Forrest and Rebekah left Spokane on Friday afternoon about 4, and ended up in Monroe on Sunday morning at about 4 AM…34 hours of driving…without stopping at a hotel (they’re insane). We went to St. Thomas in the morning, and the power was out. And this is Louisiana, so it was hot, even though it was considerably cooler than it has been all summer (because of Hurricane Rita).
On Saturday, Rachel had some pretty hard (and long…over two minutes long, 3-4 minutes apart from start to start), but they ended up dying down after several hours. For those of you that don’t know, those contractions are not great…they’re too long and run the risk of putting the baby in fetal distress. She’s been continuing with consistent contractions (though not as hard), and we’re hoping the baby will come sometime in the next year. Of course, her not sleeping well means I don’t get to sleep well, and I don’t have the luxury of sleeping in, since I teach 8 o’clocks every day. So I’m wiped out and falling behind in grading.
September 26th, 2005 at 9:27 am
Poor Rachel. I’ve been experiencing pretty similar contractions. It really doesn’t seem fair to go through the discomfort of them and then not have a baby pop out.
If the Tucker boys need to come over and play anytime, just give me a call.
hollie
September 27th, 2005 at 12:38 am
haha! It’s so fun to hear them called “the Tucker boys” *silly grin*
September 27th, 2005 at 8:58 am
is she living up to her name and making you cry for mercy?
September 27th, 2005 at 8:07 pm
Are you and/or your midwife against induction?
September 27th, 2005 at 10:00 pm
Depends on how you define “induction.”
We would all be against induction with pitocin as it raises the risk of cesarians and episiotomies as well as the numerous harmful effects it often has on children.
I’m not too thrilled with the idea of breaking the water. Rachel is more open to that, but again, if you’re body isn’t ready, it will increase the risk of cesarians. Our midwife isn’t too thrilled with the idea.
Rachel has tried herbs like cohosh, but they’ve made her a bit sick.
The midwife stripped her membranes last week; nothing happened.
She’s trying castor oil tonight. Hopefully that will produce some results. It usually does when a woman is overdue.
Rachel’s dates are a bit fluid because of the length of her cycles. She could have conceived late enough to make her due date Sept 21st. That would put her at six days late, rather than twelve.
I wouldn’t have a problem going as long as three weeks late (or even more depending on the situation), but Rachel is in pain because the baby just isn’t fitting. She’s starting to bruise her ribs.
September 28th, 2005 at 6:51 am
This may be an old wives’ tale, but I’ve heard that eggplant parmesan helps induce labor. At least it would taste better than the castor oil! Hope you get some relief soon!
September 28th, 2005 at 7:48 am
There’s a restaurant somewhere in the South that guarantees that if you eat their eggplant parmesan, you will go into labor within 72 hours or your money back. We almost tried it last week, but then decided against it. I’m rethinking that one.
Rachel didn’t mind the castor oil, and it started contractions, but they too faded out.
September 28th, 2005 at 9:44 am
Are there legal issues you guys have to worry about with regards to going “too far” past the due date? IE, if you’re more than a certain amount of days “late”, do you have to deliver in hospital? (You’re planning a homebirth, right?)
September 28th, 2005 at 10:15 am
We need a doctor’s approval to go past tomorrow.
September 28th, 2005 at 10:19 am
I don’t remember if they gave me pitocin or oxytocin or whatever. They didn’t exactly ask permission. Sure sped things up, though.
September 28th, 2005 at 10:22 am
There’s no doubt it works if you’re ready.
September 28th, 2005 at 10:36 am
I think the inducing works well. If your body is not “ready” after 2 weeks then, chances are, you were going to need a c-section anyway. Some people just can’t go into labor naturally for whatever reasons.
Rachel, I can’t believe you stomached the castor oil. We bought some once but I could never bring myself to try it. With our first pregnancy, Noel Leithart had recommended to Jon that we try the castor oil and also sex to speed things up. I think I’d choose the sex anyday.
hollie
September 28th, 2005 at 11:54 am
Rachel drank the castor oil and said, “Hmm. That’s not so bad.”
Uh, not that anyone wants to know this, but sex produces great contractions, but still, no baby.
And, a lot of women go three weeks before they go into labor. It’s really not that uncommon in the natural labor community.
September 28th, 2005 at 12:43 pm
what’s ya’lls email address? I would like to email Rachel with a somewhat personal induction idea that I would prefer to not post publically. You may or may not be open to ideas, but since you have until tomorrow before you have to get a dr’s approval to continue, I thought you may be interested in hearing it.
September 29th, 2005 at 7:10 am
My mom went 3 weeks over with her fifth, and 15 days over with her first. It’s in the genes. We had an ultrasound and the baby, fluid and placenta are just great, so I’m no longer worried about going this far past due. Although I know we live in an imperfect world, the percentage of women who can’t go into labor on their own is very small.
September 30th, 2005 at 2:14 pm
I hope this post works-
Rachel’s grandma (my mother) went a month over with my little sister.(Rachel’s aunt Pari)
My other sister (Rachel’s aunt DD) went over a month with her first baby (Rachel’s cousin Brooks.)
Hopefully Kyrie will soon be tired of being so cramped and come out into this world!