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FTM here. At my 41 week appointment, the doctor wanted to induce me the next day. I pushed for as late as I could get, which was 41+4, but they were concerned about the size of my baby. At that 41 week appointment I asked the doctor to strip my membranes, as I too wanted a minimal intervention birth and really felt that given time, my baby would come on her own. I ended up going into labor on my own that night and baby was born at 41+1. She was pretty big- 9lbs 4oz- but I was able to birth her without any drugs, just the way I wanted. I don't think I could have done it if I had to be induced. I'd push an induction date for later if you can, especially if you're not sure of when you ovulated. (I know exactly when our baby was conceived because we did IUI.)

@nana87: I was overdue with my second. at 40+7 at my appointment we decided to schedule an induction for 40+10... Both me and the baby were doing OK, they had me in for stress tests, fluid was OK, etc.

I was pretty favorable, I had been having some contractions off & on, and was almost 2cm.

The morning I went in for my induction I was having fairly regular contractions but they weren't doing that much yet. I decided to give cytotec a try, they put in half a tablet, monitored me for 2 hours, then I was unhooked and free to walk around the hospital, go get lunch, etc.... After walking quite a bit the contractions picked up a lot and i went into full labor...

I was nervous to do it - the OB was strongly recommending it since I was 10 days overdue, but the Midwife was telling me I could keep waiting.... i was pretty over it and felt like he was close to coming so I decided to go for the induction.

Just go with your gut... i know when you're getting close to 42 weeks the stats start getting a little scary, so maybe wait a few more days and see how you do!

@hellobeeboston: Exact same with Baby #2. Went in for my scheduled induction at 41w, already contracting but making no progress. 1 cytotec pill and I was off and running. Delivered about 7 hours later.

With Baby #1, I was induced with pit at 41w. Very slow pit taper, made super slow progress, they broke my water, still super slow progress, epidural (so I could sleep), 3 hours of pushing, vacuum assist, ALMOST needed a c-section. I was having irregular contractions when we went to the hospital. I kind of wish I'd requested to wait another day or so to see if they turned into anything, but I was already scheduled and probably wouldn't have gone over well. Plus I was so uncomfortable I just wanted him OUT!

If you think you can wait and it's what you want to do, then wait. With my 2nd, they offered the same as yours - induce at 41 or wait till 42. I wound up choosing induce at 41 because I was in so much pain from carrying her so low for so long. I could barely walk. If I could have stood the pain, I would have probably opted to wait it out.

I was induced at 41+3 after a mediocre NST. I was at 5cm dilated and only needed a bit of pitocin to fully start labor. She was born 6 hours later. I tried to wait until 41+6, but I was never uncomfortable during late pregnancy.

Same as @Mrs. Pickle: ; I am not ok with the risk levels after 41 weeks. I basically spent half of my time between 40-41 weeks researching going "over-due" vs. induction, and came to that conclusion. I am also biased because of some IF & loss, and a term-baby stillbirth that was close to me. Since you know how your body responds to induction, I'd go that way by 41 weeks.

@nana87: I'm kind of surprised with all the stop at 41 weeks pregnancy thoughts. From what I have read, a normal and healthy pregnancy can have a delivery anywhere between 38-42 weeks and that's still considered "normal". I didn't know about any of these risks the first go round and my midwife never mentioned any. Don't they do extra monitoring (in the form of ultrasounds and/or nsts) when you go overdue anyway in order to watch out for those risks? That is the standard here anyway. As soon as I was overdue I started having bpp ultrasounds every three days max to check on the baby's fluid levels, breathing, heart rate, and activity. Honestly, I was never worried at all about going to 42 weeks. Perhaps this time I would be! Also, meconium can happen for a number of reasons at any time. When they induced me they put me on a pitocin drop and broke my water right away and it was clear. My baby was all cosy and happy for a nearly 20 hour labour.

Anyway, that's just my feelings about it and I know I'm just one case! I'd go with what your care provider is advising along with your own feelings. Obviously at this point the baby is fully done anyway so a few days before 42 weeks isn't going to matter much for you based on you being a second time mum. Good luck. I do know several people who have scheduled inductions and then gone into labour.

@nana87: also in NYC and my OB wanted to induce at 41+2, if that's helpful to know. I know it's not what most women would choose, but the planning aspect of induction or a scheduled c always sounded kind of good to me

@Mrs. Goose: check out this link and scroll way down until you see "What are the risks of going past your due date?" http://evidencebasedbirth.com/evidence-on-inducing-labor-for-going-past-your-due-date/

The evidence doesn't clearly identify 41 weeks as a magical time, but it does clarify that risks start to go up as early as 38 weeks... not significantly, in some cases, but tell that to the mom / baby that it happens to.

My OB doesn't do appointments, heart rate checks, NSTs, fluid checks, ultrasounds or whatever between 40 and 41 weeks unless that was already part of the plan.

I was induced with my first at 41+3 b/c of their schedule and he was making no forward motion. With my second I was hoping for a natural labor but we opted to induce at my due date b/c I again had no forward motion, and my son, uh, kind of wrecked me (we were hoping a slightly earlier baby would be slightly smaller and less tearing). Anyway, I really wanted natural labor but when I wasn't even a finger tip dilated at 40 weeks I just said eff it and went in. Second induction was a breeze (first wasn't bad either, but I had a crappy epidural). My daughter was out in 3 pushes. I think induction horror stories are more for people who are induced early for medical reason vs. term babies. Given your 37.5 week induction, I think you'll most likely have an OK experience again. Good luck, I definitely found waiting for labor to be the worst part.

Honestly, my feeling is if you had a successful induction the first time, especially so early, I think an induction would likely go well for you at 41 weeks.

I actually wish I had asked to be induced at 40w2d when I began to have painful false labor. I barely slept for 5 days of irregular but painful contractions, and by the time I went into actual labor, there was meconium in my water and my labor went downhill from there until I had an emergency C-section (and terrible recovery). So I am not as against induction as I was before my first baby!

I wouldn't go past 41 weeks. Good luck!

@nana87: YAY!! CONGRATS!!!!!

@nana87: wow thats scary with the cord wrapped around the neck! Congrats I'm happy it all worked out

@nana87: congratulations! Glad she is here safe and sound.

@nana87: congrats!

Congratulations! Happy it worked out in the end!