help to avoid another induction.

[sunshine_sieben]

Great post, Hoobley! Wanted to give you rep points, but they won't let me give you points as I seem to be doing that all the time It's so good to have you on here. You manage to state your point, back it up with research and at the same time, you don't sound offensive or pushy about it. Well done!

I agree with pretty much everything in your post. I never had to really worry about induction as DD was born at 39w2d. I do feel that her date of birth was not only a coincidence. The night before she was born, a lot of things fell into place for me. We managed to stall a house extension we were doing (long story, but instead of it being finished before bub was born, the builders delayed it and decided they wanted to start on my due date!), my mum arrived from Germany (she was supposed to be there for the birth) and I finished an important work project, at 1am Sunday morning. I knew, from now on I could concentrate on the impending birth. I woke up at 4:30am on Sunday morning (3 1/2 hours after finishing the project) with bloody show and my first contractions. Maya was born at 4:45pm the same day.So I guess my point is, trying to get rid of stress gives your body the signal that it is now safe to bring a vulnerable baby into this world.
The day before DD was born, I had gone for a long walk with my mum. Well, not a huge one, but maybe 1 1/2km. it felt long to a pregnant lady with oedema so bad, she couldn't fit into her thongs
I also drank Raspberry Leaf Tea from 26 weeks (built up from 1 cup a day to 3 cups a day). I don't know whether that helped, but I don't think it did any harm.
And I took EPO, just 1000mg orally, none vaginally, that was just too much for me...

In your situation, I would try and move a lot to get things moving into the right places.

Also, From what I have read, the position of the cervix before active labour doesn't really have much meaning. Most posterior cervices will move forward during labour. And that move from posterior to anterior could take days or minutes, depending on you and your labour.

Jgal, I really don't understand the logic behind your doc's actions. First he gives you pitocin to strengthen your contractions. The he realises it's too much and your cervix is swelling and instead of backing off on the Pit, he blackmails you into an epidural. The epidural wouldn't weaken the contractions, though, just stop your perception of them, so I don't get how he thought that might reduce the swelling...
I also agree with Hoobley's point on the cord being wrapped around his head most likely being the reason for labour not starting/progressing. Quite possibly, you woud have been able to do it on your terms a few days later after bub had untangled himself without the stress and with a better outcome.

All the best and I really hope you can avoid an induction this time around!
Saša