Yesterday afternoon after we got home from church, my wife decided to try a "home remedy" that was supposed to help pregnant women who want to go into labor. She took castor oil.

That was around 3:30. At 4:50 we started timing her contractions, which although somewhat erratic, were all less than 10 minutes apart. They seemed to slow down a bit whenever she changed positions and then start up again, so we figured it wasn't true labor and decided to go to the evening service at our church. However, as we sat in the second-to-last row waiting for the service to start, the contractions were still coming, so we decided to call the doctor, and he called us into the hospital.

At the hospital, the doc checked her out and she was only dilated 1cm, and the contractions were still very erratic, so even though he told us he would monitor her for a while and check again, we assumed that we would be sent home.

When the doctor examined her again, however, she was up to 3cm... she really was in early labor and we were admitted to labor & delivery around 10:00pm. We were using a doulah this time, so we called her and after she arrived, my wife sent me home to get some stuff we had forgotten. I made it back to the hospital by about 11:30.

The doctor checked her again shortly after my return, and she was still at about 3cm. Her labor wasn't hard yet, just intense, so we settled in for the long haul. My wife wanted to give birth naturally this time with no medication, and having the doulah there was a lifesaver. Her little tricks and suggestions for getting through labor naturally were incredibly helpful.

Doc came back around 4:30 am to examine my wife again, and she was at 5cm. While he was doing the exam, her water broke, and that pretty much sent her into hard labor and transition. When it came time to push, she only did so for 8 minutes.

Our second son, Matthew Charles was born today, June 7, 2004 at 6:22 am. He weighted 7 lbs., 9.5 oz. and was 19 inches long. He is an absolutely beautiful baby, and lots and lots of pictures will soon be forthcoming.

My wife is recovering well so far and there are no signs of any problems. We would appreciate the prayers of the prayerful, though, since she did tear quite a bit during the delivery and the doctor had to spend 30 minutes sewing her back up. She'll face a bit longer recovery time because of this.

Gri"cigars for everyone!"shny