Home Birthers & Hopefuls!

[lynnikins]

Evening Primrose Oil and Red Raspberry Leaf Tea

Neither will actually induce labor. While some lay midwives will argue that statement about the Evening Primrose, which is the reason it is not recommended until 36 weeks or "full term", almost all sources with experience agree that it does nothing that the body was not ready to do on its own. I will repeat this at the end of this section, to make sure you understand this, as there is a lot of confusion and misconception surrounding these two substances.

Evening primrose oil is an excellent source of prostaglandins, which we already determined readies your cervix for labor. It can be taken orally as soon as 34 weeks, and can be applied directly to the cervix at full term (36 weeks). The general recommendation is two 500mg capsules per day until week 38, at which time you increase to 3-4 per day. The entire capsule can be inserted vaginally (inserted just before bed, it will dissolve before the first time you wake to use the bathroom), or you can use the oil on your fingers for your perineal massage, then also rub on your cervix (assuming you can reach it). Applying directly to the cervix is optimal, but the beneficial ingredients are absorbed through the external skin or the stomach also.

Red raspberry leaf tea is a uterine tonic used by Native Americans for thousands of years. It tones your uterus by helping to "focus" your Braxton Hicks contractions. Think of its job as helping your uterus do more effective exercising while you are pregnant. It does not "cause" contractions and can be safely used throughout pregnancy. It is contraindicated for those having complications "just in case", however, by most doctors who do not understand its use. Many women safely use it from the moment they learn they are pregnant at six weeks until months after delivery. (It helps to tone the uterus after delivery as well, shrinking it back to size more quickly and reducing bleeding.)

Again, neither of these actually causes labor to start!

found this on a natural labour inductions methods website

 

[cranberry987]

Hmmmm. I know someone who drinks a pregnancy tea which has rlt in (along with other things)and has done throughout pregnancy but I wasn't sure about taking it by itself/in tabs quite yet.

 

[ljo1984]

Oh I bet it tastes ok cold! Might get bags and tablets then as I don't think I'd like it much after 4 cups a day ha ha. Xx

 

[SyllyPoohBear]

Thought I'd share. https://i13.photobucket.com/albums/a281/syllypoohbear/threeinone.jpg

Our little one yesterday. It's a surprise baby this time. Everything looked great so as long as nothing changes HB number 2!! I'm excited that Baylee will be able to be here to see her little sibling born. That will be great.

 

[fides]

veedub, welcome

irish cobb, congrats on having your baby girl. i'm sorry it didn't go as planned, but i am glad you are both healthy.

shiv, so excited for you!

sam, congrats on reaching term!!

rebaby, that's too funny about "Project Pineapple"

ljo, i began drinking RLT around 32 weeks - i use loose leaf, seeped overnight as per midwife's suggestion, then refrigerate the pitcher and drink 2 cups daily. it really doesn't taste like much, to be honest.

hayley, congrats on your lil' one!

afm, had my home visit today with my midwife and doula. i've been worried about my BP b/c it's been going up slightly, but my midwife isn't concerned about it and said she's just not going to tell me what it is unless it's worth worrying about - nice not to worry about that anymore!

 

[cranberry987]

glad you had a good home visit, that mw sounds nice. when you leave it overnight do you start with hot water or cold? i could probably manage it that way, just bosh a cup or two in a bottle on the drive to work.

 

[Blah11]

glad you had a good home visit, that mw sounds nice. when you leave it overnight do you start with hot water or cold? i could probably manage it that way, just bosh a cup or two in a bottle on the drive to work.

Start with hot or it wont infuse. You need to leave the teabag in for 5 mins to steep then take it out and i guess you could chuck it in the fridge to cool.

 

[cranberry987]

this sounds a lot like cooking, maybe i should stick to the tablets as my kitchen usually catches fire with these things.

 

[Blah11]

What?! Just boil the kettle!

 

[cranberry987]

its not the kettle its the 5 min vs overnight steeping, thats the complicated part! i did actually overboil my kettle the other day and flooded the place, no idea how but the water ended up on the entire work surface. i should just disconnect all the electric/gas in there to save me from myself

 

[Shiv]

congrats Hayley

Well baby Cora was born yesterday at 4.38pm at home in the pool She weighed in at a whopping 9lbs 1oz!

Contractions started at 4am every 6mins. I called my parents to come and collect Sophia (it took 3 hours cos of traffic). By the time they arrived my contractions had become a bit erratic. Anyway by 1.30pm they had ramped up again so I called the hospital who sent a midwife out. The midwife arrived at about 2pm and checked me over and said she couldn't tell if I was very dilated or just very posterior (she had been a midife for over 30 years and said that this was a first for her), so she called a colleagues who arrived half an hour later. During this time I was quite depressed at the thought that I could have not been dilated at all as the contractions were really rather painful and there was no gas and air. The other midwife got here and checked me over and I was 7cm dilated woo hoo and she got me on the gas and air which was AMAZING, I had forgotten how good the stuff is although it did make me chat like a madwoman! I got in the pool about 3.45pm and my waters promptly broke, I could feel the baby rush down and hit my cervix, and my contractions ramped up big time. I hit transition pretty quickly (now I don't remember transition with my first but I freaked out a bit this time) I must have been harbouring some fear regarding pushing after a fairly arduous time with my first as I got really scared. But the midwives were great and reassuring. I "pushed" for 20 minutes or so, I say pushed because mainly I just went with what my body was doing and only pushed when the midwife made it clear it would be a good idea. Cora's head was born and I looked down and said "it's massive". With one final almightly push her shoulders were born and she was placed straight on my chest. I was undecided about how I wanted the third stage to go but the midiwfe persuaded my to go natural The cord pulsed for about 15 minutes and then I pushed the placenta out with it still attached to Cora. The cord was clamped and Cora was given to my husband whilst I got out of the pool and was stitched (miraculously just a tiny 1st degree tear).

SO really it was the exact birth I wanted (apart from the freaking out!), I feel so lucky and being at home was very relaxing. After the midwives left we had some dinner (pizza ) then all went to bed. Cora had a good feed and slept from 9.30pm to after 9 this morning.

My parents are bringing Sophia back now, I am nervous about how it will go really. I hope she is ok with it all.

Anyway, thanks you all for your support and I'll be coming back in to se how everyone gets on of course

 

[cranberry987]

Ooh excellent news. Lovely birth, sleeping baby AND pizza! What a great day

 

[Shiv]

Oh and a photo of course!

 

[FlowerFairy]

Congrats Shiv. Your birth sounds amazing and you look fab in the pic. Well done xx

 

[Rebaby]

OMG! That is so exciting Shiv! You make it sound so easy (although i'm sure it wasn't at the time ) Pool, push, baby, pizza- awesome

I am so glad everything went well. Hope Sophia is pleased with her baby sister.

Congratulations and well done

 

[lynnikins]

congrats hunni sounds wonderful

 

[Blah11]

Ah Shiv congrats and I love her name. My friends LO is Cora too. Love the pic makes me soooo excited for my turn!

 

[ljo1984]

oh congratulation on the birth of Cora, and well done sounds like you did brilliantly. i love reading these stories, make me more confident about doing it myself. beautiful picture. xxx

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

Congratulations Shiv! Sounds like all went really well! Wow, Cora was a fair bit bigger than Sophia looking at your ticker, I bet you weren't expecting that!

 

[Shiv]

Congratulations Shiv! Sounds like all went really well! Wow, Cora was a fair bit bigger than Sophia looking at your ticker, I bet you weren't expecting that!

I certainly wasn't expecting it! I am glad I didn't know before hand otherwise i would have been pooing my pants (even more so!). Which reminds me I better do a new ticker!