Evie's due date came... And went, with no baby. We had some action, I had contractions almost daily since 36 weeks and at 39 weeks I had 3 hours that seemed like it might be the real thing, but wasn't. To say I was anxious might be the biggest understatement if the century.
We scheduled an unltrasound and NST with Clark for 41 weeks, hoping the whole time not to have to go. We had the induction talk at that point and I was pleased to find out that not only did I have an alternate option for induction (a balloon catheter that physically dilates your cervix) but they were willing to try small amounts of pitocin if needed to start or augment labor. Since I didn't want to schedule an induction until I absolutely had to they scheduled another NST for Monday (12 days past due date). During my appointment with Wantina the next day (8 days past due date) we started talking natural induction methods.
She likes to wait until 41 weeks to start natural induction just to give Mommas bodies every chance she can to go into labor on their own while still having enough time margin to augment. Well, now I was 41 weeks and ready to start trying anything to get Evie to come before 42 weeks. Wantina left me one of her huge midwifery guides along with herbs and the command to study the induction section so I would have full understanding of what I was trying and what it was supposed to do for my labor. This book was crazy huge (and it was volume 2!) so it was good I found it interesting! The section on induction was about 11 pages and after double checking with Wantina I started herbs on Friday (9 days past and counting) and waited... And waited... And waited all weekend with no real change. Longest. Weekend. Of. My. Life.
I should mention that during this time after the last bout of serious contractions I had not been feeling pressure like before and when Wantina checked me for dilation (and hoping to strip membranes) we found that while my cervix was ripe Evie wasn't engaged or putting any pressure on it. Evie also seemed to be stuck in a posterior (sunny side up) position - not good for labor and probably why I wasn't progressing. Wantina recommended I see my chiropractor to see if he could help us get her to turn, and in the mean time spend lots of time bouncing on the birthing ball, walking, squatting, crawling around hands and knees and making love of possible.
In spite of doing all the above, our second NST rolled around on Monday (12 days past due) and still no action. While Evie passed her stress test just fine, I left with a heavy heart. The CNM checked me for dilation, both of us hoping to strip membranes, only to find there was no progress. Evie was still 'floating' and I was not dilated. She recommended inducing Wednesday (exactly 14 days past due - the longest most doctors let you wait), we asked for one more day so Chris could keep his internship appointment. She agreed, as long as we had one more NST at the 42 week mark.
I began praying as never before, both for this delivery to go differently and for peace during the wait and no matter the outcome.
I was finally able to see Dr. Grome that evening. He showed me how to do the Thompson breech technique, which is used to help babies in any unfavorable position. Basically you are putting pressure on different points to encourage baby to shift position (Dr. Grome described it as baby is too comfortable and we want them to get uncomfortable in the wrong position so they will get in the right one). He performed it in me a couple times and I showed Chris how to do it once more before bed.
We the breech technique again the next morning (Tuesday, 13 days past due) before Wantina came to check on me and... It worked!!! When she checked me Evie was engaged and she could get her finger through my cervix (1 cm dilated)! Since I was pretty desperate to get things going she left me a bottle of caster oil to try, which had just worked for another of her Mommas over the weekend. She recommended blending it in a milkshake to get it down easier, milkshake was preferable over OJ since it didn't burn on the way out :/ As soon as Chris got back with one from Shell (I like the ones I make at home and didn't want to form a food aversion to them!) I blended it up and chugged it. (Note to self - a small or medium would have worked to cover taste / texture, large was almost too much to drink.)
That was about 1:00 in the afternoon... About three the diarrhea started... About five contractions started... And they got close together... And a little stronger... And they didn't stop!
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