…and start walking (up stairs?)
Just google ways to induce labor and a ton of different links will come up with lots of suggestions on natural ways to induce labor. Seeing as how I don’t particularly want Lucas to go past his due date, and with that date being ONE WEEK AWAY, I think it might be time to kick things up a notch & try to get this party started!
In the beginning of my pregnancy, I read several articles about how eating dates are supposed to naturally prepare your body for labor, and studies have actually been done to prove it. I stumbled across a pin on Pinterest about this, and when I googled it, it turned out this was actually a real thing. I’ve eaten one bag of dates over the past couple months. Most of the articles/studies say the best thing is to eat six dates a day. I haven’t been that consistent with it, but I’m hoping what I have done at least helps a little bit. 🙂
You can find countless articles online about how to induce labor, and at 39 weeks with my body showing signs that Lucas is almost ready to make his appearance, I’m up for trying some of them! As much as I think pregnancy is truly an amazing experience & have been very thankful with a fairly easy pregnancy, I’m ready to have a little break from being pregnant…until our next baby 🙂 I plan on getting started on a few of the things I’ve read about ASAP. I think I’ll be staying away from the Castor Oil, for sure. No thank you! But there are a few things I’ve read about that sound pretty interesting.
- Eating fresh pineapple: This one is at the top of my to-do list. My mom brought some over for me earlier today & half of the container is already gone. Speaking of pineapple, how cute are these pineapple socks from Forever 21? I picked some up the other day for only $1.50!
- Bouncing on an exercise ball: My cousin lent me her exercise ball a few months ago, and I have used it on & off during my pregnancy when my hips have really been bothering me. I rolled around on it for about 30 minutes last night, but I guess I should get back on it! It’s supposed to help move the baby down the birth canal & speed up dilation.
- Walking: So many people, from people I don’t even know to my family, have told me to walk & that will help speed up labor. Someone said to walk up & down stairs, and gravity will do the trick. I think I might just walk up & down our driveway since it’s on an incline. That kind of counts as stairs, right?
- Raspberry leaf tea: I drank a little bit of this last night, but didn’t particularly like the flavor. I don’t know how much more of it I’ll be drinking unless Lucas decides to stay in there past this weekend.
- Spicy food: Even though this seems to be a popular one, I don’t know if I’ll actually be trying it. The thought of the heartburn that would most likely accompany it doesn’t seem worth it.
I think that the biggest thing is to not stress about going overdue. I feel like this will be a hard one for me, especially since I go back and forth from being anxious about actually being in labor vs. going past my due date. I’m trying to relax and understand that my body will know when Lucas is ready to make his appearance. A few ways to relax that also happen to be “ways to induce labor” are taking warm baths, doing yoga, or getting a massage. If my hospital room was going to have a birthing tub, I’d honestly consider having a water birth. I’ve heard so many great things about how much being in a warm bath while you’re in labor helps, but one thing I’ve learned about being pregnant is that literally every person & every pregnancy is different. One thing that helped someone tremendously might not help me at all, or vice versa. So right now, I’m just trying to go with the flow & trust my body. I have faith that everything will go how it’s supposed to go, and I am so excited that we’re going to meet our little man soon!
a pinch of sunshine 