BS or truth, that is the question! For fun...

ACAsomeday · November 2011

So...I've tried pretty much all the natural labor inducers, really more for fun than anything when I was getting toward 40 weeks. The only thing I didn't try was castor oil because I read that it works by irritating the bowels via a specific nerve that also innervates the uterus, and I've been getting BH contractions for weeks and nothing has caused them to become real labor contractions, so why would castor oil do that? Oh, I also haven't tried evening primrose.

Everyone tells us to go on long walks and have sex, but I've been running throughout my pregnancy and having regular sex and i haven't gone into labor yet!! Today a woman told me that she and her husband went up a skidder trail on their 4 wheeler and she took castor oil like crazy and she went into labor 3 weeks early (timing seemed a little extreme to me, and her poor bowels must have been in knots!!)

Anyway I've come to the point where I'm pretty sure none of these natural remedies actually work unless your body is ready to go into labor!

Just some thoughts to get some conversation going....what do ya'll think?!

jkanyugi · November 2011

I think that the whole "babies come when they are ready" thing is BS. Why are there so many babies that come early then? And why are there so many people who reach 42 weeks and still haven't gone into labor? The body is very good at its job but I don't think it is perfect. Ask me this question again after I've had my baby and am not almost at my due date and super impatient...

mben1119 · November 2011

I've done the walks, the sex, the spicy foods, balsamic vinegar...everything but castor oil too (because ew!), and nothing...

ACAsomeday · November 2011

jkanyugi:
And why are there so many people who reach 42 weeks and still haven't gone into labor? The body is very good at its job but I don't think it is perfect.

I feel ya there - I'm afraid my body is broken. I know it sounds lame because I'm only 40w2d but its hard not to get discouraged when so many other people have already had their babies by this point! I think by "when your body is ready" I meant more of "when your body decides to"....it seems like you can't really do much to get your body to go into labor - well, I can't do anything to get mine to go into labor!! lol

smilelari · November 2011

I've done Red Raspberry Leaf Tea starting 2nd tri with both pregnancies and EPO starting at 36 weeks with both pregnancies and didn't make it to EDD either time. Maybe this crap actually does work? IDK. The night before DD was born I baby sat for a friend so I was chasing 2 toddlers. Both times I went into labor exactly at the wrong time - with DS I had an awful cold and with DD, DS had croup and DH was on crutches, so maybe not wanting to go into labor helps you go into labor, LOL

jkanyugi · November 2011

ACAsomeday:
jkanyugi:
And why are there so many people who reach 42 weeks and still haven't gone into labor? The body is very good at its job but I don't think it is perfect.
I feel ya there - I'm afraid my body is broken. I know it sounds lame because I'm only 40w2d but its hard not to get discouraged when so many other people have already had their babies by this point! I think by "when your body is ready" I meant more of "when your body decides to"....it seems like you can't really do much to get your body to go into labor - well, I can't do anything to get mine to go into labor!! lol

Very true-the body can be very stubborn and has a mind of its own. Have you had an internal-are you dilated?

Rosebud2587 · November 2011

I've tried all the OWTs, except castor oil, too and noting has worked for me

knottie198f1ac43570b6c2 · November 2011

I did them all including castor oil twice and nothing has worked so far. Le sigh.

rachie84 · November 2011

I know I feel the same too. I have done everything to try to induce labor and nothing. I did buy castor oil and I was so tempted to do it. I stared at the bottle for 20 mins and then after reading some horror stories I decided not to attempt it. I have officially given up and decided to not think about it anymore because its out of my hands.

angelina477 · November 2011

This may be tmi but is your husband ejaculating inside you? It's the semen that ripens the cervix like cervidil. I think the 40 week due date is such bs because not everyone is on a 28 day cycle and not everyone knows the exact day they got pregnant.

jkanyugi · November 2011

angelina477:
This may be tmi but is your husband ejaculating inside you? It's the semen that ripens the cervix like cervidil. I think the 40 week due date is such bs because not everyone is on a 28 day cycle and not everyone knows the exact day they got pregnant.

Seeing as my husband has given me the silent treatment for the last 5 days after I got pissed at him for loaning his truck to someone the same day my car had a flat tire (the one with the car seat in it)....there has been no ejaculating going on in my presence. Therefore, I tried castor oil a few hours ago. Nothing yet-not even diarrhea.

chele129 · November 2011

I've tried pretty much all of them too except the caster oil, which I refuse to try, and nothing. I had my membranes stripped for the second time yesterday and the MW told me if I really wanted to get things going to have sex after that since the added prostaglandins would help. All that did was give me some good contractions that fizzled out by the time I went to bed.

authorofdreamz · November 2011

I think things like walking and sex only work if it is more than what you've been doing all along. Obviously if you are walking 2 mi everyday of your life for example it's not going to have an effect but maybe if you doubled that maybe it would. Same thing with sex. I think you have to do more than what your body has gotten used to.

My FI's aunt swears that castor oil made her go into labor but I'm not willing to try it.

mrsashkennedy · November 2011

jkanyugi:
I think that the whole "babies come when they are ready" thing is BS. Why are there so many babies that come early then? And why are there so many people who reach 42 weeks and still haven't gone into labor? The body is very good at its job but I don't think it is perfect. Ask me this question again after I've had my baby and am not almost at my due date and super impatient...

I was pretty surprised to learn that most of the women a generation-3 generations before me, on mine and my husbands side, had babies naturally at 42, 43, and 44 weeks, back in the day. And they were all totally healthy. I don't think 42 weeks is an expiration date myself, but it is to a lot of docs. As for induction methods, I kind of agree. I've tried quite a few and they've all done nothing. I think it might seem like a lot come early, but I dont think that's the case. At least where I live, people are usually late.

klreese0213 · November 2011

i haven't tried anything... mostly because im really scared for LO to come LOL. i feel like i'm not ready. Also because i'm really loving being pregnant right now. the first 7.5 months of my pregnancy were terrible. i was miserable so now my sickness isn't so bad (more tolerable), and i'm loving feeling her and feeling really sad to not be pregnant any longer.

As much as i understand why people would try home remedies, i feel like LO will come when she's ready. I'm still debating whether or not i'll accept membrane stripping if offered. However, you ladies are right... if you haven't had the baby by 42 they induce anyway. so i guess i'm a little torn on the issue.

As for castor oil, my sister tried it and it made her sick and didn't do anything to speed up labor. she was induced at 40 weeks. i personally wouldn't try this. i've heard too many bad stories. i do not want a tummy ache while trying to push a kid out too. eeeek

authorofdreamz · November 2011

mrsashkennedy:
I was pretty surprised to learn that most of the women a generation-3 generations before me, on mine and my husbands side, had babies naturally at 42, 43, and 44 weeks, back in the day. And they were all totally healthy. I don't think 42 weeks is an expiration date myself, but it is to a lot of docs.

Keep in mind though that due dates were much more inaccurate back then. As both technology has gotten more advanced and more women are more aware of cycle length, ovulation, etc due dates are more accurate now. So back then oftentimes 44 weeks was probably really 41 or 42 though I am sure some women were truly 44 weeks and their babies were healthy but that doesn't mean ALL babies will be healthy past 42 weeks.

jb2rn · November 2011

Castor Oil can make your baby have a bowel movement as well, and that can be very serious if he or she breathes it into their lungs upon delivery. For that reason, I won't touch that stuff.

I have been doing EPO and found a "pregnancy tea" the other day that has Raspberry Leaf in it, it tastes pretty good so I figured why not.

It's totally ok and normal to go to 42 weeks - but I do agree with the pp, that due dates were often a guess, especialy w/o early u/s to confirm dating.

I was charting, so I know the date of conception/ovulation.

ACAsomeday · November 2011

jkanyugi:
ACAsomeday:
jkanyugi:
And why are there so many people who reach 42 weeks and still haven't gone into labor? The body is very good at its job but I don't think it is perfect.
I feel ya there - I'm afraid my body is broken. I know it sounds lame because I'm only 40w2d but its hard not to get discouraged when so many other people have already had their babies by this point! I think by "when your body is ready" I meant more of "when your body decides to"....it seems like you can't really do much to get your body to go into labor - well, I can't do anything to get mine to go into labor!! lol

Very true-the body can be very stubborn and has a mind of its own. Have you had an internal-are you dilated?

I am not dilated (fingertip), and i was between 50-75% effaced at my 39.5wk appt.

ACAsomeday · November 2011

angelina477:
This may be tmi but is your husband ejaculating inside you? It's the semen that ripens the cervix like cervidil. I think the 40 week due date is such bs because not everyone is on a 28 day cycle and not everyone knows the exact day they got pregnant.

**TMI warning**

Yes, he is, lol. I have had a couple people say this to me and I don't get why they ask...Maybe I'm in the dark, but do many people have sex without their husband/partner ejaculating? I mean, sure plenty of times us women get the short end of the stick (no pun intended!) when it comes to orgasm, but if my husbands turned on enough to actually have sex, he's not just stopping after a few ins and outs - in fact, he's been totally wierded out by being able to feel the baby's head in there, and I usually cover my belly so he can't see it, but he's still able to "finish" the job! Granted, I usually get things going a little first so that he doesn't have to be thinking about baby's head the whole time (I know, TMI, but I want this baby out so I'll do what needs to be done to get those prostaglandins! lol)

Also, yeah we know the exact date we conceived, but you're right everyone's body is different and my gestational period is clearly longer than the average 40 weeks!

sccalla · November 2011

mrsashkennedy:
jkanyugi:
I think that the whole "babies come when they are ready" thing is BS. Why are there so many babies that come early then? And why are there so many people who reach 42 weeks and still haven't gone into labor? The body is very good at its job but I don't think it is perfect. Ask me this question again after I've had my baby and am not almost at my due date and super impatient...

I was pretty surprised to learn that most of the women a generation-3 generations before me, on mine and my husbands side, had babies naturally at 42, 43, and 44 weeks, back in the day. And they were all totally healthy. I don't think 42 weeks is an expiration date myself, but it is to a lot of docs. As for induction methods, I kind of agree. I've tried quite a few and they've all done nothing. I think it might seem like a lot come early, but I dont think that's the case. At least where I live, people are usually late.

My mom carried twins for 43 weeks. She attributes it to the fact that our house was under construction and she didn't want two newborns at home until she had a kitchen sink to bathe them in. I am convinced that the mind-body connection can factor in to when you go into labor.

smilelari · November 2011

jkanyugi:
angelina477:
This may be tmi but is your husband ejaculating inside you? It's the semen that ripens the cervix like cervidil. I think the 40 week due date is such bs because not everyone is on a 28 day cycle and not everyone knows the exact day they got pregnant.

Seeing as my husband has given me the silent treatment for the last 5 days after I got pissed at him for loaning his truck to someone the same day my car had a flat tire (the one with the car seat in it)....there has been no ejaculating going on in my presence. Therefore, I tried castor oil a few hours ago. Nothing yet-not even diarrhea.

you might try EPO vaginally. It contains prostaglandins, just like semen

ArcadianDreams · November 2011

I took castor oil and it started my labor. I took it the day after my due date. But in all honestly, it sucked until the oil worked out of my system, so I wouldn't do it again unless I was facing that or induction!

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