Tell me all the crazy OWTs

kbel424 · June 2011

I'm aware of sex, walking/stairs, eggplant, pineapple... lets hear all the crazy labor inducing OWTs that you've heard!

erinlovesdavid · June 2011

I don't know any that you didn't list, but just wanted to say that my doctor actually recommended sex and walking. He said that they actually can help, and aren't just OWTs. A direct quote by him from my last visit was "Sex it up, girl!" lol, my doctor is such a goofball!

And YAY for being 40 weeks! You're so close!!!

C'mon, Sophia, mommy and daddy want to meet you!

PrincessDi80 · June 2011

Castor oil? (YUCK) The nurse in my childbirth class kept saying "I blew my baby out with castor oil, but DON'T do it"

kbel424 · June 2011

PrincessDi80:
Castor oil? (YUCK) The nurse in my childbirth class kept saying "I blew my baby out with castor oil, but DON'T do it"

eew....yeah, my MW told me not to do castor oil yet because you have to be somewhat dilated for it to work.

vflipo · June 2011

The sex things is real. Semen contains prostaglandins that ripens the cervix. If DH and I had done it more (read: at all) I might not have been induced. It took one round of prostaglandin gel and about 20 minutes until I was in active labor. However, I was 3cm dilated at my 40w appointment. 2.5cm at my 39wk. 2cm at 38... well you get the idea.

I tried everything. Spicy food, walking, bouncing on a ball, going up and down the stairs a bajillion times. I worked up until my due date, had the weekend, and then was induced on a Monday. I think working on my feet for the whole pregnancy and never really slowing down made the whole "exercise helps" thing null.

luvmyducks · June 2011

I read on 3rd try that a women's mom and granmother both went to the playground and went on the swings. It worked for 5+ babies. She said you have to get going really good and pump your legs really hard. Hey, if nothing else works, why not?

ashleyrsotomayor · June 2011

I told you this in the ticker change post below, but my friend's MIL is a doula and she recommends walking up and down the street with one foot on the curb and one on the ground. She says the shifting of your hips helps get things going. It worked for my friend! Also, there's the whole nipple stimulation thing. They talked about that in our BFing class the other night...why not to test out your breast pump until you are actually ready to go into labor!

haziedaze · June 2011

I've heard spicy food and have a few friends who swear by steak dinners. There's also nipple stimulation but I think that helps make contractions stronger when you're already in labor. GL!

itsmegin · June 2011

Nipple stimulation, and get a foot massage and have them focus on those pressure points that induce labor-I think it's around your heel/ankle bone?

GL!

olivia_eve · June 2011

Except for eggplant, I tried all of those when I was due with DD. Oh, I heard of driving over railroad tracks, although I probably wouldn't want to try that because of the potential to ruin my car!

I don't know if any one of them definitely worked, but I noticed that as soon as I started eating a ton of pineapple I started losing my MP and having contractions. Of course, DD wasn't born until 5 days later, so who knows how effective it was. You're so close, hang in there!

butterflynola · June 2011

Raspberry Iced tea. I hear that some midwives still use this because it has pitocin-like qualities? GL

lkstor · June 2011

Evening primrose oil. Not necessarily supposed to start labor... But supposed to soften cervix.

Manderlin923 · June 2011

1. Evening primrose oil, inserted vaginally. I think two capsules a night but you'd better double check to be sure. I would have started this, per mws instructions, if I'd been overdue.

2. Sex. With orgasm. Semen will ripen the cervix and the orgasm will cause uterine contractions. But you have to do it a lot.

3. Walking, bouncing on exercise ball.

There are also herbs you can take like blue or black cohash (I THINK...don't quote me) but with anything like that you need to know what you're doing. Red raspberry leaf tea will not help you go into labor but it is supposed to tone up the uterus. You can try the old wives tales like spicy food, pineapple, etc...

Oh, I forgot- accupuncture and accupressure can induce labor. So, I'd recommend having a lot of sex, then go for a long walk to the accupunturist person to get worked on, then come home and eat some spicy food with pineapple for dessert, bounce on the exercise ball, have some more sex, then insert the capsules and go to bed

(I'm only half joking here. I'd definitely do some of that, though)

Ernie52408 · June 2011

Ditto PP, sex (with orgasm!), castor oil worked for my sister but she said it wasn't pleasant, and using the breast pump for nipple stimulation. The chiropractor I was seeing prior to delivery told me there are tricks a chiro can do too to induce labor.

GL!

kbel424 · June 2011

Well, here's the list of things that I've done that clearly don't work: sex, walking, stairs, walking with one foot on sidewalk and one on road, bouncing on yoga ball for hours, pineapple (I've eaten about 8 pineapples in the past couple weeks, I just love it), eggplant (made a huge batch of it and have been eating leftovers a lot), steak dinner, evening primrose oil (mw started me on that at 37 weeks), I've had 3 massages (actually had some pretty strong, regular contractions during yesterday's massage but they stopped after it was done).... this baby girl is just not ready to come out!

spincat9 · June 2011

Yay for 40 weeks - can't believe you're almost there!

Our midwife suggested sex....we thought about it, but couldn't bring ourselves to...and went into labor that night anyway. So maybe "think about having sex" could work for you if you aren't really in the mood???? LOL

I can't remember if I also heard papaya or mango could help.

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