VBAC UC herbs for "helping things along" - Page 2

[fyrebloom]

I would also be wary of Pennyroyle, it's an abortion herb. It's going to be far worse the Cohosh.

Having had 2-3 weeks of prodromal myself with each I can say that you probably just need to not meddle with it, if you take something it's going to cause you MORE pain and probably not going to help that baby out.

Seriously though, http://www.spinningbabies.com/. Check and see if you can figure out what position the baby is in and if bub is not in an ideal placement try moxabustion or pulsatilla to help bub move pluss the excersizes on this site. In particular, the lunge helped me stop my prodromal labor with DS and he was Right Occiput Transverse and when I had my induction and it was back labor AND I had pelvic dystocia to boot.

[TzippityDoulah]

Fyrebloom...

thanks. I especially appreciate this from a mom who's been through longterm prodromal labour!! b/c atleast you now where I am coming from!

I think I can tell prettywell how the bay is positioned, but no harm in looking! I will go look through the spinning babies site again. thanks for linking!

(and yeah I have concern over the pennyroyal too. that's the one that worries me the most)

[mellowyellowmama]

Originally Posted by HennyPenny

I can't do squatting b/c of my sciatica my legs wont let me bend own enough. bummer! but really... this baby couldn't get any lower without coming through my cervix, so I'm really ok in that part. it's just the contractions don't wanna be regular!

oh mama, so sorry. i wish it was sooner so i could tell you to see a different chiro! i can't believe how low your baby is...come out already baby! :nana:

my 2 cents is no castor oil, but that's b/c of my past experience with it. i would do that before cohoshes, but still! My home birth midwife wanted me to do both. I told her I'd think about it and I did and didn't feel right with it. That is when she dropped me.

It's exhausting. I remember feeling 'done' at 33 wks and then I go to 44?! HUH?! Oh man and the prodromal labor is soooooooooooo exhausting. It's hard to rest at all.

I remember, I had a thread like this going on MDC before and during my labor with my VBA2C and it went to just hundreds of posts! It was so nice to have that support. We are here for you mama!

[TzippityDoulah]

he is a GREAT chiropractor in general, but i do wish I had one with a little more knowledge on baby positioning. It would be so helpful right now. ugh... but that's just one more expense I'm not sure I could swing right now. hmmm...

I'm gong to look at SB and see if I can figure out some ideas.

you're right. this thread and support is SO helpful to me!!! makes me feel like I'm not going crazy. wow. I so never felt this way in other pregnancies so it's taken me by surprise!

[accountclosed3]

i can help with sciatica too!

stand facing the wall such that if you were to bend at the *hips* you would put your hands gainst the wall (as if overhead).

then, separate your feet hip distance apart. bend both knees slightly to engage the thigh muscles (quadriceps). you can actually bend your knees as much as you want to).

step one foot forward about 2-3 feet. turn the back foot out at a 45 degree angle.

from the HIPS start to bend forward. only go as far as you feel comfortable, but feel your hips draw back and your head draw forward, feeling the separation in the hips/lowerback-- in that SI joint.

keep knees bent as much as needed, to keep thighs engaged.

keep hips square and level as if you haev a glass of wine balanced on them.

try to take your torso to parallel to the floor, using the wall to help balance you. straighten legs as best you can (slight bend or even deep bend is ok), and feel legs and back lengthen.

Do the leg that doesn't have the sciatica, do that one forward first, then follow with the sciatic one.

next, 'goddess squat'--in this one, you also use the wall you can also use a chair (you'd be using the seat) if you want. stand a good distance from the chair, so that if arms were overhead, they would be firmly on the seat of the chair or the wall.

separate feet wider than hip distance apart, such that the belly would fit between the thighs.

with this, you want to try to make 90 degree angles with the legs. so, you send your hips back as far as you can, trying to get knees over ankles and thighs parallel to the floor.

with a flat back, put your chest between your thighs and look forward. lift the tailbone toward the ceiling and pull it as far back as you can again, trying to get the knees over the ankles. then press into the seat with your hands and feel your back lengthen and your hips and legs are strong.

this makes thighs burn a bit, but it feels really good when it's done. it also opens the pelvis nicely.

i did this a lot toward the end and it was great!

when your finished with goddess squat, then go into a foward bend to release your back. knees bent as much as you need to, but put the weight back on your feet and roll the weight toward the toes a bit. belly is stil lbetween legs as best as you can at this point! LOL

it really does help. yoga does wonders for all of this stuff. seriously, it's a powerful form of movement.

do it devotionally (i know you are christian, so i recommend that you use jesus or the holy spirit as your focus to my christian clients) and it infinitely increases the benefits. seriously, just doing th emovement devotionally makes a HUGE difference.

the other thing here is to try to take some of the pressure off the pelvis. this can move the uterus and baby up a bit to take some pressure off, allow her to shift into a better position and let prodomol labor happen.

also, bathe in epsom salts if possible to help with muscle fatigue.

[Talula Fairie]

I agree with mellowyellowmama, it may be best to avoid Castor Oil. I just know how desperate one can get in the end and wanted to present an option that was fairly safe

I so feel your pain, HennyPenny. Sciatica is just awful and I went well past my "due date" (arbitrary, I know) with #2 and had a lot of padromal labor....it was miserable. Plus I had a 16 month old to deal with who was nonstop tantruming and untreated bipolar. It was the pits. My heart goes out to you! I know how much it sucks to be in that place.

Sending good vibes your way.

[TzippityDoulah]

Zoebird... do you think this would work with Symphis pubic issues? I have a wide split and it seems ot be triggering the sciatica. oh it burns!! I've not been able to walk recently b/c it's so bad! like my legs just wont move... like as if they are in mud or something. it's uncomfortable.

I actually used to do yoga every day. but after I had my last child my hips and pevlis and shoulders were so messed up from sciatica and what not that I couldn't do it anymore. it was hitting a nerve and giving me numb burning sensations all through both arms. I was bummed to give it up because before that I really enjoyed it. I will try this method after I look into the spinning babies thing! thanks!!

(man I'm sick of playing doctor lol! This UC gig has been a lot of work this time around! trying to prevent HG, then GD, then Pre-E, and now this! LOL. I feel like I am falling a part! haha... but you know I still feel healthier than I ever did in an OBs care!)

[TzippityDoulah]

yeah I never dug the castor oil idea... being in prodromal labour and chronic diarhea that may or may not result in a birth? ugggh... no thanks. lol. just doesnt appeal to me right now.

[CultivatingMyRoots]

My 'induce' rec would be castor oil, but I took only two tablespoons with my DD and didn't look back!


BUT, maybe you need some Bach's Rescue Remedy and some sparkling cider instead? Calm helps with so much, and I would think between the yoga and some relaxing thoughts you might have better luck than trying to 'push' yourself into harder labor. Besides, resting up will make the birth much easier.

Any movies/music get you in the 'vibe' for a relaxing, restful, no expectations sort of night?

[TzippityDoulah]

I've taken it easy all day long. hardly lifted a finger. soon I'm going to ty to do some squatting and then some yoga stuff.... followed by rebozo lifts. we shall see!

[Beakybird]

I had prodromal labor with my second for weeks as well (I was supposedly a month overdue). Anyway, my mom was in town and I was pretty desperate at the time to find something that would get labor moving along. My midwife also had me taking a mixture of black cohosh and some other herbs (not sure which ones, but wish I knew now). I finally dug out my electric breast pump, as I had heard breast stimulation could get things moving. I tried it for 10 minutes or so, went to the bathroom, stood up and my water broke and gushed everywhere. The contractions became regular within a half an hour and I was holding my baby boy the next morning. I must say I will welcome prodromal labor again, due to the fact that once real labor set in, it was a breeze. My other two births with no prodromal labor and my water not breaking, were pretty intense.

Hang in there, our Father knows just when this little one should arrive!

[TzippityDoulah]

Originally Posted by Beakybird

I had prodromal labor with my second for weeks as well (I was supposedly a month overdue). Anyway, my mom was in town and I was pretty desperate at the time to find something that would get labor moving along. My midwife also had me taking a mixture of black cohosh and some other herbs (not sure which ones, but wish I knew now). I finally dug out my electric breast pump, as I had heard breast stimulation could get things moving. I tried it for 10 minutes or so, went to the bathroom, stood up and my water broke and gushed everywhere. The contractions became regular within a half an hour and I was holding my baby boy the next morning. I must say I will welcome prodromal labor again, due to the fact that once real labor set in, it was a breeze. My other two births with no prodromal labor and my water not breaking, were pretty intense.

Hang in there, our Father knows just when this little one should arrive!

I'm not taking cohashes right now b/c I just don't feel comfortable with it - since this is a VBAC (I've had one other vbac... but still it worries me)

anyhow, yes you are so right. our Father does indeed know!

[Sarahstw]

Originally Posted by HennyPenny

any thoughts on these herbs for "helping things along" for VBACers?

• Pennyroyal
• Blue cohash
• black cohash
• False unicorn root
• Blesssed thistle
• squawvine herb
• lebelia

(I have a little mixture a friend gave me with all of these herbs)

Here's hoping that by the time this message gets to you it will be irrelevant... (and you'll be busy writing us your birth story)

I am an herbalist, and I'm going to have to say that I think this formula is a little strange, and that I'm not a fan of it! Frankly (I have a problem with being too frank) most of the herbs are quite potent, some have varying degrees of toxic constituents, and others seem to have no place in the formula whatsoever... What company makes this? So, short answer - I would not recommend it.
The other people who posted have much better ideas for you than these herbs.

[accountclosed3]

HP:

certainly, it would be fun for SPD!

i teach from a therapeutic perspective and nearly every student comes to me with some serious problem. i have one guy who, if he is on his back, can't put his head down on the floor. it's a good 6-7 inches off the ground, that's how messed up his neck/shoulders are! but, i have a specific program for him to do mon-fri, and he takes class every saturday with me, and then on sundays he takes the day off.

so, it can be done. and in my opinion, it particularly needs to be done when you need a consistent form of physical therapy to help realign the body!

the real key, though, is to find a very good teacher.

i always look for experienced teachers--with more than 5 years teaching experience--because they tend to have a good working knowledge of the body and have come across and worked with common problems such as sciantica and related.

from there, i tend to stick to certain styles of training because these teachers tend to have more of a grounding in alignment (rather than, say, a focus on meditation. each school is different and that is valuable and great, but if we're doing poses, i want focus on poses, not focus on meditation, yk?). Anusara and iyengar tend to be my favorites, though the teacher needn't be certified by these groups, just experienced in them for a few years.

i would, personally, go back to yoga after the birth when you feel up to it. because you have such specific needs, i might interview a few teachers and then find out if you can get private lessons (often, you can do trades for lessons as well as paying for them). you need at least 4 lessons.

you should get an individual assessment in the first meeting, and then in the first lesson, a specifically designed plan or sequence of postures for your specialized needs. at this first lesson, your teacher will go through everything in detail and discover what does and doesn't work for you. in the second lesson, s/he should bring a revised lesson plan, and go through that with you. this should be the program that you can practice daily. during the third lesson, you'll go over your questions and experiences of the practice and fine-tune any misalignments while you practice, and the fourth lesson will be a complete 'fine tuning' lesson with the teacher.

after that, i would recommend going to a gentle class with the teacher once a week or every-other week, and then doing your recommended routine every day that you can.

i would also ask the teacher that your routine not be longer than 30 minutes, and that your family gives you that 30 mintues. afterall, this is for your health.

of course, this is an aggressive plan for a lot of folks, but it DOES work. and, 4 lessons is the bare minimum--i usually ask students to commit to 8 or 10 depending upon their issue since alignment is SO important and i can make changes as the student improves physically (as the condition improves, actually).

so, i hope that you can find a really good teacher who can help with both shoulders and hips, with the stomach too because it needs work after all that stretching!

if you can't, i'll help you out. best i can online anyway.

[cottonwood]

About castor oil and blue cohosh:
http://currantsandspice.fateback.com/induction.html

I was going to go look in Susun Weed for you, but I think I might have loaned my book out, I can't find it.

yoga

Sex for semen, great, but don't forget orgasm, the more intense the better!

[Talula Fairie]

That study on Castor Oil has since been disproven, it's outdated:

http://gentlebirth.org/archives/coMec.html

[sg784]

Im not familiar with herbs enough to make a suggestion. I am being taught by an herbalist of 35 years, but I feel like there are so many specifics that I just dont know, or remember. I will look thru my notes and see what I can dig up.

Ive heard that prodromal labor often reflects a malposition. WOuld you be open to taking homeopathic pulsatilla and see if you feel any shift in baby and then in energy? Digging out my notebooks now, will post again later.

[sg784]

Originally Posted by fyrebloom

I would also be wary of Pennyroyle, it's an abortion herb. It's going to be far worse the Cohosh.

Having had 2-3 weeks of prodromal myself with each I can say that you probably just need to not meddle with it, if you take something it's going to cause you MORE pain and probably not going to help that baby out.

Seriously though, http://www.spinningbabies.com/. Check and see if you can figure out what position the baby is in and if bub is not in an ideal placement try moxabustion or pulsatilla to help bub move pluss the excersizes on this site. In particular, the lunge helped me stop my prodromal labor with DS and he was Right Occiput Transverse and when I had my induction and it was back labor AND I had pelvic dystocia to boot.

Sorry! just read the second page and saw this was already mentioned!

[mellowyellowmama]

Originally Posted by fourlittlebirds

Sex for semen, great, but don't forget orgasm, the more intense the better!

Loving this advice!

[TzippityDoulah]

ok so I didnt' update last night... but I figured maybe this baby was in a weirdo position (malposition) so I did hands and knees, and I did also some rebozo/upside downy stuff. oh is that uncomfortable!!! but baby did turn from what seemed LOT to OA. the heartbeat is now right middle of my tummy where the back seems to be (like right below my belly button). and I can feel a butt and back right in front. so that's good.... but still no baby. everything is still the same other than the position. I guess baby could be asynclitic, but I've done all I can to help that along if that's the case. I got baby outta my pelvis several times to give room and gravity for it to move if it needs to... but. I can't keep laying upside down for no reason - it makes me puke!

I was SO hoping to go into labour before my parents got here this weekend... but oh well. I did tell them that I'm sending them and the kids out (or to a hotel) if I go into labour. I didn't plan this quite little UC in my own home so I could be i the middle of a crowd! I HATE giving birth with people around. i ONLY want my husband... not even the kids (though I love them).

so we shall see. I'm hoping it helps. I held off on any herbs (besides RRL) to encourage labour for now. I wanna give it a chance. and if I stay perfectly still and never move my contractions dwindle down - if I stand up and do ANYTHING for more than 5 mins they come back and attack me.

so all I do is sit on my butt all day or take a bath. I am bored!! and very irritable - even though I'm trying not to be

anyone who has ever gone through prodromal labour like this - I admire you! b/c I wanna throw ad dang hissy fit! 3 weeks ago I was strong and ready... now I'm worn out and irritable.