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Red Raspberry Leaf Tea tribe - Page 107

post #2121 of 2208
1/7/13 at 8:31am
Prepped my first infusion this morning. At 3am or thereabouts (my sleeping habits are a mess) I boiled a quart of water on the stovetop, turned the heat off and added about a cup of herbs. At 11am I strained off the herbs, so they've been infusing for roughly 8 hrs. I'm warming a cup's worth very gently in a smaller pan, and will put the remainder in the fridge to drink throughout the day. I tasted it before heating and its pretty strong and tannin-y now so whereas I could have it unsweetened with no problem before, I'll probably be trying different mixes or adding fruit juice going forward. I will be aiming to drink a quart per day the rest of my pregnancy at least 6 days per week.

Happy sipping ladies!
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post #2122 of 2208
1/7/13 at 9:05am
Adding a half teaspoon of stevia leaf to your brew will improve the flavor by leaps and bounds-I highly recommend it!
post #2123 of 2208
1/11/13 at 11:06am

In the first post on this thread, Birth Junky gives the following quote:

 

"It was not until sometimes after the birth of my daughter that I read a book my mother had brought with her from Scotland entitled Dragged to Light by W.H. Box of Plymouth, England. In it I found the secret of just how to take the tea so it would truly work wonders during labor and delivery. Box said, 'On one ounce of raspberry leaves pour one pint of boiling water, cover and let steep for 30 minutes. Strain, and when the time for delivery is approaching drink the whole as hot as possible.'

 

Anybody know if this is an ounce of fresh leaves or dried?  I imagine an ounce of dried leaves is considerably stronger than an ounce of fresh...

 

I have been drinking a brew made with fresh leaves every day since the first few weeks of pregnancy, and will definitely be drinking the stronger brew on labour day :-)

post #2124 of 2208
1/11/13 at 9:26pm
Naturelle, I can only assume they meant dried because fresh is so seasonal. Also, one ounce of rrl looks like the same volume of herbs as I use for a quart of water and the recipe for labr-day tea only calls for half that, a pint, hence the strong brew.
post #2125 of 2208
1/12/13 at 5:26pm

One ounce of Dried Raspberry leaf is a  rounding cup.
 

post #2126 of 2208
1/12/13 at 6:05pm

Hi ladies. I just wanted to crash to ask a quick question. I started drinking RRLT with my second pregnancy and thought that it really helped (like 1000% better!) with my after pains and recovery and just pregnancy and labor in general. I have been wanting to drink it again with this pregnancy but for some reason all tea has been tasting gross to me. Has anyone tried it with some sort of flavored coffee creamer? I know it has more of a black tea flavor so I wonder if that would taste ok in it. I don't really like other sweeteners in my tea but I am usually a coffee drinker, and since coffee has been tasting badly to me too I thought maybe this would be a good sub?

post #2127 of 2208
1/12/13 at 9:02pm
So I did a little experiment on myself in preparation for the strong infusion for labor because i knew that the proportions of the strong infusion would probably be unpalatable to me and I wanted to find a way to make it less disgusting!!

So I steeped a half an ounce of RRL in one cup of water for 15 minutes: BLECH

I added a tsp of honey: BLECH

I added some cream and another tsp of honey: MEH.

The tea has a lot of tannins in it, but the 2tsp honey plus cream made it passable.

This tea bares no resemblence whatsoever to my daily iced brews (which are yummy) with rrl, nettle, lemon balm, stevia, oat tops, alfalfa, made with 1 ounce total herbs in 1 quart water. T
post #2128 of 2208
1/12/13 at 9:20pm
Oh, and interestingly enough: ive definitely noticed that when I have my regular yummy iced brew, I usually get BH (since week 32) right away and often before I finish the glass.

The strong rrl brew I just had: not a one!!!
post #2129 of 2208
1/13/13 at 9:43am

I am up to around almost  .7 of an ounce in around a quart of water or less daily now at least 4 hours usually.... I do get lots of Braxton Hicks from this, my uterus is tight for hours afterwards. I am 33 weeks 2 days. That is close to 1 cup of red raspberry or so

I have gotten used to the tannin taste alot.  It isnt the best taste, but I dont really care about that part too much. Hoping for a wonderful birth and recovery, God willing!
 


Edited by herbsgirl - 1/13/13 at 3:47pm
post #2130 of 2208
1/13/13 at 3:54pm
I haven't read this entire post but bits and pieces. I am 7 weeks pregnant and plan on starting the RRL tea. Can I start it now or should I wait til later?
post #2131 of 2208
1/13/13 at 10:12pm
This seems to depend on each individual woman. RRL is generally contraindicated for women who have a history of miscarriage. I don't have that history, but RRL infusion (steeping 4+ hours) gave me what felt like menstrual cramps in the first trimester, so I discontinued use and switched to nettle infusions until 20 weeks.

However, my MW said that a regular ol cup of RRL tea steeped for 3 minutes is just fine in the first trimester. I didn't do that because I prefer iced herbal teas instead of water all through the day, but it's up to u. My MO with any herb or supplement is to use it cautiously, notice how my body reacts, and adjust from there.
post #2132 of 2208
1/14/13 at 10:28am
How early did you start drinking RRLT?
post #2133 of 2208
1/14/13 at 2:40pm
I start early, but gradually make stronger infusions the further along I get. Just a cup of "regular" strength (mixed with alfalfa, nettle, lemon balm or skullcap) the first trimester.
post #2134 of 2208
1/15/13 at 6:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jennyfriend1978 View Post

Naturelle, I can only assume they meant dried because fresh is so seasonal. Also, one ounce of rrl looks like the same volume of herbs as I use for a quart of water and the recipe for labr-day tea only calls for half that, a pint, hence the strong brew.

 

Hi Jennyfriend, thanks for the reply.  I have RRL in my garden all year round but if it is seasonal in more northern climes then it makes sense to assume it's dried, thanks.  Interesting that you didn't get BH after drinking the strong brew!

 

I started drinking the tea at about 6 weeks, but like splath, I gradually make it a little stronger.

post #2135 of 2208
1/18/13 at 12:46pm
I've been doing the RRL/nettle infusions but it's getting expensive paying $6 for 100gm from the health food store smile.gif
Where can I order in bulk that accepts PayPal?(also i'm in Canada) mountain rose herbs does not accept PayPal!
post #2136 of 2208
1/21/13 at 11:21am
Mountain Rose accepts checks- I bet if you called them they would work with you- maybe an international money order or something like that.

As for when I started, it was at 6 weeks but in earnest at 20 weeks when I had built up a tolerance to it and it ceased making me crampy.
post #2137 of 2208
1/25/13 at 7:17am

35 weeks and up to .8 of an ounce now.  It seems to bring on strong contractions, but they are not really doing anything to my cervix at this point. Midwife checked me yesterday, cervix is still very high, she never said it was dilated or anything.

 

The thing is the contractions seem to be getting harder to feel sometimes even though Im up to almost an  ounce. I touch my stomach and it can be as hard as a rock, but my level of pain isnt really feeling it much or something, this happens alot. I feel my belly to see if I am having a contraction.  I have read alot of women say they didnt realize they were in labor until they were more in active labor or significantly dilated. Other poeple say that when labor starts it goes really fast.  Hoping for a fast and easy birth, God Willing!

post #2138 of 2208
1/25/13 at 10:23am
Start small as in a tea, dont infuse it for extended lengths of time, just like regular tea. Then if you feel okay, you can go with it. That was my midwife's advice to me
post #2139 of 2208
1/25/13 at 10:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by herbsgirl View Post

35 weeks and up to .8 of an ounce now.  It seems to bring on strong contractions, but they are not really doing anything to my cervix at this point. Midwife checked me yesterday, cervix is still very high, she never said it was dilated or anything.

The thing is the contractions seem to be getting harder to feel sometimes even though Im up to almost an  ounce. I touch my stomach and it can be as hard as a rock, but my level of pain isnt really feeling it much or something, this happens alot. I feel my belly to see if I am having a contraction.  I have read alot of women say they didnt realize they were in labor until they were more in active labor or significantly dilated. Other poeple say that when labor starts it goes really fast.  Hoping for a fast and easy birth, God Willing!
RRL never gives me anything but tight BH ctx (if anything at all)...but I am a stretchy 5cm by the time I go into labor each time!
post #2140 of 2208
1/25/13 at 1:35pm

I've been drinking two RRL teas every day for a couple weeks now (I'm 38 weeks) and I have never had any kind of ctx from it at all. I'm hoping that it's doing things that I just don't feel

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