35 weeks here!

so i know we'll probably have to wait to week 40 or 41 or..., but ever since my doc casually mentioned getting the "green light" at week 37, DH and i are getting obsessed with delivering a teeny bit early (38 weeks would be great).

one friends swears by taking a 2 mile hike. another endorses eggplant parm (supposedly the oregano and basil do the trick). and we won't mind trying lots of sex

just for fun...
anyone have any success inducing labor "naturally"? i would love to hear the anecdotes. not asking for medical adivce, and i would really hesitate to medically induce (miso, etc) unless we had to.

There is a cranial technique in OMM called the "CV4" It tweaks the fourth ventricle in the brain and is supposed to start labor. You can look it up and have your husband do it on you once you have passed 37 weeks. Essentially he holds his hand a certain way and you lay your head on his hands and relax. Good luck.

I have no idea, as my second had to be pried out of my ribs via c/s at 39 weeks- first was induced premature rupture. BUT I wanted to say, if this is your first you might not know- you need to put a waterproof pad under at least your side of the bed. Lots of people rupture in bed, and amniotic fluid will NOT come out of a mattress. Good luck, it's almost over!!

Thanks for the responses. I'll look into it, Kathie. Great advice, residentmom, I had not thought about the mattress pad.
-K

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I tried everything I knew at the time to induce labor. No success. She was stubborn! I had to have pitocin when the labor did finally start at 41 1/2 weeks.

I hope it works better for you! :crossfingers: But don't feel bad if it doesn't.

I am not a Mom, nor have ever been preggers, but my friend said a spoon of castor oil and a hour long walk kicks off labor, (she has three kids and said it worked for all three). I have no idea if it really works or not.
Hail2queen

I have not actually researched this, but I have heard that castor oil is dangerous to the fetus. That might just be a rumor, but you might want to check. I personally don't think anything works until junior is good and ready to get out. :rolleyes: Walking will probably start ctx, but they usually stop when you stop if you are not in labor beforehand. It will happen someday- I hate that 35 weeks time, when you are so close but still so far! :banghead:

I am SO there with you. 36 weeks and I would LOVE it if s/he decided to make an appearance.. oh, say, Saturday. I'd be perfectly happy with sometime before turkey day, too!

FYI - Castor oil will give you contractions... some very painful contractions. But it will not put you in labor.

Sex can help (sperm is a uterine irritant). And nipple stimulation can cause release of oxytocin and start contractions. I wouldn't do the nipple stim thing, though, unless you get the ok from your OB. There ARE 36 weekers that get RDS, etc.

Linda

As I sit here--not so patiently waiting to give birth to my first child---I remembered this thread from last year and decided to revive it and complain about how sucky it is to be waiting to go into labor...at over 38 weeks I am ready now...we have been trying to get it rolling with a few of the above mentioned methods (no castor oil or nipple stimulation since I have read that they cause really painful contractions but may not start labor and who really wants that)
Anyway, I really have nothing to add accept complaints so I will leave it at that...
there should be a smiley face to convey impatience!

and can I also add how anxious I am getting to wear real clothes again...I used to love my maternity clothes, I now despise them and will wear only a few things and I have adopted my husband's sweatshirt collection

Walking induced contractions that were painful and made me hopeful, but stopped within an hour... I really didn't try too hard because baby came at 38 weeks. TexasRose, 41.5 weeks??? I just cannot imagine.

I've heard the usual about sex, but my DH wasn't very cooperative. Every time we started cuddling/hugging, he got kicked through my belly and that was enough for him!

Mrssd, I hope your baby comes soon :crossfingers: . And honey, I hate to break it to you, but it will be several weeks before you can fit in your regular clothes again. Also a while before you can sleep on your stomach. Engorged breasts are VERY painful! Best wishes!!!

Nipple stimulation worked for me- I lost my mucus plug that very evening and membranes ruptured a few hours later. I was 39 weeks, 6 days when we tried this and he was born on his due date at exactly 40 weeks. But nothing will work if your cervix isn't favorable anyway. Check with your OB to see if it's ok.

I tried the walking one day, and the next day I felt like I had been run over by a truck...no baby though... what finally "worked" was sex but I think she was just ready to come out anyway.

Thanks for the encouragement!
I don’t have any illusions about going home in my pre-pregnancy clothes but as the cold weather sets in I long to put on some of my old sweaters (I love fall weather!) but if I did that now I would have a very sexy sweater belly shirt look goin’ on…

Reviving this thread since I'm going to be 39 weeks tomorrow! I'm not totally miserable or uncomfortable yet, but I am ready to meet our baby! Hubby and I have been walking almost 2 miles everyday. OB says I'm fingertip/60% effaced. I know I'm more likely to be 40+ weeks with my first, but I was hoping to be one of the lucky ones and have it a little early...trying the sex, too (BTW, the effort of which ought to be labor-inducing on its own ), but no luck yet!

Any genetic predisposition to early arrivals? My mom went into labor with me at about 38.5 weeks.

borrow someone's kid (or somethng else that is around 20-25 pounds) for a portion of your walks. if it is not against doctor's orders carry him/her for a while...i spent most of my pregnancy lugging around my one year old. i think having a bit of extra weight on helped. it didn't make for a faster time to delivery, but the delivery in itself was much easier.

acupuncture can be tremendously successful with labor induction, too, and can be relaxing & incorporate a great massage, too!; though now with our baby "out & about"-- as much as I love him through and through & was THRILLED to finally meet him-- I might have slowed down & soaked up the last couple of wks of just-me-&-husband time a wee little bit more! of course, my late-3rd-trimester sister probably thinks I just don't remember the misery that can accompany being so BIG! Congratulations! And best wishes with labor & those cuddly newborn days!

I had a 2 1/2 hour labor (my first baby!) and I swear it was because of nipple stimulation. It releases oxytocin and (for me) instantly started little contractions. They say to rub each nipple 10 minutes every hour. Its a little weird, I know. I learned of it from my childbirth instructor...she said to avoid it because it can cause very very strong contractions! *warning* a 2 1/2 hour labor is NOT fun and I think I would have rather spread it out. Also, I did work out (eliptical, hiking) most every day up until the night I delivered, I think that helped. Good luck! The last few weeks is enough to make you crazy.

Ok, I'll add my :twocents: ... My pregnancy/birth sagas: Baby #1 induced at 36 6/7 wks due to severe PIH. I was already 4 cm, 100%, so pitocin only.... I had a 5 hr natural labor (two hours of that was pushing), lots of back labor, needed a vacuum extraction (NOT pleasant without anything for pain). Pregnancy #2 included pyelonephritis and a kidney stone at 25 wks, which I suffered with for about a week until I required surgery (it was completely obstructing the ureter). I will forever love the urologist who took that thing out for me..... Anyway, I decided that a kidney stone IS worse than natural labor. I went into labor at 37 6/7 wks but needed massive pitocin augmentation as my contractions slacked off. THAT one was a 15 hr labor, again no pain meds or epidural. (Ugh... But only 15 minutes of pushing that time.)

So with pregnancy #3 I again had a kidney stone at 20 wks :boggled: I had preterm labor this time, and required Procardia for about 9 wks. I had contractions CONSTANTLY, but they would taper off after a few hrs. At about 38 wks (after contracting since 26 wks), I thought I would try raspberry tea, which I had heard could "tone" the uterus and make contractions more effective and labor overall shorter. So I drank some daily (maybe 20 oz a day???)... At 38 6/7 wks, 4 cm, my OB said enough is enough with the constant, taunting contractions, puffy legs and increasing blood pressure. So she put me in and augmented me with pit. Well, I needed only a tiny whiff of pit, got to 6 cm with hardly any discomfort, at which time my OB broke my water. The baby was unfortunately OP, so I then began to have HORRENDOUS back labor and THE most intense labor pain of my life for 1 1/2 hrs. (Again, a natural labor....I'm not sure what I was thinking....) Anyway... The painful part was overall brief, but it was horrible--even worse than the kidney stones. I only pushed for about 5-10 minutes, but I think it would have been even less if she had turned sooner.

So, moral of the (long)story... Compared to my other two pregnancies, I really think the raspberry tea may have helped move labor along a bit. (It didn't seem to induce any contractions, but when I was in real labor, the contractions were very, very intense and effective.) However, it was THE most truly painful experience of my life to date! :yikes:

mom1st - You just signed the line on my epidural order. My best friend had a natural labor and the baby was OP. I was there for her delivery. Holy crap. It made me wonder why they don't knock us out for that sort of thing anymore. Puking because the pain is so intense does NOT sound like something I'd like to try.

Oh, and she had kidney stones at 15 weeks. She said it was worse than labor, too.

The puking -- maybe that was just transition. I threw up/retched both times during transition. The second time I screamed, too, a LOT, even though I'd do it natural again. I think I was just so disinhibited, that it probably looked like I was suffering more than I was! If you've been leaning towards natural, you could always just see how it goes for a while first, no need to firmly commit beforehand.

Well, turns out baby was born on her due date. A girl! 7#12.6 oz. And she's absolutely beautiful, if I do say so myself

Labor was hellish though. 38 hours. I had 24 hours of strong contractions at home that were 8 minutes apart, never closer. I was on the verge of going to the hospital anyway because I was so tired and in so much pain. Finally, my water broke and ctx immediately increased to 2 minutes apart. Headed for hospital finally! Vomiting from the pain in the parking lot. 3 cm when we got there...got an epidural. (Most wonderful thing on Earth...felt like I was submerged in a nice, warm bath)! Spent the next 12 hours with Pit augmentation and on the verge of emergency C-section for intermittent non-reassuring heart tones. At 9.5 cm, dilation stalled for 2 hours!! O.R. was prepping for C-section when I suddenly became complete. Pushed for over an hour, but she wouldn't descend...anesthesia kept coming in the room informing us that O.R. was ready (heart tones kept dropping)...I let the epidural wear off to allow for better pushing...and I finally got her out vaginally. Only 1st degree lacerations, but I felt every bit of it!

THEN, 5 days post-partum I had severe bleeding from the laceration repair sights. Dragged hubby and baby to L&D at 4am to get re-stitched. Went home. 2 days after that, I woke up bleeding again...saturating a pad every 3 minutes!!!! Looked like someone had been murdered on our bathroom floor. Thought for sure it had to be uterine with that much blood. Went back to L&D in a panic, with towels stuffed in pants, which were also saturated. Once again, it was my suture sites! My OB (who was awesome, by the way) had never seen anything like it. Lucky me, I got lidocaine shots and stitches for a 3rd time. I was admitted overnight, and my labs showed a "mild DIC picture." Since then I've been fine. But in light of all of the unusual bleeding, I sure am glad that I didn't end up having a C-section 'cause that could've been really bad!

Congrats! Glad you both came through it! Sounds like a scary week, but all's well that ends well, huh?

Wow! You had a rough time! Congrats on your beautiful daughter. Enjoy those sweet newborn moments, they're just too short.