Eviction Notice

Diaper bag found at Target Here

I have a tenant that keeps me up all night long, is very demanding, and makes me feel uncomfortable in several situations. She is a real pain in the butt and has stretched me thin in every way possible. After renting my space for 38 weeks now, I am over it and want them out. If you haven't figured it out by now, I am talking about 38 weeks of pregnancy and the pain in the butt thing is the baby pressing my sciatic nerve which causes severe back pain that shoots down the tail bone and legs so it literally is a pain in the butt. After leaving my now weekly doctor visits this morning, my doctor has notified me that if I haven't went into labor by week 39 then they would look into inducing my labor. 39 weeks is 1 week away and it makes me nervous to think of the techniques used to induce labor. I know there are home remedies and medical methods. With my first pregnancy, I woke up at midnight with the urge to pee and felt like I was peeing or leaking every 5 minutes. After I realized that the mucus plug came out, I went to the hospital. I was already a week late so they broke my water and by 8pm that night, I was having a baby. I'm not sure if it was just time for her to come or if I should thank the jalapeños I had in my food earlier that day. I couldn't help but to wonder if the spicy food myth had some truth to it.

I recently read a post by a mom of 7 named Sasha from Such A Time As This Blog where she described all the medical methods used to induce labor. I have to admit that after reading these, I felt a little better about the process but part of me still wants to try some home remedies (the ones that seem safe) to see if I have any luck. If you are interested in reading the article about hospital methods (which I highly recommend), then click on the link of her blog above! After all, she had 7 kids and has been through some of the methods!

I am by no means a doctor, nurse, OBGYN, doula, or midwife to give you solid facts. I emphasize that you talk to your doctor about your options to be as safe as possible. There are also several reasons as to why you shouldn't try to induce labor so please keep that in mind as well. None of the methods listed below have proven that they actually work but they are some of the most common ones I have heard of.

Exercising

There are several exercises you can do to help speed up the process. The 2 most done ones are walking and sitting on a medicine ball. Some say it only works when in active labor but I know overtime I have to walk a distance, I start getting Braxton hicks. If you have not been exercising throughout your pregnancy then make sure your doctor is ok with you doing this. Unless you are on bed rest, most doctors deem it pretty safe.

More details about these exercises can be found Here

Foods

There is also a list of foods that you can eat that are suppose to help induce labor. Pineapple is the most popular one because it has been known to help soften the cervix. There are even what they call labor inducing cookies, but here are a few extra foods to try just in case!

Find recipes and different versions Here

Pineapple- Eaten natural for an enzyme it contains called Bromelain which softens the cervix and stimulates contractions.

Spices and spicy foods- No evidence that it works but eating Jalapenos sure did seem like it worked for me.

Castor Oil- Not really recommended since it can cause sickness and dehydration but some women still try it.

Eggplant Parmesan- Again no evidence as to why but they think it could be some of the spices (basil and oregano) used.

Baked Goods- As stated earlier, there are recipes for plenty of cookies and cupcakes that are said to help. It's really about the combination of spices in the treats!

Drinks

These don't stray too far away from things to eat but moms have been making special smoothies for the occasion! Certain teas have also been used to help. Out all the smoothies, the most popular one was the Pineapple Date smoothie! Out of the drinks, the most popular one was the red raspberry leaf tea. There were a few concerns about taking the tea too early in your pregnancy so please talk to a doctor about it beforehand.

For the recipe and a review, visit Mason Jar Champagne Blog Here

Stimulation

This tends to be one of the favorite choices. Things like sex and nipple stimulation have been shown to help induce labor as well massages and even acupuncture. Look for safe sex positions to try with your partner and nipple stimulation can be done with your partner or with a pump. The pump will help to create uterine contractions. This is also true after having the baby and is believed to help reduce some of the baby weight. Acupuncture may look scary, especially while pregnant but it has been known to release oxytocin in the body and induce labor. Acupressure is another type of stimulation that can help. Using small amounts of pressure in designated areas is suppose to help induce and even if it doesn't it could help with pain and relaxing more.

For more info on Birth Messaging, please see Here

Oils

Last, there are a couple of popular oils that some women say work and others say made them sick. Use to your liking and I mostly use my essential oils in a diffuser. Especially if I am not sure about side effects. I also use carrier oils with them. Below is a common list for induction toils hat I found on the Becca Piastrelli website!

Find more information Here

Again, I am not an expert or in any position to suggest you do these things without doing your own research and consulting with your doctor. Your health and the babies health is the upmost important and I especially don't recommend doing any of these things before hitting full term. If my doctor didn't tell me that I would be getting induced in a week if I didn't go into labor then I would suffer through the last couple of weeks. My husband is adamant about having a New Years baby so we will see!

Has anyone had any sure proof methods? I'm curious to know!

With Love,

#PREGNANCY #INDUCELABOR