Monday Sept 9th rolled around and with it the reality that I was 42wks gestation. I'd never gone past 41wks before so we were definitely in new territory. I'd had a biophysical profile and a non stress test the week before and baby was doing well but the midwife came over that morning to do another non stress test to keep an eye on our little one. I had tried a few home labor encouragements with no luck. We only had one option left and I was staring down a possible induction which I absolutely did not want. So we agreed that I would drink castor oil that night.
The castor oil instructions were a first dose around bedtime and then two hours later a second dose. The plan was to take the first dose at 8pm and the second dose at 10pm. I chose to mix it with orange juice. The first dose went down okay. Nothing really happened. I snuggled with my toddler as she fell asleep and hoped this would work. Just before taking the second dose I started feeling really nauseous so it was no surprise that the first sip of the second dose immediately caused me to throw up. I rallied and got the second dose down. I'd been asked to text my midwife when I was taking the second dose because they wanted to be on alert with my history of quick labors. The original plan was that they'd head my way and wait around closer to my home in case things set in fast. However after my second dose I just wasn't feeling anything and planned to go to bed. I said I was fine with whatever they decided to do. They decided to stay put but gave strict instructions to alert them if anything changed. By this time it was about 10:15pm.
At 11:38pm I woke up needing to go to the bathroom. If you're unfamiliar with castor oil that's what it's known for...a laxative. My first contraction hit at 11:41pm. I spent roughly twenty minutes on the potty before I managed to make it back to the bedroom. Right as I tried to climb into bed another contraction hit. Jesse stirred and knew by my countenance that he should get up. While I was still unsure I was in active labor (my body likes to practice and I often have stretches of contractions that fizzle out) I didn't argue with him. I headed back to the bathroom as the castor oil continued to do its job. After about ten minutes I made it back to the bedroom as sat on the birthing ball. At 12:15am I text my contraction log to the midwife and called her. I said I wasn't convinced it wouldn't fizzle out but that I was feeling shaky and the contractions were pretty intense despite not really having a steady pattern. She said they were headed my way.
Things from that point went down pretty fast. I only managed timing two more contractions before I gave up. The last contraction on my log was 12:19am. I moved to the bed and managed a contraction there before asking Jesse to come hold my hips. He knew this was a sign that I was likely entering transition. Very soon after I hit my "I don't want to do this" phase. Another sure sign of transition. I told him I needed to go to the bathroom again but I knew in the back of my mind I needed to be mindful because sometimes the baby descending into the birth canal can have the same feeling. I got to the toilet and sat down, had another contraction, and quickly realized I did not in fact have to go potty. Jesse had followed me to the bathroom to check on me because he had the same thought. After he'd left I felt inside and could feel the baby's head. I got up as quickly as I could and headed back to the bedroom. As soon as I got there I put on the sports bra I like to labor in and set myself up on my makeshift birth stool (a squatty potty with a boppy pillow on top which we lined with chucks pads). It was my first time laboring on any kind of stool and I can't say it was my favorite but honestly everything feels so out of control during transition and pushing that I can't say anything would be my favorite haha.
We'd asked at my appointment what to do if we thought the baby was coming before the midwife and she'd told us to call her and have her on speaker phone. So at 12:33am Jesse called our midwife to let him know I was in transition and likely about to push. She stayed on the phone with us and bless her tried to keep me calm. I honestly was not at all panicked about delivering without the midwife present, I just hit a weird panic mode during transition. She told me I could try to lay on my side if I wanted to try to slow things down. I told her I did NOT want to do that, I wanted it over. I didn't love being in the squatting position and she suggested I come down to hands and knees but I told her I didn't think I could. Instead I leaned back against a chair and on my arm and rolled with it. I got a small break where the contractions seemed to cease and I could breathe and I took full advantage of the break. As soon as the break passed I knew my body was starting to push. With the first push the baby's head was crowing and Jesse reminded me if I wanted to catch this baby I needed to do it now. I just couldn't figure out how to get off my arm and back upright. With the second push as the shoulders passed through I was able to sit up and reach down and catch the baby's body along with Jesse and pull the baby up to my chest. I quickly asked one of the girls for a towel to wrap baby up. He cried immediately. Time of birth was 12:42am.
Yep if you went back at looked at when my first contraction was, I was in labor for only one hour and one minute. When I looked down at Jesse's phone and saw the time as Jesse told the midwife the shock of how quickly I had labored started to set in. We were so caught up that we didn't even bother to see if the baby was a boy or a girl until the midwife (still on speaker phone en route) asked the girls if they had a brother or a sister. I gathered the girls around me and we set up a phone to video and pulled the towel back and revealed they had a baby brother! The video is so sweet but sadly Margaret is not visible in the frame which hurts my sentimental mama heart. I so wish I could see her face.
Shortly after I moved to the bed while Jesse tried to answer all the midwife's questions and evaluate me with her guidance. I delivered the placenta. Soon after the assistant midwife arrived and was able to take over and then the midwife not long after. As time went on we realized I was bleeding a bit more than is ideal so I did end up getting a shot of pitocin in my thigh. I was able to get up and get in the shower to rinse off and after the shower we found that some of the amniotic sac had remained inside. This was likely the cause of the excess bleeding. Once they were able to clear that out my bleeding slowed down and was no longer a problem.
Little man, who really isn't that little, weighed 9lbs8oz and was 21.5in long. Not my longest baby but definitely my heaviest. It's funny though because he really isn't very chunky, probably because he's so long. We are both well, he's adjusting to nursing, and the sisters are all smitten. He's the perfect completion to our family and as always we are so grateful for God's goodness through it all.
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