Let's get this baby out.

Between eating 6 dates a day, bouncing on a stability ball and daily sex, there are a million ways to give labor a gentle push in the right direction, but science or wives tale?

While research supports some of these ideas, and doesn't support others, I remind myself that research is ever changing and has it's limitations, sometimes good old subjective feedback is good enough for me!

Around week 37 and 38 I started incorporating a few things into my routine, because why not?! 37 weeks is considered full term so we didn't do anything prior to that, and while I do believe babies will come when they damn well please and when they are ready, if there are things to aid the process, or possibly make the process of labor "easier" than I'll give it a go.

Also, if I were coming up against a possible induction or other medical intervention to encourage labor ( my preference is I do not want to be induced unless there is a medical reason) I would be trying these things left and right to try to get things moving naturally. Okay, maybe not the daily sex.... how do people have time for that?! But everything else is fair game.

Before I tell all my dark secrets, I should note, I am not a doctor, this is not medical advice, this is just what we are doing and what I have learned about. You do you, and ask your doctor. Cool?

Raspberry Leaf Tea

First up, raspberry leaf tea. While I don't think we have straight forward research on this ( as with many things though), the thought is that it increase blood flow to the uterus, therefore encouraging labor to begin. Some people swear by it, some people would rather eat dirt. Although it is a similar taste, in my opinion. I've never been a tea person, and think it tastes terrible but I'm trying to have a cup a day or so. I mix it with my raspberry LMNT and it's not bad! I used Mama Earth brand tea.

Tea and electrolytes linked here.

Dates

This isn't as much about aiding labor as it is softening the cervix, which is helpfu l when it comes to pushing a baby out of it. Cervix ripening can potentially help the cervix dilate more efficiently. I most definitely did not sit and read research about this, but

the couple of things I did reach suggested eating like 6 dates a day!?!

That seems a little excessive, I am definitely not eating that many but I try to get a couple in every couple of days, so who knows. Not that there is inherently anything wrong with sugar, but 6 dates is going to offer quite the bang of sugar if you sat down and just ate them in one sitting, that may not be the best for some folks. We made some Date Banana Bread from PaleOMG's website. My favorite way to eat them though? A little slather of goat cheese or cashew butter, sprinkled with sea salt. Delish!

Sexy-Sex

You may have seen a recent poll I did on IG about sex during pregnancy, I asked folks if there sex drive went up, down or stayed the same. The results were pretty equal. I was shocked that so many people said it went up, that was most definitely not my experience. The more pregnant I got, I feel like it went down a bit. I don't know if its really because of my biological sex drive, or not really feeling sex with a basketball in my stomach, maybe a bit of both.

So, if you have little desire to do the dirty at 9 months pregnant, don't worry, you are not alone. Sometimes though, you've got to take one

for the team, so I am being a team player. There is a fair share of research supporting this one too. Oxytocin, a hormone released when we orgasm is known to help kickstart labor. It's synthetic form is Pitocin, which is given to woman to start contractions/labor.

When we are going through labor's natural hormonal fluctuations, oxytocin is present, so it would make sense that it could potentially help. Sex with a partner or yourself is fine as long as you orgasm. The other part of this is prostaglandin hormones found in semen ( so you'll need your partner for this one), which may help ripen the cervix in preparation of birth. I'm going to throw nipple stimulation in here becomes sometimes it goes hand in hand with sexy time. You can use your hands, someone else hands, or a breast pump. It's another release of Oxytocin.

Bouncing on a stability ball

I started this yesterday and almost rolled off so that was a good start. From what I found, I don't think there is research supporting this encourages labor, but it seems to be more of a comfort thing. Most hospitals and other birth centers have them available to woman because they can help alleviate stress, back pain/pelvic pain, hip mobility, optimal posture and spinal/pelvic pressure. I do have some pelvic pressure so I have been bouncing away!

Other methods I've learned about but have not tried....yet, eating spicy foods, acupuncture/acupressure, and castor oil.

I do believe there is a lot of research in regards to acupuncture and acupressure. I do plan to have my chiropractor in the upcoming weeks do some acupressure ( think acupuncture without the needle) on me. Which is essentially hitting some pressures points on your body that stimulates energy flow to certain parts of your body, like your uterus.

If you've tried anything that I missed, drop them below! I love reading about other peoples' experiences.

Thanks for reading!