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Another Red Raspberry Leaf Tea

1K views 10 replies 8 participants last post by  KaliShanti 
#1 ·
Is anyone going to try this? Has anyone already tried this? What about EPO? I am wanting to do a VBAC after 5 yrs. One of my twins were breech. I am taking any advice on strengthening the uterus or any advice on VBAC if possible. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
I thought about RRL tea and even looked through and posted in the massive RRL Tribe thread in the I'm Pregnant forum. It sounds like it can help, but you really have to drink large doses of it daily for quite some time. I'm not sure I could handle that. I used EPO around 37 weeks with my first. As far as I know it's mostly to ripen the cervix so that it can start to efface and dilate. I was already "mushy" at that point so I'm not sure it did much. You might find some great support, tips, ideas, etc. in the VBAC forum. Have you tried posting there?
 
#3 ·
My VBAC advice is to find a local ICAN chapter and start attending meetings NOW. I've never had a cesarean, but the women there are such an amazing resource!

As for RRL tea, here is my 100% non-scientific anecdotal opinion: I've given birth 3 times. The first time, from 30 weeks on, I was pretty darn diligent about my cup a day. I did have (unrelated to the RRL, it was from an infection) a stint with pre-term labor, but the actual birth was great. First time mom, 9 hour labor (which probably would've been a 6 hr labor, but I stalled a bit in the hospital from being anxious, poked and prodded, and not wanting to be there). I had very little pain as long as I was in the water and could move as I wanted to. The only time I asked for any kind of pain relief (narcotics, which I should have known wouldn't work!) was when I was stuck in bed for monitoring because it made my sciatica act up. Forget the contractions, my butt and legs hurt!

Second time, not big on drinking it. 6 hours of labor, 3 hours of active "this is really it, not just the prodromal stuff like always" labor. Back labor, so painful. Birth was still easy, but definitely not as pain free.

Third baby. No RRL at all. 2 hr 10 minutes of labor. Woke with a contraction, baby was here 2 hrs later. Easier than the back labor for sure, was able to move, use water at home, etc. Still, not as comfortable as that first time.

Was it the RRL tea that made the first time so much easier, or just the fact that the progression of labor was a bit more spread out? Not sure. But I've already started drinking it again this time. I make a liter of RRL soda (I have a sodastream soda maker, which carbonates drinks). I make a mug with 3 tea bags in it. Then I add water and lemon juice to fill up the rest of a 1 liter bottle. Carbonate it, and drink. It's fizzy, refreshing in the heat, and tastes good! Once it gets chilly out I'll switch to drinking it hot with a little bit of honey. I will likely look up the RRL infusion to have on hand for labor, and maybe some RRL ice cubes since I have a hunch this will be a longer labor.

I figure I like the taste, it's been used for the purpose for centuries. If it even only has a placebo effect, hey that is sometimes just as good as a real scientific reason. I'm big on 'if it doesn't hurt and may help, why not?' reasoning, though.
 
#4 ·
No ma' am I am new here. I didnt know there was a thread for that. Thanks. Let me ask you something if you don't mind. I had my first vag, so I am hoping that my body remembers. Do you think I should try EPO. I have a 12hr labor with him. Well I had bloody show @ 1am and had him the nexgt morning @ 1am. I am just wondering. Thanks for your imput.
 
#5 ·
I take a glass quart jug that originally held store bought organic lemonade and make a quart of ice tea a day to drink. I either do it in the morning while cooking breakfast or at night while cooking dinner. It basically consists of putting the kettle on and throwing 3-4 bags in a jar and I find it easy to drink it in a day. I found making multiple cups of hot tea and time to sit and drink hot tea to be kind of daunting in my last pregnancy and am really happy I started doing this! Just a suggestion for anyone who wants to give drinking a ton of it a try!
 
#6 ·
I drank gallons of RRL when I was pregnant with #2. I really have no idea if it helped or not. Both of my labors were very similar. They both started at night, lasted 27 hours and were very manageable. With both, my contractions were every 10-15 minutes until transition.

The only difference is that I pushed for 3 hours with #1 and 10 minutes with #2. I really think that the difference was more because I had already given birth, but who knows.. I happen to like RRL tea and will probably drink it again. It certainly didn't hurt anything.
 
#7 ·
I did EPO from 37 weeks on, orally AND vaginally. I have no idea if it helped, I was doing all sorts of things to ripen cervix and encourage labour. All I can recommend with EPO is make sure you are wearing underwear you don't really care about, because it was strangely difficult to get the EPO stains out. Even with my usual oil-stain remedies. I'll probably do it again, because it certainly didn't harm anything. But I don't know how it would be particularly useful for VBAC, because it's more to encourage labour than strengthen the uterus. I suppose if you were in danger of going too late for the comfort of your HCP, it would be useful, in combination with other gentle/natural methods, like acupuncture and intercourse.

I'm totally going to try RRL iced tea! Thanks for the idea! I always combine it with mint tea, because I don't really like the taste, but that sounds yummy iced too.
 
#9 ·
Yes, but only after about 34 weeks or so. I had some dire warnings from friends about the overactive effects it can have on your uterus, . But I'm drinking it now, and so do most of my other pregnant/mama friends, and many other things I have read encourage drinking it throughout pregnancy, so I'm not concerned (as about most things) this time.

BTW, I had 21 hrs total of labour, 6 of which was active labour, and 45 mins of pushing (and an almost unnoticeable 3rd stage) and the only time I started to be overwhelmed with pain was during transition. So a good labour all around, though I wouldn't at all credit it to RRLT. We have a family history of "easy" births.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Chena4 View Post

Thanks fot the imput. @ Kaypea, did you try RRLT before?
 
#10 ·
With my last (first) pregnancy I drank RRL tea and nettle tea with mint added and a few other things through most of my preg. I added EPO vaginally from about 33 weeks on. I ate pineapple a lot and had a quick birth (just about 4 hours active labor, 5 pushing contractions, no med and pitocin induced (removed after I started active labor) due to what they thought was pih but was just white coat hbp) considering it was my first without much bleeding, soreness or tearing. I attribute that to other things as well, but I do feel that every little bit helped and definitely didn't hurt. I am doing it again this time.
 
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