocin already in my body which may help release the extra oxytocin within my cervix already. Sex and sperm do the same things, just in a different way. I have chosen to allow a stretch and sweep. Again this will not induce me or start anything unless my cervix is found to be favourable and open and unless (again) my body is ready to go. A stretch and sweep does have the risk of rupturing my membranes of which i am fully aware. The plan if this happens is ctg monitoring at the maternity cinic every 12hours aswell as antibiotics if labor has not started within 12-24hours. This is a risk i am quite prepared to take as i believe within myself that labor is not far for me anyway. Plenty of women have a premmature rupture of their membranes and can be on antibiotics for 5+weeks with no harm done to baby or themselves. This pregnancy, unless anything was wrong i disagreed with the idea of anything more then a dating scan and a 19/20weeks scan. I do not believe in the effectiveness of a scan, again unless anything is wrong, outside of these times. I will be having a bio-physical profile scan between 41 and 42 weeks to confirm that my placenta and the baby are 100% healthy etc however i will not allow any measuring of the size of the baby as they are mostly wrong anyway. Plus i already know this baby will be a bonnie big chubby wee thing! Hehe.

Now i feel these slight interventions will be well worth it as they arent invasive, will confirm the health and wellbeing of myself and my body and will either not do anything or will help slightly speed thing along and give my body that extra boost of oxytocin which can only be a good thing. Satisfied?!

Im not here to justify any of my decisions to any of you however i want you to understand whats going on in my head and i also want to be able to look back on my choices and decisions.

Oh just one more thing...
"Why am i being pressured into a cser"..
One of the most common questions i am getting. Again read my blog if you wanna know everything, im not going into it all again and again.....But pretty much, doctors cant control what goes on in my belly. They want the baby out and feel safer with the baby out because then they can control whats going on. They start to freak out when they dont have control. This is why there is soo much controversy and lack of respect for VBAC and VBAMC. This is why the world wide cser rate is so disgustingly high and why women VBAC or not are told they HAVE TO have a cser after so many weeks and days or an induction. I was told today that a referral is sent in at 41weeks and 3days for women who are 'overdue'. My response...unless my babys health is compromised then there is no way in hell i will consent or allow a cser for being 'overdue'!! My first was 12days overdue...so what?! As long as my baby is healthy then there is no problem!