Still Waiting

The top of my left leg hurts a lot especially when I’m sitting or lying down in the same position for awhile. 

My stomach is so heavy at times.   I had thought I stopped gaining weight, but I’ve actually gained a few pounds.  I’m now at 168 pounds.  We’re not going out as much. 

I’m still doing the natural induction methods like nipple stimulation (once for 45 minutes a day), eating pineapple and bouncing on the exercise ball.

I saw my midwife Kat for a prenatal visit on Sept. 16, 2014.  She said the baby sounded good and he was in the LOA position.  She tried to strip my membranes, but she said my cervix is closed shut.  I was not dilated, the baby is at –3 station and I’m only 10% effaced.  If you have no clue about dilation, station and effacement, check out this website.  The teacher in our Lamaze class mentioned dilation and station, but dilation, station and effacement were all fully explained in the Laugh and Learn About Childbirth DVD we watched. 

Baby George is further down than last week.  Let’s hope he moves down even more soon.  Kat will try to strip  my membranes on our Thursday prenatal visit.  She recommended seeing an acupuncturist or a chiropractor to further induce labor.  She also thought castor oil would be good to take to hopefully bring on labor.  I did some research online to find about castor oil.  The castor oil acts as a stimulant to the bowels, which irritates the uterus and causes contractions.  It does have side effects of diarrhea, vomiting and contractions that may or may not be related to labor.  If it’s done too early, it may be a long, painful labor.

I do feel frustrated and anxious.  I really want the baby to come out soon.  I know he’s not ready and he will come once it’s time.

Ivan and I took our nightly walk on Sept. 17, 2014.  I felt more Braxton Hick contractions with pain during walking.  It wasn’t anything that lasted long (only a few seconds) and it didn’t have a regular pattern to it.

I couldn’t sleep when I tried to sleep that night.  I only ended up sleeping 5 1/2  hours.

On Sept. 18, 2014, I saw my midwife Kat.  She said the baby is moving a lot and sounds great.  I asked to try to strip the membranes again.  She did a pelvis exam and I wasn’t dilated again.  I’m now 50% effaced and the baby is lower at –2 station.  She said things are happening slowly.  She wasn’t able to strip the membranes. 

Kat says the baby likes to do the sausage dance which  means he rolls from side to side.  He reacted to Ivan’s piano playing.  Maybe he’s trying to dance! 

Kat recommended seeing Dr. Wilkes for an ultrasound and a biophysical profile of the baby.  She said they had to grade the placenta to see if it’s fine for me to stay pregnant or to induce me to give birth.  I was going to let my placenta know it should start studying now.

Later that day, I made an appointment for the ultrasound and monitoring for tomorrow morning.

That night, Ivan and I made eggplant parmesan.  My friend said her friend swore that eggplant parmesan helped put her into labor.  Ivan found the Eggplant Parmesan recipe that helps induce labor.  They call the ladies who went into labor from eating the eggplant parmesan Eggplant Babies.  It’s worth a try!  I love pasta, so I was all for it.

The eggplant parmesan was tasty!

I went to Desert Perinatal Associates on September 19, 2014.  I was taken to a room for the ultrasound.  I had to give a sample of my urine. 

The sonographer looked at the baby.  Baby George was being stubborn and moving around like he usually does.  She asked if I was leaking water and I told her no.  She said my amniotic fluid was low.  Maybe I had leaked water and didn’t know it.  She showed us his feet, but I had no idea what I was looking at.  It just look like a big blob on the screen.

I was taken to the monitoring room once a room was free.  The nurse was trying to find the heartbeat.  She asked if I remember where the sonographer found the heartbeat during the ultrasound.  I couldn’t remember though.  I was strapped to the same machine from the last monitoring.  Baby George does NOT like the noise and he was trying to kick the straps off my body again.  She said I would be monitored for 20 minutes.

I was sitting there for 10 minutes and Dr. Roberts and an intern doctor entered.  Dr. Roberts said that my amniotic fluid was very low and the placenta was 3.1.  He said that I needed to give birth today or as soon as possible.  He asked for my midwife’s number.  He said he would call her and let her know.  He said that if by Monday I didn’t give birth, which he didn’t recommend, I would have to come in for an ultrasound and monitoring. 

I didn’t know what Kat would do to try to induce me.  I would call her after I got out of the appointment. 

We saw Dr. Roberts on our way out and he said the number I gave him didn’t work.  Ivan said it was right, but maybe you dialed it wrong.  He got a hold of her and told her that I needed to give birth today or as soon as possible. 

I called Kat and she said I should start taking castor oil.  She had some natural castor oil that she would bring me.  We set up to meet in 20 minutes at a coffee shop near our house. 

Ivan and I met up with Kat.  She gave me the castor oil.  She said to take 1/4 cup of castor oil in orange juice.  She said to blend it and then drink it.  I read the same thing and to plug your noise since the smell is very strong.  She said to take a bath after and drink water.  She said after 3 hours I should give her a call.  She said if the contractions got too uncomfortable, she would send over the birthing tub.

We drove back and Ivan made the orange juice-mango castor oil blend for me.  It’s best to drink the mixture right away since castor oil doesn’t really mix that well.  All I could taste was the mango which was good.

I drew a bath and relaxed in the water while I drank water.  It’s good to drink a lot of water when taking castor oil since it can dehydrate you.

An hour and 5 minutes later, I started going to the toilet and had diarrhea. 

I bounced and did exercises on the ball while Ivan and I watched a show on the tv.

I called Kat at 4 pm and told her that I was getting diarrhea and Braxton Hicks more often.  She told me to take more castor oil and call her in 3 hours.

Shannondoah arrived after 4 pm for my hypnomassage.  She was also going to do acupressure (pressure points) to help induce labor.

Ivan, Shannondoah and I went for a short walk.  Then, I had my hypnomassage which relaxed me and I fell asleep.  I had diarrhea again after I woke up.

Shannondoah listened to the heartbeat, placenta and cord.  She said he had a healthy heartbeat.

At 7 pm, he had moved down 2 inches.  We went on another walk around the neighborhood.  I was having feeling more uncomfortable with Braxton Hicks, some were with no pain.

I called Kat and she said I didn’t have to take any more castor oil for the night.  She said to bounce on my exercise ball and keep hydrated with coconut water, water and water with Emergen-C in it. 

I bounced more on the ball and later took a short nap.  We went on another short walk. 

Shannondoah left and she said she would be over tomorrow.  Kat will be coming by as well to see how my progress was.  We’re still waiting for me to go into labor. 

I’m now 41.5 weeks pregnant.  I just wish I would give birth already!  I hate waiting.  I’m worried about the baby’s health.