finally...we had our baby! Aug 31 8lb9oz 5:22am. Was aiming for my 3rd home birth but ended up having her in the hospital. Took caster oil on Tuesday the 30th (around 10 days after EDD). I had had success with the oil before so thought I'd give it a try. Had ctx all day but then they stopped, midwife suggested I take another dose. Ctx started again, way more intense. We timed them and they were coming every 3 min lasting almost a minute. Midwife came, checked me and told me I was at 2. I had been at 2 all week. 5 hours of intense back labor ensued. No dilation progression, effaced from 50% to 100%. The midwife didn't know if it was the caster oil causing irritation or if I was going to progress into labor. I guess you are not "on the books" until 4 cm. She suggested a couple of glasses of wine, a bath. None of this worked. I agreed to go into the hospital to get a shot of morphine. She thought that I needed to rest if real labor started and it took awhile. If I had not had the intense back labor pains I would never have done this. But boy, back labor is like nothing I have ever experienced. Got the shot, came home. Rested a bit through ctx then my water broke. Since there had been questions about her positioning and the back labor, we headed back to the hospital. I was dilated to 6 when we got there and 10 min later I was pushing her out. So technically I was in "labor" for less than 2 hours. I've always wondered what those intensely fast labors are like. Holy cow.
Crazy morphine caused her to have to be resuscitated when she was born. Luckily there were no problems. The midwife failed to tell me about that major side effect of morphine. Dealing with that in my own way. Learning to be ok with imperfection and knowing that my gut about going to the hospital was right because of all of this.
But we have a beautiful little girl. Thought for sure we were having another boy. So she is a wonderful surprise.
Crazy morphine caused her to have to be resuscitated when she was born. Luckily there were no problems. The midwife failed to tell me about that major side effect of morphine. Dealing with that in my own way. Learning to be ok with imperfection and knowing that my gut about going to the hospital was right because of all of this.
But we have a beautiful little girl. Thought for sure we were having another boy. So she is a wonderful surprise.
Congratulations! So very glad to hear you and your baby girl are doing well! THE most important part of the birthing process is the positive outcome of healthy baby healthy mom! 
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