Never Say Never....(or) My Experience with Low-Dose Castor Oil Induction, Part 1

infamous...but effective?

I have a confession to make. And an apology. First things first.

I induced labor with my third baby. I am a birth doula who has been pretty (mostly silently) judgemental of women who have done the same thing. 

I'm sorry for my negativity, even if I never vocalized my disagreement. I did probably say things like this:

"Your baby will come when it's ready!"
"If you're not in labor, your baby/body isn't supposed to be in labor!"
"Babies don't have calendars!"
"Get a new provider if they won't let you go past 40/41/42 weeks!"

Basically, all of those "don't worry your pretty little head about that" kind of comments. And you know, I still believe all of those statements. I might even use them again, depending on the circumstances. But....I also have a little more empathy for women who feel like it's necessary to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Because I became that woman. It was distressing, to say the least. I felt like I was betraying my conviction that babies KNOW when to be born as long as everyone was healthy (which we were). But.....

I DON'T REGRET MY DECISION. Let me explain. No, let me sum up. (Please someone get that reference)..

Nearly 41 weeks pregnant

I knew going into the home stretch of my third pregnancy that I would likely go past my EDD. My second was born at 41 weeks, and I just felt like this one would be the same or longer. I was right! At my 41 week appointment my care provider commented that it was apparent that I and the baby were doing well and healthy, and she was perfectly happy if I wanted to keep waiting, but that I needed to schedule a biophysical profile for 42 weeks in the event that I got that far. I was content to comply with this request (and find it a very reasonable one), however I realized rather quickly that the out-of-pocket expense is very high for this test. Like, really really high. 

Argh.

She gave me another option, one which she only mentions (unless there is a clear medical indication) to mothers who are past 41 weeks. She said that I could take a root beer float with a small amount of castor oil in it. 

Castor oil! No way! I had basically heard two versions of castor oil inductions. These probably sound familiar to you also.


Scenario #1- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, but you have a baby.
Scenario #2- Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and no baby.


Hmm...I think I'll take NEITHER. Also, it just felt wrong. I needed to give us more time. I couldn't betray my convictions that easily. However, I was assured that this method would NOT make me sick. I would just start having contractions or not. I wasn't sure if that was possible, but I trust my care provider, so I kept it on the back burner as an option. I felt like this baby was bigger than my last two, but that didn't scare me. 


Each morning, I woke up still pregnant. No labor. Actually, no signs even of impending labor. I knew I'd have to schedule the test by Friday to get in, so Thursday morning, at 41 weeks and 4 days, still conflicted and feeling like a complete doula hypocrite, I called my mom.


"Pick up the castor oil and some root beer. I've got the ice cream."


....to be continued.