things to get labor started - Page 2

[waiting4it2snow]

Originally Posted by Lukas's Mama

DTD is "do the deed" or "doing the deed" or "did the deed" or sex!

I would NOT have gotten that! Awesome. I'll have to tell my hubby we need to DTD!

[wildgarden]

Waiting, relaxed waiting. :

With DS I had eaten spicy Indian food that day (not because I wanted to start labor, I was just craving it) and my water broke that night. Then we did some nipple stimulation about 27 hours after my water broke to get the contractions going more regularly, but I was already having early labor contractions...we were just worried because there was a bit of meconium in the fluid at one point. The nipple stimulation really got things going, but then things were already going a bit. I had also been taking EPO for several weeks (orally). DS was born 2.5 hours before his "due date"; I think things just happened because it was time. Or maybe he wanted a really cool birthday; he has a really cool birthday (the date).

[Usually Curious]

Originally Posted by candyapplez

Haven't heard of that one...I'll have to give it a try. How fast did you roll it?

Is there anything negative about epo? I think I remember m/w saying castor oil was bad.

Slowly.

[gottaknit]

Originally Posted by wildgarden

Waiting, relaxed waiting. :

But maybe not as relaxed as I wish I could be!

When I was anxious to have DS, I had DH rub my feet and press the acupressure points (that supposedly start labor) on my ankles. My water broke a few hours later..... BUT I didn't start having contractions for days, after trying everything, including castor oil, which was one of the WORST experiences of my life. (For me, castor oil was like having horrible food poisoning and menstrual cramps at the same time.) Labor came on hard and fast, but then petered out.... long story short I ended up having a c/s 40 hours later, not the peaceful homebirth I had planned.

So this time I am wary of doing anything that could bring on labor before the baby is really ready.

As for doing the deed.... I seriously think a man with a pregnant wife made that one up. I've never heard of it working for anyone!

[Tattiana]

Originally Posted by gottaknit

As for doing the deed.... I seriously think a man with a pregnant wife made that one up. I've never heard of it working for anyone!

I have, but I think it would have started anyway, the sex just pushed it over the edge and I think that is the case with many of these things. I think of things like EPO, Red Raspberry and sex as things that prepare the body (i.e. ripen the cervix, tone the ute...). And I am all for that preparation, much more than really trying to push anything that isn't ready.

[kleines]

Originally Posted by goldie117

walked the doggies as fast as my cankles could carry me


Goldie edd10/06/07

I so have cankles too! It hurts!

Nothing really helped me. Right now I have steady CTX if I am upset. I am not able to sit around and cry ALL day, so that is out!! Not too interested in DTD either, maybe I will try later...

[jrayn]

An idea came upon me this evening as I searched my cupboard for my pregnancy tea and didn't find anything but a sample of mother's milk tea, I remember earlier in the pregnancy I drank some mother's milk tea and later that evening I had quite a few braxton hicks, enough to cause me to worry being that I was around 20 weeks....
A few days later I found out that an herb in it causes uterine contractions and if pregnant not to drink it b/c of that
I am now drinking my last sample of mother's milk tea

[jessitron]

Pretend to roll a quarter? How do you pretend? Can we just roll an actual quarter? And is it really rolling, or flipping?

I get a fair amount of nipple stim here, nursing 1-2x per day, briefly. It always gives me a good contraction or two, but that's it. Come on, baby, the weather is gorgeous, don't you want to see it?

[echospiritwarrior]

Originally Posted by gottaknit

But maybe not as relaxed as I wish I could be!

As for doing the deed.... I seriously think a man with a pregnant wife made that one up. I've never heard of it working for anyone!

It worked for me and LOTS of people I know... it's much more difficult this time, since I'm much bigger, but I'm still trying. DH and I were in the middle of DTD last pregnancy when I had to stop because the pain of the contractions... turns out my more waters broke and within a few hours I was holding my DD.

hmmm I'd never heard of mother's milk tea... off to brew a pot of water!

[2bluefish]

I wish I could learn patience - it seems to be a quality that God forgot to give me...

I tried uping my usual dose of homeopathic caulophyllum last night - no labor and I forgot it is a stimulant like nicotine - I was sweating like a pig all night and had the a/c turned down like a meat locker!!

It's weird, even the prodrominal labor seems to have left me now. I guess that's a good thing... I have noticed I'm effacing alot - I might be close to completely effaced when I start labor - I reckon that's good...

[Aeress]

I seem to have a day or two of prodominal labor and then nothing.

Doing EPO, RRL, and squats....nothing yet.

[2bluefish]

EPO is cool - I started taking it - I was effacing on my own but decided it couldn't hurt. I forgot how well it helps with the constipation - that hasn't been an issue since I started oiling the digestive tract!

[fihz]

Well, if your body and baby are ready, most things might work. If not, only waiting will help :

- Black/blue cohosh, although I'd only do it with my herborist friend for the correct doses
- Lots of walking
- DTD, for the prostaglandine deposit and the O's that create contractions...
- EPO but it's usually in the weeks prior to birth
- Acupuncture or accupressure points in the back and /or feet

And probably lots and lots of midwife tales

[tribalmax]

Originally Posted by 2bluefish

EPO is cool - I started taking it - I was effacing on my own but decided it couldn't hurt. I forgot how well it helps with the constipation - that hasn't been an issue since I started oiling the digestive tract!

So at what point is everyone (as far as how far along you are) comfortable doing something to get things going? Are you ladies patient enough to wait until your due date? Or after? Or is anyone starting these things earlier?

Just curious (she types as she sips mother's milk tea)

[blueridgewoman]

I'm about 80% effaced, so I've been trying everything. Except castor oil because really, ew. And ow.

Let's see--

Having sex (with myself : they say orgasms are stronger when you do it yourself, and I have a female partner, so the sperm thing is pointless)
Nipple stim
Pineapple
Oregano and basil
Exercise
Walking up and down stairs
Making concrete plans the same night that my doula had plans and the crappy OB was on call
Driving on bumpy roads
Eating Indian for lunch (that was today, so...)

Out baby out.

[candyapplez]

Wel I've had 3 due dates The earliest today so I've just been doing the minor stuff since friday, rrl,exercise eggplant parn and dtd.

[2bluefish]

I'm 37 +4 - I think 38 weeks is kind of ideal for me for a birth. I had ds at 37.5, and he was perfect. My kids were both very alert and active at birth, and my 40 + weeker, hardly seemed like a newborn - she rolled over the first week! I'm really wanting to go ahead and have my baby this week or next. It definately would be more convenient for us. But also, a small part of me does not want to labor at the same time I did with dd, because her labor was so hard. But I'll do what I have to do I guess. I don't have a problem doing benign prep stuff after 36 weeks. There's a big difference to me between taking a little EPO to help prep the cervix or massaging my nipples that are itching to nurse a baby so badly anyway, and trying to force a baby out by taking a huge dose of castor oil or multiple doses of herbal tinctures. I'm definately a pot watcher though...

(Mother's Milk tea has fennel seed in it, which has worked really well for me in the past for heartburn.)

[marlygf]

I'm 38.5 weeks by one due date and 38 weeks by the last. I've been doing EPO vaginally and orally, rrl tea when I remember to drink it, walking. Oh yes, I'm also seeing the chirpractor, but that's to get her in a good position I'm not really doing anything serious to help her come, I'm just trying to prep things for her to come smoothly, like butter!

[jenmarie]

I'm such a dork, I want tips for the exact OPPOSITE!

While I'm kind of done with being pregnant, I have stuff to DO and am not ready for this baby until at least another week has passed. (I'm at 37w 5days now)

I got all crampy today and was like 'Oh, NO, not yet!!'

So I drank a lot of water and am chilling out now, much to DD's chagrin. I think she's sick of mom being such a stick-in-the-mud.

Tomorrow we're going to have to run errands like mad after my midwife visit, and hope my uterus can be chilled out for just a little while longer. *crosses fingers*

[tribalmax]

Originally Posted by jenmarie

I'm such a dork, I want tips for the exact OPPOSITE!

While I'm kind of done with being pregnant, I have stuff to DO and am not ready for this baby until at least another week has passed. (I'm at 37w 5days now)

I got all crampy today and was like 'Oh, NO, not yet!!'

So I drank a lot of water and am chilling out now, much to DD's chagrin. I think she's sick of mom being such a stick-in-the-mud.

Tomorrow we're going to have to run errands like mad after my midwife visit, and hope my uterus can be chilled out for just a little while longer. *crosses fingers*

Well, they use magnesium to stop labor at the hospital -- and my doula suggested that I stop taking my cal/mag at night (to help me sleep) if I wanted to get things going -- so maybe that will help?

It can't hurt anyway...