Well done you Dragonrides.
You've done very well to carry your babies for this long. I like you had a very easy and enjoyable twin pregnancy and finally had a vaginal birth at 40+5 to my girls (the first head down, the second breech).
This is a bit of advice and some of the positives and negatives of my experience for you to cherry pick what you will.
I think that having no complications and feeling great is just some peoples experience but at the time everybody made me feel a little like a freak of nature as I wasn't laid low with back pain etc.
At 38 weeks we were shocked, we planned for all possibilities EXCEPT making it past 38 weeks as we were told that it didn't happen.
My advice to you is to be sure what you would like to do. You've said that you don't want to be induced so you need to communicate this to the medics. They'll probably treat you as if you are mad (I mean who wouldn't want an induction/caesarian eh?) but it is your body, your babies and your choice.
I refused to be induced unless they could explain why they'd been stating the importance of trying to keep the babies in the womb for as long as possible and now wanted to make them 2 weeks premature. There is no medical reason for induction prior to 40 weeks in a healthy multiple pregnancy with no complications.
Beware any medic who suddenly wants to give you an internal examination. I consented to my first examination of my pregnancy after discussions with a registrar in which I stated that I didn't want to be induced. The examination was very painful (though I had nothing to compare it to as it was my first pregnancy). I later learned that she had given me a membrane sweep without my consent. (Grr! Still angry about that 6 years on).
I'm a person who needs as much information before I make my judgements in pregnancy, I know not everyone is but I found out about the different ways in which an induction can occur and the drugs that you can be given.
I guess the most important thing you need to know is that if you want a vaginal delivery then the best way to achieve this is by not having any interventions. Try to stay on your feet or upright (sit in a seat, not a bed, even if you have two monitors on you!).
A little known fact is that all epidurals are mobile epidurals (which means you can use your feet, though I don't mean to walk, I mean to be in an upright position).
I wrote a birth plan and on the day every medic who came into my room told me that they'd read it and I thought that wa wonderful as it gave me the confidence that they were keen to help me deliver vaginally.
A great book for explaining the drugs used and methods of induction, so that you know all the terms and which (if any) interventions you'd consider, assuming that everything is still progressing in a textbook manner is:
Birth your way (choosing Birth at Home or in a birth centre) by Sheila Kitzinger.
Don't be put off by the title, it applies to birthing anywhere. Sheila is an active birth guru (active = vaginal with minimum intervention)I particularly recommend the following chapters
- What's wrong with hospitals? (take this in the spirit of, what the medics don't tell you), but is true.
2.Getting ready, useful tips for on the day and also letting you know what happens when you give birth so you're less freaked out by ait all. (I'm assuming it's your first birth).
3.Meeting challenges.
The second book I recommend is called Blooming Birth by Lucy Atkins and Julia Guderiian.
Finally, if you choose to do nothing else or can't face reading, please remember the following that a very experienced and wonderful midwife told me before I had my twins.
Whatever happens on their birthday if a doctor suggests you have a procedure or drug then ask the following questions:
What are the Advantages of having/doing this?
What are the consequences of having/doing this?
What are the alternatives or other options?
What happens if we do nothing now and wait?
This will get you and your birth partner all the information that you require on the day. There is an acronym that goes with it but I can't for the life of me work it out tonight
I hope this helps. Enjoy your children's birth.
By the way my girls were a healthy 7lbs 1oz and 7lbs and needed no medical assistance.
I hope you have the birth you want. Even it doesn't go exactly to plan focus on the two beautiful lives you'll be responsible for and not the delivery.