Raspberry leaf tea « Back to Group Discussions

[daylicious]

Is anyone drinking it? I'm 30 weeks now, and have started drinking one cup a day. Anyone have previous experience with it?

[flavorfull1]

I love it! I am waiting until I am 36 or 37 weeks because I have been having braxton hicks and I don't want to drink anything that might irritate that. I am going to talk w my mw about it though and see what she thinks. It is great for toning the uterus. I make it extra concentrated and put some lemon and honey in it and put it in the fridge for right after birth and make some for several days afterward. 

[csekywithlove]

I started it the day I hit the third trimester. I am drinking two cups a day. I love it. I have a cup in the morning and a cup at night before I go to bed.  I'm still wondering if I should have started it earlier... And does anyone know about drinking a concentrated amount once you go into labor? I have just skimmed the RRL Tea Tribe thread once or twice.

[Mom2SammyJoe]

I have been drinking a cup a day since the beginning of the second trimester. Around 28 weeks I started mixing RRL with nettle leaf. I make it a quart at a time and drink it over 3 days. My midwife recommends going up to 2-3 cups per day at 37 weeks and 3-4 cups per day after 38 weeks. I followed this with my last baby as well. I think it helped. I didn't end up with another c/s  ;)

I remember being very close to my due date last time around, and someone who didn't know me very well suggested I drink a cup of RRL tea to get things going. It had worked for her, she said. I just laughed and explained that I had been drinking a quart a day for a few weeks!

[Tulafina]

I drink it too. I make an infusion(steeped for 8 hours before drinking- about a quart) and keep it in the fridge. I drink it throughout my pregnancy. I get braxton hicks after I drink it but I get them all the time anyway, so it doesn't scare me too much. I've gone over my DD twice now and my last was 2 days before my DD, so it doesn't seem to matter how much I drink...they hold on to the bitter end;) I usually drink 2 cups of infusion daily from about 20w on. I'm not a lover of RRLT so starting it regularly at 20w is as early as I can handle. My last 2 births were under 1.5hrs in length(painful cx's) so of course I believe the RRL had something to do with it;) Who knows....if anything, it's an awesome source of vits and minerals. If you buy bulk herbs, you should try mixing it with nettle leaf and oatstraw:) Makes it WAY tastier, IMO, and you get the added benefit of lots of Vit K in the nettle(great for PP bleeding/anti hemmorhage) and great for baby(blood clotting). I drink nettle infusion to make me feel comfortable with skipping the Vit K shot:)

[sunflwrmoonbeam]

I really like RRL this time around, and I drink about 1 cup a day since the second trimester. I've been noticing that, compared to last time, my BH are stronger but less annoying. I notice them less, but when I do touch my belly during one, for instance, I'm impressed at how hard it is. I think this means the RRL is doing it's job :)

[MamaChick]

I try to stay on top of making my RRL/nettle infusions, but if I'm out I at least make sure to drink 2 cups via tea bags. I didn't even know about it last pregnancy. My friend took it in pill form and had a quick and easy labor so I'm really hoping it helps me! I didn't start drinking it regularly until the beginning of the 3rd trimester because of the BH.

[daylicious]

I've just been drinking one mug of the tea a day, made with a "Traditional Medicine" brand tea bag steeped for the recommended ammount of time.

Should I be making it stronger? Using loose leaf tea? The RRL tribe is sooooo long, it's daunting to dive into it.

Tell me more about the infusion to drink after birth, is that to help the uterus shrink back/prevent hemmorage?

[RosieL]

I wish the RRL tribe would create a cheat sheet of preparations and common "courses" of RRL drinking on the first post or something. It would be oh so helpful. 

I have a big bag of loose RRL that I want to start drinking. My MWs mentioned that RRL is not necessary, and my uterus will tone itself just fine, but they didn't tell me NOT to drink it, and they have it on their "birth supplies" list.

My only hesitation may be a completely unfounded one: I *really* can't afford for this baby to come before his due date. Slightly before maybe, but if he comes more than a week before I'm screwed as far as Grad school goes. Sigh. Any thoughts?

[flavorfull1]

Originally Posted by RosieL 

I wish the RRL tribe would create a cheat sheet of preparations and common "courses" of RRL drinking on the first post or something. It would be oh so helpful. 

I have a big bag of loose RRL that I want to start drinking. My MWs mentioned that RRL is not necessary, and my uterus will tone itself just fine, but they didn't tell me NOT to drink it, and they have it on their "birth supplies" list.

My only hesitation may be a completely unfounded one: I *really* can't afford for this baby to come before his due date. Slightly before maybe, but if he comes more than a week before I'm screwed as far as Grad school goes. Sigh. Any thoughts?

 if it was a guarantee to make a baby come at any specific point, it would be the craze of millions. My opinion is the baby will come when he is ready but if you don't feel comfortable doing it, definitely don't and don't worry about it!
 

[Tulafina]

I feel the same as flavorful- The baby will come when they're ready:) With my first, I was pretty clueless, and I tried everything under the sun to get him out. I even took a small amount of castor oil, blue cohosh and had a very aggressive membrane sweep(wasn't asked if I wanted it either...my OB just thought he'd do it while checking me @ 9 days over DD). I drank RRLT through my third trimester and had boat loads of BH's. He finally came 10 days past. If you don't feel comfortable though, don't do it:) Just do what feels right.

[justKate]

With my first pg, I started drinking it around half way through the pregnancy.  I don't think it did anything at all.  DD was two days overdue (right on time, IMO).

This pg, I've been drinking it since the beginning, and I didn't think it was doing anything at all until about 27 weeks.  Then I started thinking that it was making the braxton hicks increase in frequency/strength, but once I ran out of the tea they continued.  So I don't know if there's any use to it at all, but I do like it and it makes me feel like I'm doing something special for myself.  I'm out now but may get more if I happen upon it.  Not going to make a special trip to the health food store though.

I really don't think there's a chance of it making a babe come early.  Just a matter of whether it makes you uncomfortable or not.

ETA: UNLESS you have an irritable uterus or other condition that makes you want your uterus to stay as still as possible. 

[prettyisa]

Hmmm...I had forgotten about this completely! Going to have to go out and buy some (and some nettle!) I guess. thanks for the reminder, everyone!

[chapluqa]

I've been drinking a mixture of RRL/nettle/rosehip a few times a week (a few cups each day) and I think it has definitely had an effect on my uterus. A few times after drinking it I felt a bit crampy, which I suppose were B-Hs, that I've never noticed before. The only thing is that the nettle seems to have quite a strong diuretic effect, making me have to pee every time I drink it. I think it's ok as long as I keep up my water intake, but I'm going to adjust the RRL/nettle ratio because it's a bit annoying and I don't want to inadvertently dehydrate myself in pursuit of good nutrients from nettle.