38 weeks- I can be patient

I was reading this post from when I was about 39 weeks pregnant with Adelle and suspect I might need to revisit it from time to time in the upcoming weeks.

Of course, things are a little different now. I had the luxury of not really having outside pressure as to when she would be born then. She was fine all snuggled in there, no concerns about antibodies. Any impatience on my part was just that- mine.

I had my appointment yesterday and the baby was looking well. But both of my doctors asked if I wanted to schedule my delivery at 39 weeks. It was mentioned pretty casually, no pressure at this point. I get it- that is their job, get the baby out before any problems arise. And he has done so beautifully up to this point. Why risk it?

I politely declined, and they seemed to understand. I still let it bounce around in my head though, because that is what I do. Benefits of going into labor on my own: not as painful (I suppose- as a general rule, spontaneous labor is less painful), the freedom to do what I need to do in early labor, the chance for the baby to get to initiate labor and knowing he is really ready to be born. Risks: we know that he seems to be doing fine right now, but that won't necessarily be the case in a week. Or two.

But the perinatologist has reassured me several times, that at this point, the risks of him becoming anemic are fairly low. His MCAs have been very good- really not even close to being in the anemic range. So what is another week? Or two?

The bonus in this situation is, should we decide to induce for whatever reason, my Bishop's score is fairly high, so it would likely not be the long, arduous scenario that Liam's induction was. Also, I have been having a fair amount of "real" contractions sporadically for the last week, so if I could get them to get close together and regular, labor might not be too far off, right? Right? (I am trying not to put too much hope in this situation because I know you can have on and off labor for weeks).

I feel fine with the decision to wait right now. But as the weeks tick by, I am afraid that the pressure (internal and external) will become greater. I am not too keen on him being in there with the antibodies, either. So, I guess at this point, I am hoping that he will come on his own sooner rather than later and save me the internal conflict. But until then, I just have to be patient and take it one day at a time.