Rewind back to a couple of weeks ago when I did my 37 week pregnancy update, I was calm, chilled out, nesting like crazy yes but I wasn't in much of a hurry to meet my new little life. Bring it forward to today & I'm ready to tear my hair out. Undoubtedly, the majority of the reason why I'm now so impatient to go into labour is because as many of you will know if watch my YouTube videos, at my midwife appointment last week I was told that I'd more than likely have Charlie in the preceding days and wouldn't make it to the weekend. It's now over a week later & I've had nothing but false starts, show and a lot of pressure. In the depths of my despair I've found myself falling for every old wives tale there is out there, relentlessly googling 'natural ways to induce labour' and aside from trying castor oil (which I definitely do not intend on doing either) I feel like I've ruled out every one in the book. Here are a few that I thought would be worth chatting about, or in some cases as you'll soon see, laugh at.
Raspberry Leaf Tea
Research shows that Raspberry Leaf Tea can help to soften your cervix and prepare your baby for their decent into the world. After drinking more than 60 cups of the stuff in the past 2 weeks I can certainly say it's not worked for me. Thankfully, it doesn't taste too bad and since I'm used to drinking herbal teas anyway I didn't see much difference that was apart from the dry after taste it leave in your mouth and throat which would literally give me the dry heave. I suppose the extra hydration from all of the water is only a good thing but in terms of starting anything labour related? Nah. On a positive note though it has reduced in price since I purchased it when I was pregnant with Ella so surely I can celebrate that mini win?!
Spicy Food
The idea behind hot and spicy food inducing labour is that it irritates the bowel (TMI!) and what's neighbouring? Your Uterus of course! So by irritating one it's bound to kickstart the other, right? Wrong. If nothing else it just makes you feel lousy. Plus who really wants to have a sore tummy & contractions at the same time anyway? No thanks, I'll pass!
Bouncing on a Yoga Ball
At least my thighs are getting a workout, or am I not doing it properly? Bouncing on a yoga/birthing ball is supposed to bring on your baby's arrival by the force of gravity. The repetition of baby's head impacting on your cervix is supposed to help you to dilate, the exercise should hopefully start braxton hicks contractions and ultimately if the combination of the two can last for a period of time should send you into labour. All I've ended up with is feeling the burn as my redundant muscles have been kick started into action after a 9 month sabbatical and a numb arse from sitting on it through my nighttime ritual of celebrity big brother and bit on the side.
Running Up & Down Stairs
I have sort of been doing this subliminally for the last 20 months anyway since Ella was born. I reckon I must run back up and down the stairs a minimum of 4 times before leaving the house for nappies, the shoes I forgot, my bag/purse/keys/money ..... the list could go on foreeeeeever. But has it broken my waters? Nope. And with the amount of Raspberry leaf tea I have been going though teamed with the added pressure on my bladder it's inevitable that I have been running up and downstairs constantly for loo breaks! If anything it's just made me more tired.
Visualisation
This one is a hypnobirthing favourite. The idea is that you have to imagine your labour and delivery, with the focus to be predominantly on the delivery. Visualise your baby making it's way down the birth canal and moving slightly closer into the world with every contraction..... I'll be honest, my head is so full of daily chaos that as soon as I have a spare second to sit down and try to visualise this the first thing I think of is 'what's for dinner?', 'is that washing machine finished yet?', 'I wonder when Ella will wake up, I miss her...', 'I hope Ella doesn't wake up for a while, I have things to do...' and so on. So maybe this does work but I would need to do a huge mind clear out first before I could even consider it.
Coffee Potty
I realised my level of desperation as I sat and steamed my hoo-ha with coffee. Like honestly, I never thought this would be a situation I'd ever find myself in. Basically you find a tupperware tub, add a cup of ground coffee and pour boiling water in until it dissolves, sit it inside the toilet bowl and sit on the loo with a towel over your legs. I now realise when I write this down how completely bizarre and frankly weird it is. I sat for the recommended 30 minutes and let it do it's thing, which oddly enough meant nothing at all. All I was left with was an empty coffee jar, a huge ring from the toilet seat round the back of my legs & southern regions that smelt like nescafe. Time for a shower & a long chat with myself about what my life has become.
Pineapple
This one did and didn't work, let me explain. They say pineapple contains an element that softens the cervix and can allow for the ripening process to take effect (that's such an unfortunate word, ripening...) I tried this with Ella too and after a few days of drinking huge amounts of pineapple smoothies I had a show. The same thing happened this time. I basically blended frozen pineapple with pineapple juice and drank loads of it. I did this last week and had a show on Monday and since I've not done it since then nothing has happened. So as much as it hasn't brought on labour, it's at least been the only method that has given some kind of result. Plus it tastes amazing so that's a win for me!
Have you got any labour inducing methods that worked for you? Let me know I'd love to try them!
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Love this and the coffee potty, oh my god! I've never heard of that before. I tried a few old wives tales and nothing worked for me either. Hopefully you're not waiting too much longer - come on lil one!
ReplyDeleteHaha I'm glad you liked it lovely! Yep, I'm ashamed to say it but I tried it lol... I hope not, fingers crossed although soon as he is here I bet I'm wishing I had a spare second again! xx
DeleteAhh I went in to labour at 38 weeks with my daughter so I never had the twiddling my thumbs drinking raspberry leaf tea bit, if anything Lily came a bit on the early side as I only got 2 days maternity leave before she came along! I really hope some of these methods start to kick in soon. With your show already there surely it can't be too much longer?! Fingers crossed!!
ReplyDeleteOh my word the coffee potty made me cry laughing! I'd never heard of it before but hey, desperate times, desperate measures! I hope baby boy makes an appearance for you soon! xx
ReplyDeleteLoved these, pineapple and raspberry leaf tea were the two that I tried but neither worked, and boy did I eat ALOT of pineapple!!
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