In honor of May 5th, I offer you my best tips and experience for trying to induce your full-term baby. If your baby is fully-baked and you want to help nature take its course, there are some home remedies for kicking labor into gear that folks are talking about.*
I’m not telling you which of these I tried with Holden-to-be, but I will say that we were gunning awfully hard for a 05/05/05 birthdate (so much so that my husband took 5/4 off of work so we could get to business):
- Sex – what got ’em in will get ’em out
- Nipple stimulation – trust me, whatever you do is nothing compared to nursing a real baby
- Spicy food – Ruen Pair’s medium spicy makes my head sweat!
- Ride on a tractor – my grandma said it worked for her
- Jumping jacks – as recommended by my own doctor
- Pizza – eating a fully loaded Prego Pizza at Skipolini’s in Walnut Creek or a big meaty Zachary’s
- Castor oil omelet – blech
- Long walks – up hills or on the beach is even better
- Chocolate – I believe my mom recommended a full pound in one sitting
- Aggressive pedicure where they hit all the acupressure hotspots
Kendra from ShoppingForTwo.com has shared what she calls her “Jump Start Your Labor Cookies” recipe.
I will also say that once labor really started and we got our precious baby home, I wondered why I was in such a hurry.
Do you swear by any unusual labor-inducing ideas? Anything that worked?!
* you KNOW we’re not doctors, call your doc about your own situation if any of these ideas thrill and concern you.
