One of Dan's co-workers just told him to tell me to eat pineapple to speed up labor. She said it worked for her and I did find a lot of babble about it on the Web. I don't know if it's true or not, but I do love pineapple (I actually had a whole bunch yesterday before hearing this), so I don't mind putting it on the menu. I stopped off at the fancy grocery store today and bought one of those (luxurious and expensive) containers of pre-cut pineapple and downed the whole thing in the car. That was about a half-pound of fruit! Then I bought this whole pineapple at the Co-op tonight. We'll see if it was worth the money...To be fair, I don't think I'm really trying to speed up labor (all babies come when they're ready, each pregnancy is totally different, blahbittyblahblahblah), but I definitely have a different outlook on this one than the first. With Jackson, I really wanted to make it to 40 weeks. I think mostly because I was scared of dealing with a preemie baby, but also because it's just what you're "supposed" to do.
But with this one, man, been-there-done-that-let's-get-a-move-on. I have no concerns about Amelia's health or size or anything (thanks to multiple ultrasounds and awesome midwives) and know that the odds are strongly in our favor for both of us to be perfectly fine if she were to come early. So? Why not?!
To that end, I have to admit that I am reading a bit about "how to speed up labor." I'm not interested in castor oil and spicy food is just not possible for me since I'm a wimpy Minnesotan when it comes to hot food. But there are a few (normal) things that I can do and so, I am.
They say that the best way to encourage labor, hands-down, is to walk. Check. Jackson and I have hit the local malls each day this week so far (and he's cooperated by willingly riding along in a stroller for the first time in many moons, probably because I've been splurging for those cool race-car mall rental strollers). I've surprised myself by how far and how long I'm willing to walk after all. (If you had a small creature that felt like a baby elephant sticking out on your front side and someone told you that walking would make it go away, wouldn't you march?) We walked for over an hour at the Mall of America today, which translates to almost 2 miles. Doesn't sound like a great distance? Baby elephant. (Plus pushing a 30-pound toddler in a stroller on carpet...)
Then there's the pineapple. Yum. Check. Double yum. I love being told to eat fruit and am actually happy for once that Jackson doesn't like this fruit, so I don't have to share.
Raspberry leaf tea is another oldie, but goodie. It's hard to drink tea in the summertime, but I think it's harder to be pregnant in the summertime. Check. Not very frequently, but check anyway.
And yes, I'm well aware of another way to encourage labor, but let's not go there now. This is a family blog, remember. Check.
So, with only about a week to go until the "due date" (which is a joke, I know...only 5% of babies are born on their due dates), I'm surprisingly active and on board mentally this time. Pregnancy is a weirdo thing: the body knows exactly what to do but the brain has absolutely nothing to do with it. So even though I "think" I'm on top of it with these little tricks, I'm also well aware that I have no control whatsoever. But at least walking a lot and eating a bunch of fruit never hurt anyone.
(I've also been knitting like crazy, in between the on-going family tree project, stocking up on more food and getting our household paperwork out of the way. I've got about two feet done on the midwife gift scarf which isn't a lot, but considering that about half of that was done last night, not bad.)
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Thank you for all of your kind comments and concerned emails and phone calls about Jackson's allergic reaction the other day. He's doing fine now, though has been a bit squirrely all week. It seems the incident brought about a newfound love for Mom that is cramping his independent style. I love it, but let's hope that he can glom onto Dad pretty darn quick, since Mom's about to be very, very preoccupied!
3 comments:
Mmmm, pineapple sounds fantastic! I wonder what about it is supposed to stimulate labor.
As for the RRL tea, why not drink it iced? For my pregnancy tea, I mixed it with mint, rosehips (Vit C), alfalfa (for Vit K), and nettles (iron, calcium) and sweetened it with a little honey before chilling. Yum, now I'm thinking that I might make up a batch now just for general health!
Good for you on all the walking! Even if it doesn't get labor going, it's still going to make your labor go more smoothly by encouraging Amelia to be in the proper position and by keeping your muscles strong.
I came up with this theory that I think you should test: I heard on some nature show once that our bodies release a tiny amount of oxytocin when we see baby animals, so I thought a woman could try to induce labor by watching hours of baby animal video. Or hang out at the zoo all day. Either way, it's better than that unmentionable (and unthinkable at 39-plus weeks if you ask me) act.
It was post-Olive that I came up with this, so I never got the chance to try it myself. Be my guinea pig, please!
well pineapple sound delicious! granted i dont think it is gonna help me along, considering i am only 10weeks down this long road that is pregnancy. the baby is due Feb 1st! So hopefully the pineapple will come in handy somewhere around January and i think i just might start hanging out at the zoo...who knows?
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