tomorrow is castor oil day!

[plummum]

Week 42 is Friday and OB wants to induce then. Midwife and I still want home birth so... tomorrow morning it is castor oil time : (and if no baby then repeat Thursday!) Currently cervix is soft, 1cm dilated, no contractions.

I just went out and bought the castor oil, along with a manual breast pump for nipple stimulation today.

Hoo boy I wish I could just wait it out (envious of those who get to go over 42 weeks) but one way or another I think the baby will have to come sooner...

Will report in tomorrow I guess.

Also curious about others' experiences - I didn't notice any castor oil threads in our DDC - did I miss them?

[irish_mom_to_5]

good luck

good luck to you sending labor vibes your way!!!: good luck

[3for3hb]

poppin in from the april ddc....
ugh.
I did it. twice. ugh. can't even get close to anything that smells like castor oil.
It didn't work. Sorry.
The first time I drank it (I forget how many ounces it was) when it finally kicked in I had to lay completely still in complete silence for 5 hours. I thought if I moved I would lose it all. Pretty much just gave me bad diarrhea (and nausea until it passed into my lower parts).
I took more later on but it didn't stimulate anything.

About a week later I did the same thing. Same result. No baby.

I refused to drink castor oil with baby number 2. I did get accupuncture and did herbs and homeopathics. Nothing. Nadda. Prodromal labor of three weeks didn't budge up to real contractions.

Baby #1 was due January 16th and born Feb. 12th (8lb 4 oz)
Baby #2 was due October 23rd and born November 15th. (8lb 12 oz)

My experience with home inductions is that I'm a long gestator and baby will come when it is ready.


BUT... everyone is different and there are plenty of desperate pg women for whom castor oil has been a heaven sent. Maybe I just didn't drink enough of it. My mom swears by castor oil and a bumpy ride (but she drank like 12 ounces!!!)

Good luck mama!!!

[dctexan]

Aw plum
I have been thinking about you sweetie. I am 40 weeks tomorrow and I have a feeling that I may be following down your path. I am anxious to know how the castor oil works for you. My yoga teacher used it with both of her kiddos (went to 42 weeks, threat of induction, yada yada) and had two unmedicated natural births. Lots of labor vibes being sent your way. I cannot wait for you to meet your babe!

[Marlet]

I did castor oil with DD1. I took it at about 10 pm while we watched a movie and then we went to bed. At about 1 or 2 am I started getting up to go to the bathroom. I never got the runs. I just went often. I had some mild contractions started at about 8 am (DH woke up to go to work at that time and I know I was moaning/counting through them in my sleep). Labour never started until after work (we own our own business and had employees at that time). I think labour truely started at about 8:30-9:00 pm. DD was born at 4:49 am.

I took an entire four ounce bottle in one sitting. I found the best way to do it was to make a giant smoothie. We went and bought vanilla ice cream and fresh bueberries and raspberries. When I got home I made the smoothie (I had milk in there as well but we didn't have to buy it) and added the castor oil while it was still somewhat chunky. After I added it I blended the crap out of it. The oil never got to the bottom and I could still smell it (reminds me of crayons) but I couldn't see the slick it makes. If I were to do it again I would add the castor oil first so that it really got blended into it a bit better. I drank the whole thing and munched on bread at the same time. The bread seemed to help neutralize any oil that was clotted in it. It wasn't too bad as far as castor oil goes. I know others have had far worse and most seem to get the runs. I got lucky there.

Also, I don't know if youcan reach your cervix or not but when I googled castor oil induction the other day (I was starting to feel desperate ) I read that it can mimic prostaglandins. It (the little snippet I was reading written by a midwife) mentioned doing a cervical exam and/or stretch using castor oil as the lube and basically coating the cervix with the castor oil as best as they could. The night I started having contractions I did that. I just glopped up my fingers and then basically felt myself up. Not sure if that was what tipped the scales in my favor. I doubt it but it couldn't hurt. I did have contractions start about 10 minutes after that bathroom visit.

[Momsteader]

Good luck mama!!! I've always heard when you're desperate enough to try castor oil....labor is imminent!

[Alohamelly]

Good luck! I hope it works for you!

[EmmaJean]

I hope it works too!!! I'm sorry you're having to be put on the clock like this, but I understand. It's just the way it works in some states.

DH's chiro said his wife used the black and blue cohashes to induce..... There's good and bad to everything, I'm just curious what your mw thinks about the cohash route...

Oh, and my mw talked about doing the castor oil on the cervix too, so I think there's some merit to it. No matter what you do, even full fledged hosp. induction, it will only work if your body is ready. So I really hope this works for you! But if it doesn't, don't feel like a failure! Maybe you'll just get to wait it out a few more days and wait till the last minute to go to the hosp. for your birth. Hope it doesn't come to that b/c I know a hb is important to you (me too, but we're wondering how it's all going to work out....).

and

Active birthing vibes to ya!

[plummum]

No labor yet!

I took the castor oil in two doses 2 hours apart with a little bit of juice very early this morning. Spent the morning with diarrhea which cleared up by lunchtime. No contractions. Felt fine enough to have lunch, normal day of doing things around the house.

My midwife came round with an electric breastpump for me to use, and did a little bit of membrane stripping I think. Now dilated about 1.5cm she says.

So tomorrow morning is castor oil dose two, then negotiation with OB to see if we can check with NST and amniotic fluid levels, if okay can we get an extension to Monday (that would be 42w3 by his reckoning). We will see if he goes for it.

Anyway it's all very interesting, but I am okay with going to the hospital on Friday for induction if the OB insists (DH will insist if OB insists). But I am not excited about pitocin etc (more painful I hear, plus those 44% stats for c-section are a bit disconcerting). My experience with castor oil so far seems much preferable!

[Momsteader]

Oh no! ELV's coming your way mama!!!! I hope things get started soon for you!

[loriforeman]

i tried castor oil. twice.

i crawled on my hands and knees, ending up curled in a fetal position next to my toilet from the overwhelming cramps. i puked for HOURS...had the runs so badly...almost had to have iv fluids for rehydration.

i can't imagine actually laboring while feeling so horrid.