2001-12-27
Still no baby. Outside my uterus, I mean.
The castor oil kept me awake much of the night with fairly violent intestinal cramps, as it was supposed to. I had some contractions as well, but they eventually petered out. As my contractions have had a way of doing.
This morning, however, I discovered what is known as bloody show, which my childbirth book describes as "passage of slippery mucous mixed with some blood." It's one of the preliminary signs of labor, and indication that small blood vessels in the cervix are breaking as it thins and opens. So that was encouraging. It's continued throughout the day.
This afternoon B and I went out to run errands (the phrase "My water broke in Home Depot" kept running through my head). On our way home, I experienced probably my strongest contractions so far. Not excruciating, but closer to pain than anything yet. I was psyched, but again, they did not persist for long.
When I got home, I took out the breast pump recently lent to me for some industrial-strength nipple stimulation (another non-medical approach to inducing labor). That was certainly a new sensation. And it was a bit wild to see the albeit tiny amount--less than half an ounce--of colostrum that ended up in the little bottle after 20 minutes on each side. (Colostrum is the watery stuff that your breasts produce before your milk "comes in" a few days after birth.) But alas, no wild contractions ensued.
So, the wait continues. I feel like things are progressing, however gradually, and hope that something happens before Monday. (And really, the tax deduction is the least of it.)
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