Birthing Story - labor

Ready for a little bit more of my birthing story? I know you've been on the edge of your seat waiting...

Before I continue, let me tell you about a funny little detail of our arrival at the Farm that I just remembered. At my last prenatal visit, Pamela had given me the clicker to open the front gate just in case we needed to get in after hours. Haha, little did we know we'd be using it so soon! When we arrived at the front gate, I extracted the clicker and clicked. Nothing. Clicked again. Nothing. I started to panic a little. I made some calls and it was arranged that Pamela's husband would meet us at the gate and let us in. Stupid clicker!

So, sleep was quiet elusive the night that we arrived at the Farm, understandably so. After all, our baby was going to be born sometime the very next day. We woke up to a beautiful day. The temperature was mild. The sun was shining. The birds were singing. A good day for birthing a baby, if I do say so myself. Labor was still mild. Really no pain or even discomfort. I was having trouble telling if I was having a contraction, so under the circumstances, breakfast seemed to be a good idea. Best I remember, I ate yogurt and strawberries. Stacey came mid-morning and said that if my contractions weren't coming pretty regularly soon, we'd need to start some natural herbals to get them going. There was something of a time crunch since my water had broken. I had 24 hours after it breaking to get that baby out before the midwives started talking hospital transport. Blah...no hospitals!

A few hours later and still no contractions, Stacey started me on a regiment of castor oil and blue cohash. I was to take both every half hour. My sister set her iPhone alarm to remind us and I diligently took the nasty stuff. The castor oil was not so bad, thick, but tasteless, especially in a little orange juice. But the blue cohosh tasted like dirt. Worse that dirt...like earthworms that had eaten dirt. It was so bad, I made my sister and my husband taste it too, just so they knew the extent of the gross. But the stuff worked. Contractions started to be more regular.

We still had plenty of time. We took a leisurely stroll around the Farm grounds and enjoyed the afternoon. We played some Settlers of Catan, although I lost every game . Something about being preoccupied. We had sandwiches and chips and grapes. I can't even imagine the cruelty of withholding food from a woman in labor!

Next installment - active labor!