Oh trust me! I've taken all of your suggestions!
I've
- had sex
- walked A LOT
- used my breast pump
- drank raspberry tea
- ate spicy foods
- taken sips of an alcoholic beverage (couldn't give into actually drinking a whole one. It felt wrong.)
& none of it worked. There is only one last thing on the list of natural inductions.
Castor oil is a natural laxative. That's what it's used for. So, obviously, the downsides of trying it are cramps, gas, bloating, & well anything that goes along with cleaning out your system. & trust me, I know & understand all of the risks. Hell, some women have tried it & went into labor without ever passing one log prior, during, or post. SO THERE! (Not to mention, I've been a little more productive in that field than normally, anyway.) - NO I HAVE NO SHAME.
Below is my log. I'll be filling you in with details, hour by hour.
Here it goes! the Castor Oil chronicles log:
I am 39 weeks and 3 days along
I am already 80% effaced & 1 cm dilated as of a week ago w/ regular non-painful contractions every 20 minutes
The time is 11:31 am
I took 2 oz's (or about 60 ml's) of oil
I took it with V8 Splash Berry Blend & a bowl of applesauce
Symptoms I feel are a little bit of nausea. The castor oil didn't taste like much, except cheap chap stick. & the consistency is so thick, that it sorta grosses you out. But as a child, I ate one of my watermelon Smacker chap sticks, so I've had to burp this taste up before. Not a big deal. The applesauce is helping masking all this, anyway.
I'm making sure to drink plenty of water to help curb either the runs or dehydration! See you in an hour!
The time is 12:34 pm
It's been 1 hour
Symptoms I feel are a little bit of lightheaded-ness. My stomach got hard & the baby moved a bit. But now it's died down & I feel nothing. I even feel good enough to eat a bowl of soup. I'm going to take one last dose the next hour, & see what comes of that. It's only been an hour! I've got to keep my chin up!
The time is 1:32 pm
It's been 2 hours since dose #1, taking dose #2 now
I took 2 more oz's
I took it with Minute Maid Cherry Limeade & another bowl of applesauce
Symptoms I feel I haven't been feeling too much, to be honest. No gas or runs yet. I've made sure to drink plenty of water, just in case though. My stomach has felt hard, and the baby has been active. But other than that, not much. This was my last dose for the day, so we'll see how it goes. But, so far, nothing. :(
The time is 2:31 pm
It's been 3 hours since dose #1, 1 hour since dose #2
Symptoms I feel Oh yeah! I was so cocky those first few hours. Now I'm feeling it. The whole sha-bang. Nausea, diarrhea... luckily enough I've kept my system quite clean. I won't go into too much detail, but I think I'm mostly just reproducing back out the oil I drank. Contractions are starting. Nothing is consistent, but they are contracting stronger. Other than that, I'm not feeling so bad. Oh, & baby boy is still a tossing about!
I've decided to increase my fluid intake to double. Time to go sit in a hot bath. It will motivate me to drink more water!
The time is 3:27 pm
It's been 4 hours since dose #1, 2 hours since dose #2
Symptoms I feel Slight cramping & another trip to the bathroom interrupted the nap I was trying to get in during this hour. But the nausea was definitely gone by this time.
The time is 4:46 pm
It's been 5 hours since dose #1, 3 hours since dose #2
Symptoms I feel Woke up from my nap, getting some good contractions, but nothing to scream about. The oil is almost completely gone through my system. My body shot it out faster than anything I've ever seen. It's left me quite hungry. I've been double dosing the water, & it's helping me keep quite hydrated. Other than that, I've just woken up & feel fine. Hopefully we get some contractions now!
The time is 5:31 pm
It's been 6 hours since dose #1, 4 hours since dose #2
Symptoms I feel Contractions are under way. They don't hurt, but they are strong. I can feel them pushing the baby's feet up. His feet were more horizontal, but I can feel him moving. Which hopefully means with his head pushing down it may stimulate something.
The time is 6:32 pm
It's been 7 hours since dose #1, 5 hours since dose #2
Symptoms I feel About the same as the last hour. About to eat something. Stomach is rock hard & contracting. Bowels are calmed. I'm completely cleared out! I've got to rehydrate and get some glucose in my body.
The time is 7:36 pm
It's been 8 hours since dose #1, 6 hours since dose #2
Symptoms I feel Absolutely no more bowel discomfort, but my contractions have regulated to very strong & every 15 minutes. Was able to eat & stock back up on fluids. Even if this doesn't send me into labor, I'm pretty sure these contractions have to be doing something!
Okay, so I stopped updating because things stayed kind of the same. My bowels are calm, but still a little temperamental. No more nausea. Contractions are coming, 10 to 15 minutes apart and slightly painful. It's been more than 12 hours since my first dose. I was hoping this would throw me into full labor, but I was wrong.
Conclusion I'm pretty much under the conclusion that natural labor inducers do not work. I think everyone who tried them & they worked, it was only mere coincidence. "But Rachael, how can it be a coincidence that many times?" you ask. Well, it's easy. You have millions of women all close to their due dates trying odd things to get labor going & half of those million women just happened to be going into labor anyway.
My last final thoughts are, I wish baby boy would of wanted to join us by Mother's Day. I hope baby boy will join us in this next coming week. & last, but not least, I suddenly feel bad for all the times I've administered castor oil to my family in Oregon Trail II. I now know how they feel, & would never want to diarrhea in the desert.
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If anything cool happens by morning, I'll post a follow up blog tomorrow. Good night, & Happy Early Mother's Day!
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UPDATE! Well, there are no updates. After a day of waiting & wondering what is going to happen, nothing did. Besides a slight case of runs, & a little nausea, I'm fine today. Castor Oil did neither good nor bad. I guess on a plus side, my bowels have never felt so clean and refreshed! But I definitely don't recommend putting yourself through it. Not one bit.
I thought it was common for first babies to be born late. I know I was a week late, but then, my friend's daughter was two weeks early, I think.
ReplyDeleteAbout half of babies are born before their due dates (37 weeks to 39 weeks) and the other half are born after their due dates (39 weeks to 42 weeks) Doctors will rarely let a woman go for 42 weeks & commonly test to see if the baby is either still thriving, or if the due date was miscalculated - which is normally the case. My due date was not based off of my menstrual cycle, but better yet a 9 week ultrasound, so mine is almost as accurate as scientifically possible.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't be so apt on getting him out if the pregnancy hormones weren't, 1.) cause my sinuses to be blocked so bad I can barely breathe out of my nose 2.) if I weren't developing the itchy bumpy rash called PUPPP that is making me want to rip my skin off, & 3.) if this child weren't digging his feet so far into my rib cage that I'm almost convinced he's gotta break something.
LOL