Teas, Techniques, and Time

Week 40 was a huge milestone. By this time PAL had done all of her major development and put on the pounds. But as we slipped past her estimated due date of August 19th, first by a few days, and then a week, and then a week plus, we started to become more anxious.

You have to understand the anxiety was not caused by me "wanting this to be over", I would have happily (okay maybe not all the time-but mostly) carried PAL as long as she wanted to stay in utero. Plus, I knew my mom went two weeks over with me and three weeks over with my sister which made going over seem normal.

Our building stress actually came from our midwife who thought once we were "post term" (40 weeks and a day in her mind) we would want to/should induce. We were surprised by this position with her being a midwife, but realized that as a part of a larger medical practice she most likely had to play within the rules of their system. Medical interventions to induce (cervadil, pitocin, etc) are not seen as being a big deal for most doctors/patients this day in age.

After scouring all the research available (surprisingly limited and contradictory), Pearce and I  both agreed that we were unwilling to an induce without having an medical reason to do so. Knowing that the average time frame for most women to have their babies was 41 weeks and three days (without medical prompting) and weighing the other risks for waiting beyond this point carefully, Pearce and I decided that we would wait until 42 weeks and a day before going to the hospital to be induced.

With that in mind we were going to try our darndest to encourage PAL to join us via a whole host of natural (and sometime ridiculous) methods. Although NONE of them worked for us, if you ever find yourself in this situation one day, maybe one of them will work for you.

Primrose oil
I started talking one primrose oil capsule a day orally. It is supposed to help soften the cervix.

Raspberry Leaf Tea
I drank a few cups of this in the morning and the evenings to help prepare my uterus for labor/birth. Although it is not supposed to cause labor, women taking felt that it helped them have an easier labor and better recovery. I do think it has helped me postpartum.

Walking 
In my first trimester I trained for the Disney Princess Half Marathon I always run with my mom. This year PAL came along for the ride. Even though we ran walked it, we only added a half an hour to our time! Though I didn't run at the end of my pregnancy I was walking at least 2 miles every day, some times up to five (three in the morning solo and two in the evening with Pearce). Maybe because I had exercised so consistently she wasn't phased by the movement.

Pedicures
Right before I hit the 40 week mark I got a pedicure with massage hoping it would trigger some pressure points in my feet. Later that night Pearce and I went to the movie theather and I had a few "real" contractions. I ended up having to get another massage because of going so long over, the second time nothing happened.

Scalinis
We waited until forty weeks and a day before attempting the tried and true method of Scalinis. The eggplant parmesean at this restaurant is known to cause labor in women. In fact, there are over 300 babies that have been born within 48 hours after having eaten it. We had heard that it was the oregano in the dish, but the waitress said that it was the way the cooked the dish that brought out the eggplant's night shade qualities that promoted labor. Fail.

Pregnancy Massage
A week after she was supposed to be born I went for a certified pregnancy massage focused on hitting pressure point in the ankles and hands. I can report that like the first pedicure, I felt some rumblings of something happening, but it never came to anything significant. I did enjoy the massage though.

Sex
This is the one people LOVE to recommend to you. Fun fact - semen has the largest amount of prostagladins (which ripen the cervix much like the engineered Cervadil they use in the hospital). Plus orgasms produce Oxytocin which encourage contractions). Despite the awkwardness of the positioning (hello I was ten months pregnant) we committed ourselves to this endeavor and kicked it up a notch by using Primrose oil in tandem. 

Accupunture
I held out on the acupuncture, not for fear of needles, but the cost. So when I still had not gone into labor three days before L-Day, I decided to get over it and give it a whirl. Like the pregnancy massage she focused on getting my "chi" moving via key points on my body (ankles, hands, ears). She started first with needles, heating them to cause warmth at these key points. After around 20 minutes she switched to mugwort incense that also has been known to trigger contractions. I love this part especially because it smelled like Mongolia! Again, this was one of the more successful endeavors giving me contractions that lasted through the day and evening but eventually petered out.

Towards the end I started trying anything and everything that I had found may help initiate labor. This included pineapple, black liquorice, and red wine. The fact I ate the black licorice really spoke to my desperation-- I HATE it. I had to gag down every piece. But I ended up getting down 9 pieces- bleh.

Last on the list was Castor Oil. An old school remedy for starting labor (it used to be used in hospitals in fact) over half of women who use it at the end of pregnancy go into labor. Now that is a percentage I can get behind. On the other hand it also can causes totally debilitating cramping of the intestines, explosive diarrhea for hours and puking. Oh and it tastes god awful (I didn't think it was that bad actually, especially compared to the liquorice). Now you can understand why this is a last resort measure. But, two days before we were supposed to go to the hospital, I bit the bullet and took 2 tablespoons worth of the potent stuff. Nothing happened, and I don't just mean contractions, I mean nothing. I didn't have a single intestinal cramp. So I re-uped and swallowed down two more tablespoons. After a few hours and some dinner, I finally meandered over to the bathroom and had the great cleansing everyone spoke of (still had nothing on my Peace Corps days). No contractions though. Boo.

So after exhausting every avenue I could think of (and was recommended to me), Monday September 3, our nation's Labor Day and our apparent labor day, we found ourselves driving to the hopsital to have our baby we had been waiting 10 and a half months for.

If you are interested in reading more about natural induction methods- check out this blog:
Pregnant Chicken. The woman who writes it is hysterical and has loads of good stuff.

http://www.pregnantchicken.com/pregnant-chicken-blog/2011/1/10/how-to-go-into-labour-or-labor-if-youre-getting-picky.html#comment18710994