[KarenMT]

How many of you are drinking this regularly? I drank it quite a bit with my first pregnancy and have been drinking it with this pregnancy as well. I wonder what brand others are drinking and the quantity recommended per day. Right now I've been buying the Tradtional Medicinals brand but it's really expensive. I drink two very large mugs a day.<br><br>
I also bought some Nettle tea as read this is good as well. Not so excited about the taste of it though.

 

[Sabo]

I had the Traditional Medicinals, but just recently bought the Rose Mountain herbs RRL. I got a pound and had to buy one additional thing so that my purchase $ was high enough. Even with the shipping, its cheaper than the TM brand, tastes so much better too.<br><br>
I need to buy nettle tea. My grocery store was out last night and then I stopped by the natural food store and they were out too! There must have been a mad run on nettle tea this week.

 

[mighty-mama]

oops, I have some, from Traditional Medicinals. But I've kinda forgotten about it.<br><br>
Let me go and start drinking..

 

[KarenMT]

Sabo- thanks! I checked out the Rose Mountain Herbs web site- way cool. They have an awesome selection of tea supplies as well. I bought the 1lb pkg along with a new tea infuser. Was going to buy some of their bulk nettle tea but I don't drink it as often so will probably stick to the Traditional Medicinals until I get a real "taste" for it.

 

[Nibor]

I bought some RRL, nettles and a couple of other things for tea...(I don't remember what they were off the top of my head right now) from the Mountain Rose co-op. Once they arrive, I'll be drinking tea! Actually, I have some RRL somewhere from before I was pregnant...I'll have to find it and drink it while I'm waiting for the Mountain Rose box.

 

[~minnow~]

I buy herbs in bulk at the coop! Cheap! I mix RRL, nettle, alfalfa and some mint for flavor. I put in slightly more of the RRL and less of everything else. I like the taste.

 

[KarenMT]

minnow- I was reading up on the alfalfa as well but no idea how much of it one would use. I'm figuring 1-2 tsp of the RRL. Do you just put in 1/2 tsp of the other two?

 

[~minnow~]

Um, let's see. I actually mix the stuff up all at once and keep it in a little cannister. I don't measure, 'cause that's how I cook. I aim for roughly 2 parts RRL, 2 parts nettle, and then 1 part alfalfa and some mint.<br><br>
Your question made me curious. In Aviva Jill Romm's book, The Natural Pregnancy Book, here's her recipe for "Nourishment Tea", high in iron, calcium and vitamins and safe to drink throughout pregnancy.<br>
2 parts RRL<br>
2 parts nettle<br>
1 part oatstraw<br>
1/2 part alfalfa<br>
1/2 part rose hips<br>
1/4 part red clover<br>
1/4 part spearmint leaf<br><br>
She says make it as an infusion but I just put some in a tea ball and steep it a cup at a time. She also says "You can vary the quantities of the ingredients or add and omit herbs from time to time."

 

[KarenMT]

Cool minnow. Thanks for posting the recipe here. I think I'll grab some nettle,alfalfa and rose hips while I'm at it. I'm not so sure about the mint. For some reason I've been totally turned off by mint during this pregnancy. No idea why.

 

[lunamegn]

I was drinking RRL and nettle every day - buying it in bulk from the local herb shop but then I did a report of RRL for my herbology class and read that it can stimulate uterine contractions and it kind of dawned on me that perhaps that was why I was having so many BH each day. So I'm not doing the RRL for right now, just nettle tea - which I made a large amount, let it infuse and then refrigerate. Yummy!! I will start up with the RRL in the 3rd trimester, though. I love the taste of RRL, though.

 

[gracious]

I was faithfully drinking my RRL tea...but I was getting some horrid BH contractions from it...so I'll pick it back up further down the road.

 

[beautiful_mama]

i don't usually start drinking mine until third tri, just habit I guess but we have a gal here in town who sells it in bulk so i may go pick some up <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/smile.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="smile"> thanks for the reminder!!

 

[~minnow~]

I have been having contractions the whole pregnancy (or at least, I've been able to feel them since like 9 weeks, before I was drinking tea), but they don't bother me! I was under the impression that your uterus is supposed to contract throughout pregnancy, that it's part of what helps it to strengthen (or something).<br><br>
Those of you who've been bothered by them... do you mean that they hurt? I'm just curious. For me, it just gets really hard but it doesn't cause any pain and my midwife said it's normal and fine. Also, it probably only happens a couple of times a day that I notice... do some of you experience it more often?

 

[KarenMT]

I get BH ctx's but have never connected that with RRL tea consumption. I sort of welcome the BH ctx's as I feel it's my body toning itself. I've never experienced labor type ctx's outside of birth though. I had read about avoiding RRL tea during the first tri but not during the other phases of labor. I guess some women are probably more sensitive to it than others.

 

[gracious]

the BH I was experiencing were pretty difficult. They felt a whole lot like regular contractions, rather then just the belly firming up...which is what I experienced with my first pregnancy.<br><br>
also, my dr. had scared me, telling me that I shouldn't nurse past the first half of my pregnancy because it can induce labor...lame. sigh. so when I got those BH contractions...of course, in the back of my mind I was thinking I was going to go into labor. ha ha. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/redface.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Embarrassment">

 

[arelyn]

We also get RR loose leaf tea at our co-op and it's really cheap. All their tea is for that matter. I try to drink a mug of it a day but I am forgetful (DH is pretty good about making me a cup when he makes his coffee otherwise I'd never remember). We have nettle too but I also can't stand the taste. DH was experimenting with it and made a chai that was AMAZING but has never managed to duplicate it. He's pretty sure it was just nettle leaves, cloves, cardamon pods, and a cinnamon stick...not to mention a truck load of sugar.<br>
If anyone feels like experimenting and figures it out, let us know!<br>
I only get uterine tightness when I don't drink enough water while exercising (like walking around town running errands without a water bottle). It's bothersome at the time, not because it hurts, it's just hard to finish the walk home with my belly feeling like that. I don't know if they're contractions though. I'm guessing they are but since this is my first time pregnant I can't be 100% sure.

 

[Hazelnut]

Yeah I was wondering cuz my midwife said it was too early when I was 20 weeks. I haven't started the pure red raspberry leaf, but I did start the traditional medicinals pregnancy tea, and only recently about 3 times a day. I don't know if it's not as strong, but it doesn't say anything on teh box about waiting, so now I'm at about 3 a day. I brew it, let it steep for a long time, then stick it in the fridge and pour it on ice. My kids love it and always want some. Is that bad? I need to brew them some iced fruit tea.<br><br>
Anyway, is the Traditional Medicinals as potent? I get it through a coop for a little less. I'm not a big tea drinker or brewer. I like them in the bags. <img alt="" class="inlineimg" src="http://www.mothering.com/discussions/images/smilies/redface.gif" style="border:0px solid;" title="Embarrassment">

 

[flowers]

I have been drinking the Pregnancy Tea which has RR and I make up batches of my own. Once the sun gets a little warmer I make up gallon ball jars of RR or Nettles and switch off daily and drink it iced.<br><br>
Someone mentioned something about the taste of RR...add lemon or some mint and it can make it tastier. I just find it to taste kind of like nothing.<br><br>
I just got the new issue of REal Simple and they had this great spread on jazzing up your iced tea. They had some really good recipes (I will try to post some later) and although they are for traditional black or green teas I was thinking they would go perfectly with RRL tea.

 

[KarenMT]

flowers- When you get the time to post some suggestions I'd love to see it. It sounds like lots of mamas drink their RRL tea in the iced fashion. I'll have to give it a try.

 

[lunamegn]

Yes, I recommend adding some peppermint to nettle or RRL if you don't like the taste. I used to do that but now I really just like the taste of nettle and rrl just by themselves.<br><br>
I also feel like getting bh's are a sign of my uterus doing it's thing and getting ready for the real deal, I just didn't like how often I was getting them.