Day 14 Family Life: Our Induction Attempt Decision!
After several days of research and contemplation, we have decided to give natural induction a try. I will officially be 42 weeks tomorrow, so I am totally at peace that I have given this little dude and my body loads of time to get ready and prepared. Thankfully, this puts me into an ideal situation with the hopeful effectiveness of the induction.
I am absolutely not desiring to get to the point that pitocin or some other form of chemical induction is used, so after discussing it with my midwife yesterday at our appointment, I am going to give Castor Oil a try!
Our Induction attempt method of choice…praying it works well!
I have never used Castor oil before. I have done blue and black cohosh, which I would prefer not to use this time because of the situational change (last time my water had already been broken for 30 hours before we worked on an induction technique). This time I am hoping to stimulate labor through the digestive system’s work, but I have read plenty of negative reviews of the effects of Castor oil. It can cause severe gastric upset, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, etc. and this brings about a risk of dehydration. So, I brought these concerns to my midwife’s attention and she explained that the way the oil is taken greatly affects the way it effects the body.
Her method of consumption is not to just take it straight, which is oddly what many women do (or mix it with a simple juice or something). She recommends combining it in a “castor oil milkshake” which helps to bind it to some protein, slowing the digestion of the ingredients, and softening their effect on the digestive tract. In all the years, and with all the women, with which she has used this technique she has never had a situation where a woman experienced anything severe.
**Sidenote: I ALWAYS experience nausea and diarrhea in labor. It is just one of those things I have come to accept and expect, so this will not be a new scenario for me. This is why I keep the homeopathic remedy for nausea on hand to hopefully help counter the effects of the nausea and allow me to keep some water down. Yes, this may be TMI, but let’s be real about birth…it’s a beautiful thing, but it ain’t all pretty ;)**
She did say, too, that sometimes just the threat of seeing and buying the bottle is enough to make some babies vacate the womb…sadly this did not happen for us. J just kind of rolled over and went back to sleep =0)
The way I intend to make the milkshake is with some almond milk, vanilla ice cream, stevia (possibly), and castor oil. If I am not in labor in 3 hours, I will give it another go. Now, my midwife has never had this method not work, so I am PRAYING that I will have a baby by tonight! I appreciate all prayers for his coming! =0)
Hopefully, the next update will be a post on the arrival of our little boy and not how the induction attempt failed….’til next time!
What About You?
Have you ever tried a natural induction before? How did it work for you? Was it successful, or did you end up continuing to wait? Do you have a comparison on it to medical induction with pitocin, etc? Thanks for sharing!
Susan in St. Louis says
Exciting! With my last birth, we were stalled in the middle of birthing day and my midwife recommended castor oil. We happened to have sherbet on hand (which we NEVER do), so my hubby made me a shake. It wasn’t nearly as disgusting as I had been led to believe it would be…come to find out later when I was reading some things on the web, sherbet is recommended as a great ingredient for making CO palatable. Go figure!
Anyway, my labor did pick back up again, including a violent bout of vomiting that pushed the babe down and really got things going.
I’d encourage you, though, to go forward prayerfully. 42 weeks is no magic marking point in pregnancy. 😉 I’ll be praying for you this evening!
JulieFilter says
Thanks, Susan. I agree that 42 weeks is somewhat arbitrary, but if it is a true 42 weeks the risks do continue to increase as the days go by. It looks like there is a possibility, though, that my dates may be wrong, which may explain why the induction did not ever really take off, aside from bringing intense contractions. I hope you stay with me on this journey =0) The Lord will reveal His perfect timing, I am sure =0)