Appointment update

I'm a "stretchy" 3cm dilated, about -1 station, and still 90% effaced. Very little has changed from last week. We've had our midwife Jeanne strip my membranes (wipe the inside of my cervix with her finger...sounds fun, doesn't it?) the last two times hoping that would help promote labor. Today I've had more contractions than most days as a result but still nothing regular. She did explain to us that it's really only the last stages of labor that move a lot faster in a second pregnancy. Whereas I thought dilation from 0 to 10 would happen quickly, she meant 6 or 7cm to 10cm happens fast, along with the final thinning of the cervix and baby's decent into the pelvis. It was good to get that clarification; if I had better understood then maybe I wouldn't have been convinced we were having this baby by this past weekend. So here we are...a week from the due date. I have another appointment scheduled for next Wednesday in case he still hasn't come. By that point in time I may resort to the caster oil.