castor oil or the cohoshes

[MeganW]

I'm sitting here trying to decide which to try. i've had it with being pregnant. I'm all done. I'll be 39 weeks tomorrow. I know that last monday I was 1cm and 50%. I've had sex I've swam, eaten pinapple, drank rrl tea, can't stand the nipple stim. Sooo I'm going to find one or the other and it doesn't work I'm going to beg my cnm to induce me at this weeks appt. This baby is much bigger than my last I'm out of time at work and I need to get on with my life. I'm so tired of hearing you wont be pregnant forever etc etc etc.... I want my body back. I k now there are quite a few other momma's here that know how I'm feeling.

I used Castor oil with DD and swore I'd never do it again but here I am at 9am deciding which I'm going to buy. (btw where can I get the cohoshes? and info on the dose?)

[chinaKat]

Well, I certainly feel empathy for you... I feel like I've been pregnant FFE (For Freaking Ever)!!!!

I hope your baby comes soon!!!

[happymom83]

i totally know how you feel.i went a week and a half overdue with my dd.i was at the store buying castor oil when my dr called and wanted me to go to the hospital for a stress test.well she was slightly stressed.so iwas induced with Cervidal tablet.with my first ds i took castor oil on and off for a week,nothing....just nausea...then the day before i had him my dh took me and my dd to the ocean for the day,we walked on the beach for a long time,came home later dtd(sorry tmi)stayed up till one in the morning,sure i was not going to go into labor and just wanted to have fun.well...woke up at three thirty with contractions.had him at seven thirty.lol.with my ds#2 i was so miserable(had him the end of august,uggg!)i tried castor oil,nipp stimulation,etc..nothing worked would start having contractions then they'd stop.i was induced cause i was tired of being preg,my dr thought he was going to be over ten lbs,etc,etc.well it was a hard fast intense labor.(had pitocin).he ended up being eight lbs three oz.....needless to say all went good with all,had very different experiences...and now have three beautiful babies.with this one i'm so done....i'm misrable.i'm the kind of person that does not really enjoy being pregnant,its hard for me...but i love my babies!i'd have more if it werent for the pregnant part,lol.anyways sorry so long!
the cohoshes are available in natural stores,and a few stores around here(fred meyer,rays,,etc.)i have not tried those yet,but quite afew peeps have it looks like.i will try something other than castor oil this time.i cant deal with the nausea and take care of my three kids.
have you seen the Baby Belly Botanicals site?i think that looks like a promising product i think i'll try that.hope that helps.and again sorry so long.

[mm72873]

you can also order the cohoshes from online store....got mine from mountain spirit online...was here in 2 days....paod for it to get here quick.


I am in the very same situation as you......just so tired of being tired...and heavy...and breathless and cranky.....

I am trying the cohoshes tincture form after 40 weeks.......been doing them in homeopathic form......nothing...MW says tincture form is much stronger....

not sure how much yet....I guess she will tell me when the time comes...


Miriam

[MeganW]

thanks for the replies

I put a call in to the hospital to find out which dr is on call and to give them a heads up they're mad I'm waiting for them to call back maybe they'll have another suggestion. Otherwise I guess I'll start with the castor oil since that worked with dd. If that doesn't work I'll try the cohoshes. I haven't been able to find out about the does with the cohosh and I def don't want to take too much of that. 2tbsp twice with the castor oil right??

[jbobys]

yep, right there with you!

i did castor oil, which did NOTHING but make me sick, with both my kids, i was swept, stripped, cohoshed, sexed, EVERTHING with both and nothing got them out...zach came out after they broke my water to start labor at 42 weeks and ended up with pitocin to get lexa out at 42 weeks.

im so sick of being pregnant, and i have no end in site. im looking into accupuncture...never tried that. otherwise, im out of ideas.

[MeganW]

Well my acupuncturist is sooo certian of her methods that she wont help me till the end of the week. I think I've decided to wait till tomorrow to do the castor oil. I'm resting pulling everything together today (all laundry clean sparkling kitchen meals planned for dh and dd etc) Castor oil DID work for me last time. Although it made my labor a little longer than I'd have liked. I did get a hold of one of the dr's finally and he schedualed me for friday said he'd call the hospital board tomorrow and see if he could get me in sooner (they only allow two schedualed inductions a day) He was very sympathetic and accomodating and didn't even give me a hard time about the castor oil. This is even the dr I started out on the wrong foot with on my first visit. He said he didn't understand why I hadn't already been schedualed for this week if I was so upset. His sympathy vs the usual everyone feels this way comments made me feel much better on it's own. So I'm thinking I'll call in, in the am and go from there. I really don't WANT to be on the toilet all night but I'd take it over being pregnant any longer.

thanks for all the support. I've had a hell of a day so far.

[willoLevin]

I used the cohoshes to excellent effect with my DS, but that was under my doctor's supervision three years ago (she suggested it), and I'm afraid I don't remember the dose.

There are recommended dosages given in the book "Wise Woman's Herbal for the Childbearing Year" (by Weed, I think), but I don't have my copy near to hand.

I think Whole Foods or another health food store would have them. Of course, if you order them from an online source, you'll probably go into labor naturally before they arrive, knowing Murphy's Law.

If you want to try something a touch more subtle first, homeopathic Caulophyllum might be a good place to start, though I think you should look it up yourself (in a book or online) to confirm that it suits your situation (because I'm not a skilled practitioner, so I want you to confirm for yourself!)

I'm sorry you are suffering right now. Really, truly, we will all have our babies eventually. If only that made it better on the tough days!!!

--willo

[brittneyscott]

I know exactly how you feel. I've been taking walks, having sex as much as I can stand to, nipple stim., rocking on the birth ball, everything. I tried the castor oil twice in the last week and half but nothing. I'm sick of the false labor and being pregnant. Warning though: if you're having a white baby boy you're doctor probably won't induce. I tried to get my doctor to and he won't b/c he said white baby boys' lungs develop slower than other babies. I don't know about all this but just thought I'd let you know. Maybe it's just my doc though. Good luck to you.

[firefly mama]

A doc or MW supervising is really best with the cohoshes. If you talk with them, I would definitely discuss the cohoshes and see what they think. Dosage info from Susun Weed's Wise Woman Herbal for the Childbearing Year is below, along with the other things she recommends for initiating labor.

- visualizations
- homeopathic Caulophyllum 200x, dose repeated every half-hour for 2 hours
- stimulate uterus by rubbing belly, rubbing and pinching nipples, having an orgasm, and using a blue cohosh infusion as an enema
- castor oil rubbed on belly and taken as 2 oz castor oil, 2 oz vodka, and 2 oz of orange juice - can be repeated every hour up to 3 times, and hot showers and enemas are useful in between doses
- blue cohosh tincture, 3-8 drops in a glass of warm water or tea, repeated every half-hour for several hours until ctx are regular. If labor doesn't start in 4 hours, try a dropperful under the tongue every hour for up to 4 hours or until ctx are strong and consistent.

All info is from Weed's book.

[MeganW]

Thanks for the info mamma's. I don't think I'm going to use either, I got a good sweep yesterday and I've been up all night with contractions. The only problem now is that they aren't getting closer together. They space out when my dd is around. I wanted her here for the labor/birth but at this point I feel like I can't be around her. Anyway..I'm about to head out for a walk.

[mumm]

subbing.

I have a week before I'll be medically induced, but I'd like to get things going sooner so that i can get a back up doc for the midwives who is more twin-friendly (or at least willing to try to turn baby b.)

I honestly never thought that I would be in the position of needing to be induced with twins at 40 weeks, especially since my other kiddos were a week early! Figures the miserable pregnancy lasts forever!

The cohoshes look interesting to me, but I would only use them with specific instructions from my mw.

[debra_lea]

Found this link

I am in a different due date club (so, I have a few months to go), but was sympathetic to your thread. I remember with my first I was so paranoid about going over my due date, that I was taking the cohoshes along with primrose oil.

Check out this great link:
http://www.maternitycorner.com/mcmag.../preg0007.html

[willoLevin]

I want to add that, under my doctor's advice the first time, I'm positive that I did NOT use the cohoshes as frequently as Susan Weed suggests! I believe I was taking a certain dosage (again, sorry, I forget the dose) once or twice a day over a series of a few days, not every half hour.

The homeopathy definitely won't hurt and might help. I suppose I think all of us who consider nudging should start there. (My 2 cents!)

--willo