After the 
of calling out the mw and not being in labour I resigned myself to never having the baby and not mentioning it again 
At 40 +10 a HB was looking less likely as I didn't feel like insisting on one and ending up having a MW who was forced to attend...just seemed like it would cause bad vibes in a situation where you really need support. After about 5 sweeps nothing of much significance was happening and I wasn't even dilated.
Reluctantly I went to the ante-natal ward to talk about inductions and to see if they would support me holding off until +15. The ward was really busy, I spoke to a lovely consultant who laid out all the options, including ARM, pessaries, waiting it out etc. She went through all the risks of hanging on and of various forms of induction. So the Drs and MW were really supportive.
By this point I was really fed up and DP and I talked it through. The waiting was really emotionally stressful so I decided to go for a pessary and see what happened.
before giving the pessary they wanted to monitor me for an hour. Te last 10 minutes of the trace the baby's heartbeat was really high so the consultant wanted another 40 mins of normal heartbeat.
At this point I was really disheartened because it felt like a cascade of intervention was about to happen. Te baby's rate was raised every time it kicked and they were monitoring in the late afternoon, which is the time the baby always kicked. The MW completely go this but the consultant was going on about fetal distress. You could even see the baby kicking when the rate went up.
By about 8pm DP turned up after finding a baby sitter and the heartrate finally settled. A new consultant came on duty and examined me before the pessary only to find I was 4 CM and the raised heartbeat was probably due to contractions. She told me I could go home and also suggested having a look at the new MLU on the way out.
So we popped into the MLU and the MW showed us a completely lush brand new birthing suite...twice the size of our front room with a double bed, bean bags, giant sofa and birthing pool and shower. At this point we looked at each other and thought, sod it...let's have the baby here. It was about midnight at this point and was contracting every 6 mins or so, but not totally painful.
Te MW had a look at me and suggested we went for a walk to speed up the contractions, they picked up a bit but not much. She then suggested we go home and came back when the contractions were closer and stronger and I was in active labour.
So we started to walk ome and by the time we got to the exit they were every 4 mins and bloody painful. So back we went.
I walked around the room and got myself into the 'fuck this hurts but I can cope' zone and DH fell asleep doing the crossword.
The contractions dropped off again as I had a rest and slept for half an hour, then I went to find the MW to tell her I thought it had all stopped and I might as well go home.
I couldn't find her so had a walk round the corridor, got back to the room and then they started coming hard and fast....so knew I was in active labour.
By this time it was about half four. By 5 I was sucking away on the G&A quite nicely whilst leaning over the bean bag.
Poor DH was at a bit of a lose end as I didn't really want anyone touching me or anything. The MW was really hands off and left us to it, just said to call if we needed her and she checked the heartbeat every half hour or so. At about 6a.m. my waters burst in spectacular fashion as I lean over the bean bag chugging on the gas.. it made me jump and I screamed so the MW came rushing in It really started to hurt at this point so I got in the water. It was instant relief and I didn't even want the g&a anymore.
I don't know i I'd been reading too much Ina may but I could definitely feel my cervix opening up and was doing all the visualising of waves and caves and flowers and all that other hippy stuff. By about half six it was getting really hard and the transition was starting and I was sick, just at the same point I ad been with L and J. Just after 7 I was ready to push and the pain dropped off. I could really feel my muscles contracting and pushing the baby down,like a wave of energy passing through me, it was really intense and strangely powerful.
I could here myself mooing through every contraction too, but it really helped. The MW watched from a distance and DH sat and supported me from the pool side. I felt her head being born and the rest of her followed with the next contraction and I pulled her up to my chest. It was completely calm and amazing. We waited until the chord stopped pulsing and then checked if she was a he or she.
At this point DH said er breathing was a bit shaky and the MW whisked her off.
I got out the pool and the MW told us the docs were looking at her. So I jumped in the shower, and they took her up to SCBU with DH.
DH came and helped me shower, we weren't allowed up to SCBU for another hour, so the MW checked me over and we basically had to wait. The MWs were lovely though and so were the Drs on SCBU. We went to see her and were told she was stable etc and to come back in an hour or so.
So we went back to the MLU had tea and toast and transferred to post natal. SO after a pretty serene and straightforward labour it was all a bit of a shock.
Luckily she was fine, they think she aspirated some fluid at some point in the labour which caused er lung to collapse. However her breathing was stabilised within a few hours and her xray was normal two days later, so they kept her in and gave her ABs as a precaution. All the docs, nurses and MWs were amazing and lovely and took great care of us and DD. She looked completely out of place on SCBU amoungst all the tiny babies as she weighed a hefty 8lb 11!
Was actually glad to be at the MLU considering how thing turned out and we are over the moon to have her home with us....
Epic