Natural Induction: EPO, Semen, Red Wine, and Tea!!! - Page 2

[CherryBomb]

Originally Posted by oliversmom7213

How does ingesting it help? I understand how it works when ejaculated into the vagina, but ingesting it???? Your stomach acid would break it down and the hormones wouldn't even work. Unless the baby just says "screw this, this is sick" and decides to bolt from you just so they don't have to "eat" it as well. I'm not even going to tell DH about this b.c he would be allllllll over it. I can just hear him, "worth a try don't you think". ummm no.

[mojobot2000]

FWIW, with my first I used sex + <ahem> "ingested" semen, red raspberry leaf tea (only started it the last few weeks, and drank some serious strong brews when I decided I was "ready"), and exercise with great results. DD was born the day before her due date--wouldn't necessarily say that I successfully "induced" labor, but it did go amazingly quickly! I started losing mucous plug 8 hours after starting "the regimen," dilated without contractions for the next few days, then woke up in transition in the middle of the night and pushed the baby out 3 hours later. At my midwife's suggestion, I also took a big shot of vodka AND had a glass of wine, but that was to help me sleep after I lost the plug and was too excited to wind down. I think it's possible that without the sex, tea, and walking, my weird pre-labor would have taken a lot longer and I might have given birth a week or so later than I did.

This time around I'm adding EPO and starting both that and RRL tea now. (I'm almost 36 weeks.) I'll start pestering my husband when I hit 37 or 38 weeks. Baby will come when baby is ready, but I'm darn sure going to make it as easy as possible for him to find his way out when he IS ready!

[mojobot2000]

Also, I never heard of fish oils delaying labor...I took a TON when PG with my first, and I credit them for her turning out so darn smart, and for me not getting a lick of PPD despite some risk factors. This time around I've actually been kind of worried because I haven't been taking as high a dose. (It does get expensive.)

[Dirkey]

hee hee I've heard the ingested semen, the hubs knows that just not happening. lol
Well talk to me in a few weeks then I may be singing a different tune!!
Anyone doing nipple stimulation?

[hotharmony]

Last time I started EPO at 35 weeks orally and vaginally at 37 weeks. I drink RRL tea all the way through pregnancy. When I hit 41 weeks with my son the doctor was talking induction and so I decided to take castor oil two tablespoons with a mcdonalds strawberry milkshake. I had him the next day.

[outlier]

Here's the thread where I first read about fish oil and gestation length.

This abstract is from a study published in the Lancet that found taking fish oil in 3rd trimester is associated with longer gestation. I don't have access to the full article at the moment but should be able to get it tomorrow if anyone else wants to see it. I'll also look up this one.

SouthernBette, I've been taking DHA and fermented cod liver oil since well before I got pregnant, so if there is something to this, I'm sure I'm just as screwed as you are.

[stellamia]

My MW told me to stop taking fish oil by 35 weeks....

OK! I am a rare natural induction success story two times over!

Now, I am ALL for waiting for mother nature to do her work, but my fluid was on the "low side of normal" with DS1 and they estimated him at 9lbs so they didn't want me to wait. I was already 5 days past my DD when I did castor oil (he was born the next night). I also had a foley cathader, did shots of balsalmic vinegar, had sex and had a very gentle "semi' stripping of my membranes. I walked a LOT and then went into labor! It was a long labor but my beautiful 9lb 5oz boy was born at home and I wouldn't change a thing!

With DS2 it's a long complicated story but let's just say it was time for him to be born! I had my membranes stripped at 39 weeks and did castor oil. I walked the mall (air conditioning!!) that night with my sister for hours and started having strong contractions. Then I couldn't find my car in the parking lot so I walked around even MORE! Again, it was a LONG labor but my 8lb boy was born just as planned and it was wonderful!

I know more people who took castor oil and didn't go into labor than the other way around, but for me it seems to work. And I know that a lot of women think it's a no-no to strip membranes, but I really think there is a time and a place for it. For me, anything is better than a c-section so I was always all for anything that could encourage my baby to come before it came to that!

This time around my baby is breech (unless it turned which I'm praying for) and if he or she doesn't turn soon, it's a c-section for me (I'm 36 weeks). My MW doesn't deliver babies if she knows they're breech. If baby is vertex I plan on waiting as long as possible before interfering but you just never know.

Goodluck to all!

ETA: Both times I did the castor oil I'd already lost part of my mucous plug so things may have been starting up anyway....

[BirthIsAwesome]

I'm definitely not doing it for "induction", just for general birth-prep and toning of my uterus. I've been drinking strong RRL tea (about 1 litre per day) during my whole third trimester and I will begin oral EPO and a homeopathic birth prep at 37 weeks (just a couple days away!). Dh and I have regular sex anyhow...so, that will probably not work with me I do have an appointment for a massage on my due date and hubby and I will be going to my favorite Indian restaurant for some spicy food. However, it's more so I have something to look forward to on my due date, since I probably won't have had the baby yet or be in labor. Plus, I want to be nice and relaxed when the waiting begins. And spicy food is purported not to work if you eat spicy food regularly anyway, which is the case with me. So yeah---doing a lot of stuff, but I'm really not expecting it to put me in labor

ETA: oh, and ladies, alcohol is actually a smooth muscle relaxant and is used to stop preterm labor. I wouldn't recommend red wine as an induction agent! Take it to help you sleep for prodromal labor