Insisting on CS in lieu of an induction

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Just posting this to share my experience and hopefully give reassurance :)

I am 39+5 with DC3. I had an amazing homebirth with DC2 and am hoping for the same again with this one. However it's starting to occur to me there is the possibility i could go to 42 weeks and have to have intervention. I had a very traumatic induction with DC1 - not just physically (every intervention short of an EMCS) but emotionally very taxing. I felt forced into an unnecessary induction before I was 41 weeks by a registrar who said my baby would die if I didn't agree to an induction there and then because a sonographer said I had no amniotic fluid - despite an obstetrician saying there was no other evidence to suggest that (internal exam). She was happy for us to go home but there registrar said it was emergency and decided I had to have the induction without really talking to me or examining me.

Anyway! It was an awful experience and took me a long time to get over it. Amazing HB with DC2. Fast forward to now - I had just assumed I would go into labour naturally - and I still think I will. But I started to think about how I might be 41 weeks and they start talking about an induction and just.....no. It makes me feel panicky and sick. It's not about giving birth or even starting at home and then having to go in for intervention. It's very specifically going to hospital for an induction.

So I had my 40 week MW appt yesterday and just told them - I don't think it will, and I really hope it doesn't, but if it comes to 42 weeks, I will not consent to an induction. It's not about not wanting intervention, it's not about expectant management, it's not about post dates. It's about inductions.

They were a bit taken aback, but immediately got on the phone to the hospital, explained I was very much hoping for a HB but would refuse an induction and would only consent to a CS at 42 weeks. I have an appointment with the consultant on Friday - my due date - to book it all in with the proviso we're all hoping I go into labour well before then, that i am not budging from this stance and there is no discussion necessary. It's been written loud and clear in my notes. I have a sweep booked for Saturday too.

So there you have it - I thought it would be a lot harder but they seemed to get it straight away!

Sorry forgot to add that the sonographer and registrar had been wrong about my waters - they popped 30 hours into a 40 hour labour and the whole upsetting experience had been completely unnecessary.

I refused induction with all of mine except twins who were on time. All of mine were over 42 weeks - I clearly have long pregnancies. Mine are healthy adults who were probably better for lack of intervention.
They didn't die and my obstetrician was clear we could monitor the placental quality and health of baby daily. It meant more frequent trips to hospital but that was worth it for a few days and I wasn't going anywhere else anyway.

I'm really not interested in going past 42 weeks. I'm done already at 39 weeks, I have a four year old and a two year old and really struggling. I don't want to go past 42 weeks - It's not about that. I know at 41 weeks they would have assumed they can book me in for an induction so I needed to take control of the situation. I'm more than happy to give it to 42 weeks to hope, really hope it doesn't come to a CS. I don't even want a CS really! It's just the lesser of two evils, in my mind. It's probably completely unnecessary - hopefully I'll just go into spontaneous labour chilled out at home.

At my 41 week midwife appointment I declined both a sweep and induction, and declined them again the following week. FTM so no previous experience of labour but I had read enough / spoken to enough people to know that I was not budging... and, as it turned out, nor was the baby! DS was born by ELCS at just before 42 weeks