Hey Kate - hang in there chook! I think you did the right thing for you in asking them to wait. It's a bit of a balancing act. For what it's worth though, not all VE's are bad. I had one when I came in (so already having cx's), which came back showing them that I hadn't dilated at all. Had another one about 4 hours later, because all my "signs" were that things were progressing & that it was all happening, but in actual fact I still hadn't dilated even a cm. And my cx's were nasty & very full on - over a minute long, and every 2 minutes. I was already exhausted. So at that point, in labour, it was really useful information, because had I not had a VE, we may have chosen to just use an epidural to manage the pain, which would only have resulted in several more hours of pointless effort, because the way DS had tangled himself in his cord, there was no way he was coming out naturally.

Anyway, you're going to do fine I reckon - you're well informed, very sensible and in tune with what you want, which is a really good start, even if you haven't done it before. So sending you lots of labour vibes for your weekend