castor [ergh...!] oil

Saturday, 4:30 am

Phase 1 is complete. 2 oz of castor oil are down, with 2 more to go in a couple of hours. Next time you look at a nice friendly little shot of even the most vile alcohol, imagine replacing it with thick oil (olive is far too friendly), multiplying it x4, and sucking it down before the sun's even out.

All I'm saying, Mr. Sea Monkey, is this better work.

PS: If you ever actually have to do this, William's genius idea to chase it with Reed's Extra Ginger Brew was exactly right. Perfectly astringent and tasty.

And now back to bed.

Saturday, 6:15 am

Mission Castor Oil is complete. (I'm chewing on bittersweet chocolate between swigs of ginger brew to try to make every last trace of the stuff go away.) Wretched. Seriously.

And if you're still reading, I trust it's not too much information to know that my water broke yesterday evening. Um, sort of. The baby is so low (Wonder Monkey Powers...activate! Form of...giant plug!) that not too much came out, but it was definitely amniotic fluid. In case you were among the concerned, there were no signs at all of meconium staining. (If this means nothing to you, it's all good.)

Saturday, 10:45 am

Castor oil fall-out feels like a bad case of food poisoning. Nasty. That's where I am now. Still waiting for the elusive labor to begin, which may not happen, in which case we all regroup tomorrow and come up with a new plan. Oh, and they're saying I had a "leak" and not a "break" in the water sac last night.

Saturday, 3:00 pm

No baby, no real labor. Bunches of contractions, but still pretty mellow. Stay tuned for more updates. The castor oil is still doing its yucky gut thing.

Saturday, 8:30 pm

Yawn. More contractions, but nothing, as they say, "organized." Seems like all those last tests suggesting that the baby is not, in fact, overdue, are probably right. Everyone kept saying that there's no rushing a baby that's not ready, and that seems to be correct. Oh, and for those who are concerned that he's going to come out giant, the ultrasound a few days ago estimated his weight at about 8 lbs. So if we really are just around a due date now, perhaps it's time to start the betting pool I keep thinking about. Let me know if you're in!