Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Castor Oil


Here I am. The nursery is finished, the house is clean, the bags are packed, the birth plan written. Every thing is ready. I desperately miss sleeping normally, painting my toe nails, and, oh yeah, not being huge. So it’s easy to figure out why in a moment of desperation Monday night I tried one of the oldest old wives tails in the book. I drank some castor oil.

Castor oil, for those who don’t know, is a laxative. It is thought to “induce” labor by causing your intestines to spasm, which in turn, causes the uterus to contract. After researching it online, I learned that one of two things would happen. Either I would need to go to the bathroom A LOT or I would need to go to the bathroom A LOT and I would have a baby. Again, I’m a desperate woman.

I took the stuff about 9 pm. I mixed a two oz. bottle with half a can of coke (something someone online recommended.) It wasn’t too bad. I mean I’m not going to go to a restaurant and order it, but it wasn’t horrible. The worst part was my last swallow because some of the oil had already settled at the bottom and I got a swig of just castor oil. Ugh.

So we sat around, watched some special on the History Channel about Star Wars, and about 11 pm I got sleepy. I went to bed, only to wake up an hour later needing to…well you know. Then about 2 am, they started. I’ve already had contractions here and there, so I knew what they were. They weren’t bad but I started having a lot.

I walked into the living room where Charlie was reading and watching T.V. “Honey,” I said, “I’m having a lot of contractions, and they’re no big deal, but I think we should start timing them.” Well that got him excited. He got out his watch and a little notebook and started writing them down. My doctor has advised me to go to the hospital when contractions are about 5 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. Other doctors may suggest something else. After about 30 minutes, mine were averaging about 3 minutes apart and about 45 seconds long. However, even though I was uncomfortable, I didn’t really feel in labor. So we called the hospital. The nurse said to stay home until contractions began to intensify. Then, we needed to go to the hospital.

I decided I just wanted to relax and watch The Little Mermaid. Charlie started to get ready. He got dressed, he made sure his bag was packed, he practiced cutting the umbilical cord on a hot dog. I just sat there watching Ariel, nothing changing, nothing getting more intense, and no baby coming.

Needless to say, nothing every happened. At about 8 am, my contractions fizzled out and I realized that Harrison was not coming after all.

The moral of the story: If you’re pregnant and you want your baby to come, don’t drink castor oil unless you want to poo a lot and want a big let down.

9 comments:

JS said...

Di you are utterly adorable!
The line where you said "Charlie was reading and watching T.V." totally summed my good friend up. Somehow, he can do both very well.

The hot dog bit made me laugh. Lariisa read this blog before me and called my cell phone trying to describe it to me. It confused me, now I understand the hot dog bit.

Castor oil... in all those cartoons of the 40s and 50s, children are fed it as a punishment in place of spanking...

Charlie said...

By "reading and watching TV" she meant "watching Tv with the captions on."







I'm kind of slow.

JS said...

i do that when i watch the UK "Office"

lilsip said...

Thanks for makin me smile this morning Diana! I remember scouring the internet for ways of getting Noah to come out. In the end it was just a matter of waiting. He'll be here soon!

CL said...

"Charlie started to get ready. He got dressed, he made sure his bag was packed, he practiced cutting the umbilical cord on a hot dog."

Yes. Thank you. This is awesome!

A real boy scout makes sure he is prepared in every way.

Mat Brewster said...

I've said this before, but I'll say it again, Diana you tell a great story. I mean the story itself is beautiful, but the way you tell it is very imaginative and marvelous.

kermitgrn said...

The Hot Dog bit is 100% Charlie. I saw him do it in my minds eye. Soon, Di, Soon. That baby will come at the perfect time.

Diana said...

Thank you, Brew. That always brings a grin to my face.

Amy Beth Brewster said...

Great story, Diana! I hope the baby comes soon!