It’s no secret that a mom past her due date has zero patience. And what’s even worse, I always seem to find myself in some kind of time crunch around my due date. When Carter was born, I was desperate to have her before the new year so the we could collect the tax break. When Monroe was born, my dad came to San Diego to help us move and to watch Carter while we were in the hospital, but we were nearing the end of his trip with still no baby. Both times, just a few days past my due date, I decided to drink castor oil to get things moving and both times it worked like a charm. Well, I thought it worked like a charm… What I didn’t know is that the castor oil is the reason I hemorrhaged so bad after both Carter and Monroe’s deliveries.

This time, my midwife was adamant that I stay away from the castor oil. She was the one that explained to me that it can cause hemorrhaging and I decided that I would rather be patient than end up with a blood transfusion. (I was borderline in need of a blood transfusion with Monroe and hemorrhaging is supposed to get worse with each delivery.) Waiting is not easy when you are uncomfortable and aware of the magic potion to get labor started, but I was good and I waited.

Unfortunately, eight days past by with no movement, almost no dilating or effacing, not even any false labor, nothing! So, on the advice of my midwife and based on the baby’s estimated weight, I decided to be induced. (Carter was 8.8 and Monroe was 9.5. They believed this baby was somewhere around 9.4) I am aware that the fastest way to a c-section is through induction or speending up the process with pitocin, so I was scared and feeling very defeated the morning of my induction, sure that I would end up in an operating room instead of the delivery room at the end of the day. But, because I had a midwife, instead of an OB, she was willing to try as many alternative options of induction as we could before we started with the pitocin. This is where I learned something crazy about my body, it will not produce contractions without some kind of intervention.

Both my midwife and the on call OB told me that if they broke my water, statically labor would start. Nope, that did not get things going for me. Next, we decided to try inducing labor with the use of a breast pump. That worked, but the second I would stop, the contractions would stop as well, so that meant I was stuck to the pump for almost 6 hours. After about 7 hours, I was finally having regular contractions (with the help of the pump) and I was dilated to 7cm so we decided it was time for the epidural. I mean, there was no way I would be dialated to 7cm, in so much excruciating pain, and still not be in active labor, but apparently we were wrong. Once I received my epidural, my body could no longer feel the effects of the breast pump and that was it, labor completely stopped.

We were out of options. Breaking my water, walking, climbing stairs, pumping, nothing worked and now with an epidural I couldn’t get out of bed to try any other interventions, it was time for the pitocin. I sobbed, I assured everyone that I would end up with a c-section, I was angry at my midwife for forbidding castor oil knowing that it would have gotten the job done, I was exhausted, and I was ready to be done.

Of course, all of my fear and frustration was more about my level of exhaustion than anything else and about an hour after we stated the pitocin, my midwife was please to tell me that even with just a tiny dosage of pitocin, labor had started. I was finally dilated to 9cm. That is when I realized that my body just doesn’t go into labor unassisted.

At this point, I was able to spend some time relaxing with Carter, who we decided to have her in the room with us during Eli’s delivery. We watched  a few of our favorite YouTube shows and just spent a little time bonding before her world would be turned upside down by our newest addition.

Then it was time. About an hour after my mini panic attack, I was holding my little 8 pound, 14 ounce boy in my arms. My midwife said the time I spent pushing was a record for her! Haha, I guess 5 minutes (3 pushes) is pretty impressive. Hearing my husband announce “it’s a boy” was as magical as I imagined and a hearing that first cry was a welcomed sound after the long and trying day we all had. I could not thank God enough for the healthy baby boy and healthy delivery with no hemorrhaging, even if it involved unwanted interventions.

Now its time to start learning the ropes as a mom of three beautiful children. I cannot wait for all of our family of five adventures to begin.

Clear eyes, full hearts, can’t lose.

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