My Med-Free Birth Story (long) castor oil

Getting pregnant was really hard, but I feel so lucky because for the most part, BEING pregnant was an absolute joy I loved nearly every minute. And I feel like my birth was everything I wanted it to be. We have so little control over our bodies and our fertility, so I feel very thankful to have come through this with a little girl and feel ultimately SPOILED to have had the pregnancy and birth that I did.

Recap:
38w2d 3 cm 60% effaced "You will go any day!"
39w2d 3 cm 60% effaced "Maybe we'll see you this weekend!"
40w6d 4 cm 60% effaced "We should schedule an induction"
41w2d 6 cm 80% effaced "I know I'll be delivering you this weekend."
41w3d Started REAL labor!!

I went to the midwife on Friday 2/20 desperate to avoid an induction, which was scheduled for Tuesday. Having a natural birth has been very important to me, so I really didn't want to use pitocin. The MW seemed convinced I would go before then and wouldn't need the induction, though they'd been telling me that for weeks! She also recommended I take Castor Oil the next morning to naturally induce. I was nervous about doing it on my own, but under her care/direction, I was willing to try.

2/21
11 am drank 4 oz castor oil with a smoothie
12 pm puked everything in my stomach!
2 pm had bad diarrhea (liquid)
2:30 pm timeable contractions started coming every 4-6 min! After about 30 min of those, we called the midwife and headed to the hospital

3:30 pm
We got to the hospital and were admitted. When I got to my room, I was put in a gown on the bed and hooked to the fetal monitor. Contractions were painful, but I could rest/recover during the breaks. After they saw good movement/heartbeat, I was able to get in the jacuzzi bath! HEAVEN! Contractions still hurt, but I was able to work through them much better on my hands and knees in the nice tub. They also had some bars around the tub to hold if I wanted to stand up. Mark was amazing, helping me breath through all the contractions and pouring warm water over me.

5:40 pm
After awhile in the tub, I started feeling too warm and nauseous, so I got out and sat on my birth ball. I was definitely in a lot more pain and contractions were coming closer together. I never felt an urge to push, but after awhile, the nurse helped me into bed to check my dialation -- I was at 9+ with almost no cervix, so I stayed on the bed. My water still hadn't broken, but I felt a little trickle. Just as my midwife was about to break it, I felt a big gush. Fortunately, the water was clear, so no meconium! I was a little worried since she was so late and the castor oil!

6:20 pm
Shortly after that I felt a HUGE movement! My baby had been posterior almost her entire 3rd tri, and I think this is when she turned. After she turned and moved down, I had a few bad contractions, still not feeling any urge to push, but they checked again and I was ready.

6:30 pm
The contractions hurt really badly, and somehow pushing felt much better. They pushing was physically intense, but I was not in pain. During all of it my midwife was using oil and massaging my perineum, which hurt. (Thanks to my midwife I had no perineal tears!! I did have a small labial tear, but it hasn't really hurt to use the bathroom or anything, so I feel pretty lucky! I did Kegels and perineal massage for weeks prior to the birth, so that probably helped too.)

Mark was holding one of my legs and watched the whole thing! I hadn't really wanted to watch and was even a little freaked out when the nurses had me reach down and feel her head! But every push felt productive and I knew I was getting close when the nurses came in with the warmer. This motivated me, and I kept pushing harder.

7:40 pm
I had one huge push and felt her head come out. I waited for a contraction and pushed again and out came baby Petra! They put her on my chest and she was so squirmy and wiggly! We delayed the cord cutting until it was no longer pulsing and Mark got to cut it. We are a family! Amazing!