Bring it on!

[pcl]

Its the due date of my second child today and I really dont want to go over too much because I am unable to be induced due to first being a c-section. Any ideas of how to encourage my baby to make an appearance??!!

You could try the usual suggestions:

spicy food
raspberry leaf tea
sex
long walks

to try and bring on labour. In my area the midwife also offers a stretch and sweep to try and get things going.

Good Luck!

What has your consultant said the course of action will be of you are overdue?

I havent any personal experience of going into labour naturally even with 3 dds but I tried everything going to get things moving with no joy!

Hope youre more successful than me!

Evening primrose oil, put a capsule up your hoo-har at night (but wear a pad cos it can be messy).
It's got natural progesterone-type stuff in it and softens up your cervix, apparently.

Slightly is that safe with pcl being a VBAC?

I genuinely dont know !

I only know that some hormones which soften your cervix can also soften your scar, hence they don't like to induce.

If it is safe I'll bear it in mind for my due date...!

Yes, it is safe. It's very mild so doesn't do anything terribly exciting (won't bring on contractions, for example).
I asked 4 midwives this before I used it for my VBAC!

Oooh fab ! I'll get some and add it to the Clary Sage

Do you know when its best to start the EPO? I.e a few days before due date to allow it to work? Sorry if thats a really silly question

x

Yes, EPO is very good. Dosage is 1000mg per day but best to build up IIRC (do check).

Orgasms with or without sperm. Sperm contains prostaglandins (same as EPO) so helps ripen the cervix. The tiny contractions caused by orgasm can kick off actual contractions.

Nothing will help if the body isn't ready.

Raspberry leaf tea wont bring on labour, it tones the uterus and speeds up the second and third stages.

(again, IIRC) EPO is usually from 39 weeks.

Thank you all for your suggestions. My gut feeling is that nothing will happen unless body is ready. I just dread going too far over. They will let me go up to 10-12 days but can't induce me so its a LONG waiting game!!!
I am drinking Raspberry Leaf tea and have been on my feet most of today with my 4 year old. I have even grinned and bared pineapple - yuk!! Gonna have a Thai Curry tonight. Notice I am leaving the sex option as a very last result!!

Don't bother with the pineapple unless you actually fancy it, the 'active' ingredient is in the core, not the flesh. You'd need to eat something like 25 or 30 pineapple cores in a sitting for it to work...

Yeah, I did the EPO from 39 weeks, every night. Basically I started from when I was ready for the baby to come, and even though babies are normally born at 41+ in my family I had a feeling she would be nearer 40. In the event labour started at 40+1, she was born (crash section - grrrr) the next day. Maybe that would have happened anyway, but I reckon the EPO did no harm and might have helped.

Good luck with your births, PLC and Clouiseg.

*pcl (whoops)

I started a 39 weeks both times. DD was 39 + 3, DS 39 + 5. Both natural births, first a little tricky (malpresentation, bad MW). Second, quick and easy.