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Talk

Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

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Original poster

Right .... let's get this show on the road!!!!!

71 replies

Ghosty · 26/01/2004 03:22

S'only me
Any tips of bringing this blinking baby on?
Due on Friday ... am very hot and uncomfortable (humid Auckland summer ... got elephant ankles - nice!)
Am HUUUUUUUUGE (scan last week showed monster baby weighing 9lbs+ already) ... SPD giving me all sorts of bother ... not sleeping due to heat and needing the loo every blinking hour (desperate to pee but just doing a teaspoonful) ...
And the pressure is on because my lovely gorgeous Mum and Dad flew in last week to 'surprise' me (a plan hatched by them and DH 3 months ago) but can only stay until 5th Feb ...
SO .... hot curries (not a fan)? sex (it's been so long I've forgotten what to do)? Pineapple (heard that it only works if you eat 4 fresh ones in one day)? Castor Oil (heard it was a bit violent)? Raspberry leaf tea (apparently tastes disgusting)? WHAT WORKS ... if anything????? Should I bother????
Yours fed uply....
Ghosty xxxxxxx

OP posts:

Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

zebra · 26/01/2004 03:24

Hi Ghosty! I'm awake, should be working.
Er... sex (prostaglanins in semen...) sure seemed to help my 2 appear! I think we knew it was the last time for a long time... Sorry it's so rough. Is it still hot there? We're due for an Arctic cold snap this week.

bobthebaby · 26/01/2004 04:45

Licorice (might be a bit late though). What about putting some cordial in with the Raspberry leaf tea and some ice cubes and drinking it cold. I did this last summer and it was okay.

Honestly though, if the shock of your mum and dad arriving didn't send you into labour it could just be that you are just not ready. Put your feet up, they will definitely get to meet the baby and they can always spoil ds and you in the meantime.

batey · 26/01/2004 06:10

Cleaning the kitchen floor got me started with dd2, but maybe it's too hot for that! But seriously getting in the all fours position, sloghtly bent forward is supposed to help alot. Good Luck.

WideWebWitch · 26/01/2004 07:22

Ghosty, waiting is hell isn't it? Tbh, I think if a babe's not ready, it's not ready and they do generally come when they're good and ready. Sympathies on the heat and swelling and everything, it sounds horrible. Remember the getting up every hour business too, yuk. For me late pregnancy was more tiring than the first few weeks of the baby. If curries worked then most of India would give birth early, (as MI pointed out) sex may work I spose but again, only if babe's ready anyway, and pineapple and castor oil apparently only appear to work as they 'clear you out' (eeeewww!) and sometimes labour follows. I looked into this when I was 9 days over and came to the conclusion that the only thing that might work was a sweep. And I didn't fancy it, seeing it as induction (which it is really of course) so I just waited. You poor thing, fingers crossed this one turns up soon.

emmatmg · 26/01/2004 07:45

Hello ghosty, I was thinking about you yesterday and did a search in birth announcements to see if there was any news from you that I'd missed......obviously not you poor thing, pregancy and heat is like torture for for women.

Anyway I used the 'eat as much pineapple as you can take' method. Not 100% sure if it helped but both DS1+2 were 6 days late and DS3 was only 2 days so it could have worked. With DS2 I ate loads(prob about 2lbs of the bloody things) of seedless grapes and went into labour that night. Ok maybe neither actually brought on labour earlier than the babe had planned but, and sorry in advance for details, they certainly did 'clear me out'. Couldn't think of anything worth than doing 'THAT' with an audiance whilst in labour.

Hope to hear some news soon.

motherinferior · 26/01/2004 08:01

Oh b*gger, Ghosty, I too was hoping for a little Ghostlet announcement (spectre? phantom?). I have no serious suggestions, I'm afraid, apart from a giant MN chorus of the Ghostbusters song

Hugs, and remember it will come out. Eventually. In the meantime get your parents hovering attentively to your every whim. xxxxxxx

Loobie · 26/01/2004 11:32

I may get shot down in flames here about how your not supposed to take itbut,castor oil shifted all three of mine within hours of taking it,no.1 and 3 were two weeks early and no.2 was 3 weeks early.With no.3 i had a sweep done on the monday with no result and the docs said cervix not even properly ripe so baby still a way off,by friday i was desparate and took the castor oil and out came dd.

nutcracker · 26/01/2004 11:34

Rasberry leaf tea does taste awful but i put lime cordial in it and it tasted alot better.

nutcracker · 26/01/2004 11:36

Someone i know took castor oil and next day baby was born. I wasn't brave enough

pie · 26/01/2004 11:37

Agree with www, babe will come when ready, no matter what you do!

Am sending you lots of positive labour vibes and hugs through the cosmos (())

udar · 26/01/2004 11:38

I've heard that having accupuncture can help to induce without being so invasive. You would need to tell them that you want to induce the baby using this method though.

Helsbels · 26/01/2004 11:42

definately sex, nipple twiddling (!) - also, reflexology can work very well. There is a trigger some where around your ankle, I think! Might be a bit cooler than bd'ing! Good luck - hope everything goeas alright for you {{{}}}

lydialemon · 26/01/2004 13:38

All have mine have been late, so I've been through the whole list and nothing worked for me I'm afraid. Even the sweep only worked with DD. I got contractions with the nipple fiddling thing, but they stopped when I stopped!

Hope Ghostlet makes an appearance soon though!

Quackers · 26/01/2004 13:42

Apparantly if you do the nipple twidling, it does work but only if you do it for AGES!!!!!!
You could ask for a sweep?????? Works for about 50% they say, worked for me. Depends how desparate you are!!xxx

Chas27 · 26/01/2004 13:53

My dd was 10 days late. I did everything too. Long walks. Curries. Pineapple. Sex. Sweep. Raspberry leaf tea (which is ok if you get the teabags which are mixed with other fruit flavours). Raspberry Leaf pills. In the end I had a course of accupuncture and I went into spontaneous labour after the third session. Coincidence? I wouldn't like to say! I like to think it worked. The only thing is you are generally recommended to have 2 or 3 sessions to get things moving along and that needs to be arranged in advance... Good luck! We're visiting NZ in a couple of weeks, can't wait to be back, hope the weather holds out!

mears · 26/01/2004 14:01

Sex is the only one that is most likely because of the prostaglandins in semen. The prostaglandin makes the cervix soften in readiness for labour. Orgasms (if you can manage it ) make your uterus contract as does nipple twiddling.
Personally I couldn't be bothered with it and let nature take is's course.
Since you are going for a VBAC I wouldn't have a sweep either - you can end up with lots of pain and no labour.
Just relax as much as you can and tell the baby you are ready (pupuce's advice). It will come soon

BekkiKay · 26/01/2004 14:05

I'm sorry you feel so awful Ghosty. I bet its the only thing you can think of. Its such a mix of emotions isn't it? Wanting the baby out but not really ifykwim.
The baby will come when its ready. But with ds1 and 2 I tried sex to bring labour on. It had little effect with ds1 apart from niggly pains (I wish I hadn't bothered) and he was induced at 41 weeks. It did work with ds2 though. So if you've had enough then this is the only method I would advise apart from housework and stuff but I know which one I'd prefer
I think raspberry leaf does work but over a period of time its not instantaneous.

Original poster

Ghosty · 26/01/2004 19:13

Thanks everyone ...
My mum tells a story that she had castor oil with my sister and then my dad spent all night an the loo!
I know the baby will come when its ready ... I just want it to come now now now!!!!!
I definitely won't go for the sweep option but I will try some other of those things .... although like I say, sex is something we have both forgotten how to do LOL
Oh well, send me lots and lots of vibes to go into nice gentle labour ... a nice 4 hour painless (ish) labour with some 5 pushes resulting in a baby that has read all the books and sleeps through the night from day ! .... ha ha ha ha ha ha

OP posts:

hewlettsdaughter · 26/01/2004 19:47

Sending good vibes your way Ghosty... haven't been on mumsnet much recently but good to hear you're so close now!
I had raspberry leaf tea with ds and he was a week early - it was a quick labour too.

sb34 · 26/01/2004 19:50

Message withdrawn

aloha · 26/01/2004 20:18

Ghosty, did you see the messages today from Bez and Milkybarkid? They both went to 43 weeks (eek) but both had really short labours ( 1&4 hours). Incredible.

motherinferior · 26/01/2004 20:24

OK, Ghosty, when I log on tomorrow I'm expecting an announcemnt, OK?

buzzybee · 27/01/2004 01:44

Reflexology is supposed to help (foot massage basically so feels nice even if it doesn't work!)
I crawled around in the garden the day I went into labour so maybe that idea about being on all fours has some merits! All the best. XXX
PS can you drive out to the coast or somewhere with some sea breezes? Not so hot down here but I definitely sympathise!

Distracted · 27/01/2004 09:13

Good luck! Have to say that last time I went 10 days over and I tried everything - raspberry leaf tea, pineapple, curry, evening primrose oil (not sure now where I got that from), sex, gardening and walking and none of them worked. I did eventually have a sweep and that did the trick, but maybe it wasn't such a great idea as perhaps dd wasn't actually ready at that time as my labour didn't go smoothly, she got a bit stuck and all took forever. Just a word though, if you do reconsider a sweep at a later date - I absolutely dreaded having it done, but in fact it didn't hurt at all, it wasn't pleasant, but not painful - similar to a smear. Thought that might reassure you just in case you think again in future, but doesn't sound like a great idea now. Fingers crossed for you.

bubbly · 27/01/2004 09:17

Hullo Ghosty any luck?
I dont post much any more but as I am a two times castor oil girl I thought I'd add my bit. First time it worked perfectly but as someone else on this thread has said it works by clearing out your insides (not great for the midwife) and the action of peristalsis then starts contractions - or that's the theory anyway. 2nd time I was over 2 weeks late and it had no effect at all. In order to drink it all wihtout vomiting I had to mix it wiht orange jiuce and down it in one. But I can no longer drink oj as a result
All mine were late I guess I'm a long cycle gal!
But there is some research into the nest thing that the baby knows when the time is right ie there'e nothing left to do in the house the weekend's rolling on and your dp will be home and your parents are there. It sounds like perfect timing for a Friday night baby

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