Mothering My Way

I had a midwife appointment on December 23rd and I was a week overdue so they gave me a non stress test, which Xander passed with flying colors.  Then they wanted to do an ultrasound of the fluid level and it said I was a little low.  The doctor who performed the ultrasound came into the room saying “so when are you planning on inducing?”, total bull in my opinion there was no reason to medically induce and after he found the low fluid he said he wanted me to induce that day.  Which I was not going to do, at least medically.  So on the way home we called Dave’s mom and told her how it went and she told me she used castor oil to induce with one of her kiddos, and since she was like the 5th person who told me about this method I decided to give it a try.

So for my last meal I had some McDonald’s and I mixed the castor oil in my strawberry shake.  I took all of this about 8pm and nothing really happened so I went to bed around 10:30 since I was so tired.  Then I woke up at 2am with stomach cramps and after several hours of being up and down and up and down in the bathroom I believe that labor started around 5:30-6am.  I woke Dave up around 7:30 am, I had been timing the contractions at 3 minutes apart but they weren’t very strong.  I keep questioning whether it was really labor or not, I have a fairly high pain tolerance and was just in disbelief that it was really happening.  But at 8:30 I called my mom and dad to let them know something was happening but I didn’t want them to come over yet.  Since I hadn’t slept all night Dave talked me into laying down and at least dozing for some time to see what happened if the contractions stopped or if they picked up. I laid down for about an hour and a half.  When I got up they were stronger and I called the midwife who suggested I take a bath and try to relax.  I called my mom to come over around noon and we left to go to the birth center around 2:30, by this time the contractions were getting really strong still 3 minutes apart and the car ride was really bad.  I thought I was going to die in the car it was like being in a cage.

Once we were in the hospital I had a whole zoo of visitors including my mom and dad, Dave’s mom and rich, Erin, Josh, Eric and Rebbecca, even grandma Nancy came.  But I didn’t really notice or care that any of them were there, I continued to labor for the rest of the day into the night.  I walked the halls and bounced on a ball, I sat in a squatting chair and hung out in the shower with almost no concept of time.  At one point I ate two grilled cheese sandwiches while in the shower with Dave.  And right before labor got intense Dave and I were in the shower talking about how it really wasn’t that bad after all.  Then i got in the tub.

This is where it got rough, right before getting in the tub she checked me and I was dilated to 6.  I got in the tub and for the first 10-15 minutes it felt really nice but suddenly it got really hot in the room and my body was doing something I had never felt before and didn’t understand.  It was pushing.  I demanded to get out of the tub know and I wanted to be checked, I was afraid that I would be pushing against a not fully opened cervix and it would swell it.

As I got out of the tub my water broke with a splash all over the floor and everyone cheered.  Then Sarah checked me and I was a 10 and ready to push, 35 minutes after getting in the tub.  I pushed on my knees leaning over the bed for about an hour and then rolled over because my legs fell asleep and only 30 minutes after rolling over Xander Kent Hoekzema was born at 11:53pm December 24th.

It was amazing and I would do it all over again, totally natural and I have been loving every minute since.

Xander 8lbs 9oz 21inches born 7 minutes before Christmas.