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I hope this doesnt sound like a stupid question......but with 4 weeks to go im just really enjoying these last few weeks being pregnant, enjoying the time with my DH ang girls, and will just let nature take its course.
Why do women feel the need to insert capsules (?/) drink RLT, attend acupuncture, DTD (other than for pleasure ;)). Please dont think im being naive, i just want to understand why we feel the need to hurry along bubs....or do these methods have other benefits too.???
Good on you for being able to enjoy the last few weeks, wish i could say the same! i am a few weeks behind you and i am not enjoying it much at all!
i guess it depends on your cicumstances and how comfortable you are.
I am drinking RLT, as it 'tones the uterus' i don't think it brings on labour, just getting the uterine muscles ready for a big workout!
Other than that not doing much, but i am looking forward to not being pregnant!
Enjoy your last 4 weeks. ;)
i just don't want to have to be induced as i want my labour to be as natural as possible iykwim? so i don't really want to have to take drugs to be induced
For me with Paris I was clueless and thought that an induction was *fine* and anything to get the baby out was *fine* and blah blah blah... boy did I have my head in the clouds. I ended up with and emerg c/s. With Seth I realised my mistake changed my perception lost the impatience and went with the flow and I loved every minute of his birth :)
I think it depends on the person, the level of information they have, the perception and how their pregnancy has been and what they as a person can cope with. Ironically my pregnancy with Seth was a lot harder than with Paris and I was bedridden a lot more yet I wasn't hurrying it along.
*hugs*
Cailin
mbear, I really enjoyed my first pg - right up until the last 4 weeks! I think it was a few things - being impatient to meet my little one (and find out the gender), being really huge, tired and uncomfortable, and definitely being hot, hot, hot and more hot in Brissy in summer. But I think the biggest problem was that I had finished up at work and was bored. I couldn't wait to meet my little one and to not be big anymore. I guess it's different for everyone, but I think for most of us, our bodies have just had enough by then. Luckily for me I didn't have to go the last 4 weeks with pg no 2 - Tom decided to arrive 3.5 weeks early!
I'm glad you are enjoying the pg so far, and I hope it continues throughout these last weeks. But I know you will also enjoy meeting your little one!
I just wanted to have her! I was so uncomfortable and felt horrible. I had back pain, hip pains, flet nausious and my feet were so swollen it hurt to walk for too long. And I really didn't want to be induced. As it was I ended up being induced anyway :( due to my waters rupturing.
As much as i don't want to be preg, i would rather go 2 weeks over than be induced! Just for the record!
Mbear it is fantastic that you are enjoying the last weeks of your pregnancy and I hope it is a special time for you.
About wanting to bring on labour, I don't think it is always an issue of impatience. In my circumstances it is as a direct result of my history. I think it is important for all of us to remember that there may be very valid reasons as to why on mother might want things to speed up and others are happy to go with the flow.
Spring x
I think mostly it can be due to how you are coping with the pg, some cope better than others, some are frightened of being overdue or being induced. For me it was starting pre-labour at 37wks getting to 3 cm dialted, contractions stopped and then was sent home, had a bad pg and felt awful and contractions didnt start again for another 5weeks. DS was on the larger end of the scale (over 4 and a 1/2kg) and next time I will do everything to try and bring on or keep those contractions coming. As spring angel said some have other circumstances where they really want to see there bubbies born happy healthy and safe as fast as they can. (not to soon though)
On another note the RLT has the benefit of uterine toning so helps your uterus to return to its normal size sooner after birth and can assist with breastmilk production. So if nothing else I think that is a benefit.
Because 2 weeks of prelabour and false labour isn't fun.
Because DH wanted me to be induced
Because the hospital made me an induction appointment and DH was excited about that
Because I wanted my baby to come when he was ready but he just wasn't coming and I still feel awful I had any intervention, even though I started real labour at the 11th hour - none of the home induction methods worked for us.
I felt a need to do this to avoid hospital, which I didn't even manage to do. Good that you're enjoying your time, I'm happy that you have a supportive family so you don't feel a need to try to encourage your baby out. I wish my DH had been more supportive!
I just didnt know if i should be doing anything more. A few of my BB (hi girls :) !!!) are using some of the items described....and im not. Should i be? I love being pregnant, i cannot wait to meet lil missy but i dont wanna hurry her along, i would rather her come when she's ready KWIM?
I didnt know if the methods mentioned (RLT, etc etc) did other things other than 'push along' labour?
I feel like one of those kids just before an exam, that forget to listen to the teachers instructions as to what you do at the end of the exam....and im starting to panic, thats all....
Not everyone knows everything thats what this website is great for. I would use RLT purely for the after purpose but if you are happy and comfortable with your pg and are happy going along you dont need to feel the need to use or do anything, it is your body your pg and your choice. Sometimes you can be too informed and have to many choices which can cloud you true judgement and feelings about your choices. It is your choice and if you are happy to wait as long as it take go for it.
oh big hugs Ryn. I understand that feeling completly.
Hi Mbear
I for one was okay up until the last few weeks but now im just really uncomfortable, im finding it harder and harder to just get my everyday stuff done finding it really frustrating. But he will be here soon .....not doing anything to make him come any sooner just wishful thinking.
Oh and RLT but thats just for uterine muscle tone....
Mbear, I'm not sure any of these methods actually bring on labour, but I believe they can help your body to have an easier time during labour - which when you're staring down the barrel of interventions like ARM, synto drip etc, can make all the difference. Ie if you're cervix is riper and softer from taking EPO, then you're more likely to go into a spontaneous labour when bubs is ready, and make progress.
Ok so I'm one of the guilty parties in our thread (!) but that's based on my experience last time of going right through to 42.5 weeks and then having every induction intervention and then some and a long slow labour whilst making little progress. Trust me if I'd known about EPO I would've started taking it from 38 weeks on (ie at term) and if I'd had access to acupuncture i would've started that from 40 weeks. I really think that would've made a difference. Not sure that it's necessary to start these measures any earlier than that, though. :)
Hi MBear,
I've noticed a few occassions in which women are anxious to kick-start labour using (comparitively) natural methods in order to beat a medical induction of labour dead-line.
I think the best way to avoid being induced medically, rather than try a DIY approach with the usual suspects at home, is decline to be induced, relax, enjoy the remainder of your prgenancy and trust that your body will go into labour at just the right time and if that's later than whatever average might happen to be, that's just fine.
As mentioned in other posts, for me, it is just definately a metter of not wanting to be induced by drugs. i had this with DS and it was terrible. I like knowing any natural methods that I can try this time, to make labour a little easier (if thats possible). Of course I do not want to 'kick-start' labour before bubs is ready, but when the time comes, I just want to do anything I can to avoid intervention via drugs.
When i had 4 weeks to go i felt amazing. When i had one week to go i still felt pretty good. When i was 5, 7, 10 days past EDD i didn't feel so hot! And my ob was telling me if i didn't deliver by EDD+14 he would pull my homebirth and induce me. That was why i tried some of the natural induction methods and had 5 stretch and sweeps! It worked, DD came at EDD+11 at home.
As for the RLT and EPO, i didn't think they were induction methods, i thought they were to make labour easier when it began?
Bx
I have just started taking EPO. I am feeling good and would be happy to wait for whenever bubs is ready to come, but due to GD the doctors are going to want to induce at 39 weeks. I just want to do what I can to beat a medical intervention.
Some women really do have a tough time during pregnancy, and I guess trying something which seems benign to help labour come gives the feeling of being in control of the process somewhat, and can be quite comforting.
I have come to believe that no induction method will work if your baby is not ready, and if someone reports success with some remedy or other it is simply coincidence, that baby was coming on its own anyway.
It is the baby which signals the beginning of labour, not anything you do to your own body.
So I am completely content to simply sit and wait, I completely trust my body and baby to know the exact right time to labour, based on the baby being physiologically ready to be born into this world.
As a homebirther, I have consciously removed myself from the pressure of induction, and going over 42 weeks would not phase me in the least, all gestations are different, just as all labours are different, and all babies are different.
There is too much in this life that we seek to control, and I actually love the fact that I have to consciously surrender to the process, simply let go and trust, it is quite a ride.:)
Hi Mbear - I hope it isnt me who has you worried (LOL!!).
For me I am not using any of them to bring on labour, more to prepare body for what is ahead and get in optimal 'shape' for labour and recovery. I have specifically asked my acupuncturist not to induce me but to work on relaxing me and preparing my body for labour and healing. It is kind of the same reason why I still make an extra effort to exercise daily, to keep my body in top shape for what is ahead of it. I personally dont want my baby to come til s/he is ready (but I must admit I'd like him/her to be ready soonish!!!) but I do want to do all I can to help my body to relax into the process that nature intends.
I think it comes down to each of us individually doing what is best for us. You have been through this before so you perhaps know your body can cope well. For me it is my first time and one of my fears is recovery etc, so this is why I am hedging bets and trying lots of things to prepare physically... Dont feel uninformed, I think you are just more confident in your ability and your body perhaps that I am.
That's a great question mbear, and good on you for enjoying your pregnancy so much!
As some of the other girls said, none of these natural methods will bring on labour unless your baby is well and truly ready to be born!
Babies will still come when they are good and ready, but a little preparation ie. RLT, EPO, etc certainly won't go astray in getting your body ready for the big day. That's my reasoning for using them, anyway ;)
Enjoy your last few weeks! :)
Hi there,
i posted earlier this week about wanting to be induced, and my reasons still stand , i dont love being pregnant and i dont love the pain i am experiencing now.
I would rather not be induced and come on my own , but as in my post i have a 19 month old and no help at hope , my Husband is great be he is a mamanger in the mining industry and works long hours and is very much needed in his role so for me i need that time with my mum here to help out so I can get into a routine and he happy so when she leaves it will benefit my whole family.
these are my feelings.
I had a really awful induction experience with ds, ending in emergency c/s and I will do anything I can to avoid that again. Especially with the way doctors push induction on women. And also having had a previous c/s it can actually increase the risk of my scar rupturing if I get chemically induced.
As some others have said, herbs etc. won't induce labour if your body is not ready. They just help to prepare you. Personally I don't see any difference between taking evening primrose oil, or having sex with my dh and going for a walk to bring on labour. They are all trying to stimulate and prepare the cervix.
Yes, it's a whole different emphasis when it's about nurturing and preparing your body for birth rather than trying to force your body to abandon its own rhythms to fit someone's artificial timetables or charts. Babies don't know about the roman calendar and the 24 hour clock! Natural rhythms such as the cycles of the moon, the seasons, darkness and daylight, feeling energetic and feeling tired (they pick up on your bio-rhythms), the waves on the shore - are more reflective of the rhythms of birthing women and their babies.
I think that's why some pregnant women (me included - I had this convo with a client this week!) feel drawn to the ocean during the last weeks of pregnancy. Staring out to sea and feeling, on some elemental level, the power and the rhythm of the waves, has got to be a great meditative exercise as you muse .... "what will labour be like??"
You understand things that by-pass your intellect & analytical mind and settle into your soul - and that's the ancient place from which you draw wisdom and confidence to birth.
You'll never believe that I'm not a sandal-wearing, arm-pit-plaiting hippy after this (love and kisses to all the real hippies out there! - you rock!) - Im actually a hard-nosed pragmatist and I do have scientific backing for this - honest! I hereby cite the erudite Dr. Sarah J. Buckley!
hi mbear!
i am planning on using EPO capsules to try and "ripen" the cervix... not sure that it really works - doesn't seem to be much hard evidence, but thought "why not give it a go?!"... seems like everyone else is doing lots of things, and i'm not doing anything...
it's true that i WOULD like to meet my baby sooner rather than later, but i don't really "believe" in alternative medicine, so guess that i don't really think that these "natural" things will actually bring on labour in any case unless the baby and my body is good and ready for it...
i am a very impatient person and always want things to come sooner, but when it boils down to it, i don't want my baby to come until he/she is "fully cooked", and therefore won't consider an induction for convenience, and won't let my OB come anywhere near me with a Syntocinin drip until i reach 42 weeks (unless some unforeseen complication develops between now and then)... i guess what i'm saying is that i would be against THIS type of intervention because it's medical and proven to work, and therefore would be interfering with nature. but because i don't really believe that the "natural" methods would be strong enough to have a significant effect, i am happy to give them a go (more to do with the ritual i think, and to keep me occupied while i wait!!)...
i think that by the time i move onto baby #2 or #3 i'll be in no hurry for the baby to arrive - it's just because i have nothing better to do with my time at the moment other than "wait" for my DD to arrive and change my world forever!!
Also, i'm struggling with body image issues (with huge weight gain and stretch marks), and i think that the sooner the baby comes out, the less irreversible damage i will be doing to my body. once again, i'm sure with subsequent pregnancies it won't bother me as much - i'll know the joy that children bring first-hand by then, and will see that weight gain and stretch marks are insignificant in the scheme of things!!
i envy you being so relaxed about your baby's arrival date - i hope i can be more patient too! i think even reading your question has changed my attitude a little - i guess i shouldn't be in any great hurry for her to come out until she's good and ready... i planted a whole pile of Tulips in the garden a few months ago - all on the same day. they have received the same care (not much!!), yet some have already flowered and some are only short little sprouts... i'm not out there with a tweezers trying to pry the closed buds open, so why would i wish it upon my poor cervix?!
I am loving every second of being pregnant (except the ouchy rib pain) but I just dont want to be induced. Its my #1 fear...eeK!
fantastic analogy Ella...bit how im feeling. Bubs will come when she wants to. If i go over and need to be induced, then thats just how its supposed to be. In the meantime, im just relishing this wonderful time......:
i planted a whole pile of Tulips in the garden a few months ago - all on the same day. they have received the same care (not much!!), yet some have already flowered and some are only short little sprouts... i'm not out there with a tweezers trying to pry the closed buds open, so why would i wish it upon my poor cervix?!
no WAY will i be induced.;) (or cut up!):p
(it would need to be a dam good reason likes bubs safety and id need to be sure that it was correct..)
im not doing anything to prepare or try to hurry things along:rolleyes:
my body knows what to do and when;)
never took any thing for my previous pregs either...1st was 9 days 'overdue' (they had me booked in for an induction the next day!:wall:) and 2nd was about 7 days 'overdue'...