Home remedies and tips for labour

There are a lot of excellent, informative pregnancy and birthing websites, books and experts out there.  I am one of those people who believe being well informed is being well prepared and right from my first pregnancy, I read, watched and discussed everything I possibly could about pregnancy and child birth.  I had several people tell me I was crazy and I shouldn't watch things like 'One Born Every Minute' or read things like 'Real life birth stories'.  They thought it would worry or scare me un-necessarily and perhaps give me a false impression of what preg and labour would really be like.  In my case though, I couldn't disagree more.  Yes, some people may find reading or watching other peoples stories scary or off putting but I loved it.  I read about some of the best and the worst experiences out there and so I went into the last few days leading up to both my births knowing full well that it could be a really fantastic experience or anything but, but at least I knew the wide range of possibilities and felt ready to accept what will be, will be!

The hardest thing for me to accept or cope with is the lack of control.  I like to plan and organise things, sometimes bordering a little on the too obsessive side of organisation!  The thing with childbirth is the total lack of control you have in regards to there is NOTHING you can do to control when you will go into labour, how long it will last, or how easy or difficult it will be.  I HATE this lack of control.  I was more scared about going overdue with my babies than I was about how painful or long the birth may be (my impatience rearing it's ugly head yet again).  I wanted, scrap that-desperately needed to know when it would happen!  Even this third time around, it is driving me crazy.  Small decisions become huge dilemmas, like on Tuesday night, I had barely any sleep, up all night with intense Braxton Hicks contractions, so I was extremely tired all day yesterday but I couldn't make a decision about whether to have a nap or not based on not knowing when I would go into labour.  My reasoning was if I nap this afternoon I might be up all night again tonight which will drive me nuts so I should just stick it out and go to bed early and get a better nights rest.  However, the flip side is, I could go into labour tonight say at 10pm, so I should nap this afternoon just in case as it might be all that gets me through childbirth should it kick off tonight!  In the end I went against all the advice of get rest anytime you can and stuck it out all day without a nap, opting rather to go to bed early which worked out fine.

So the lack of control, coupled with the uncomfortable factor naturally leads almost all mothers to turn to natural remedies, advice, tips and mythical stories of how to kick start labour.  Also having a list of pre-baby must dos for the last week fews of pregnancy at the very least will help distract you or give you a sense of some control.  Being only 1 week out from my due date, I have long since started to implement a few of my favourites:

• Raspberry leaf tea - I have taken this with all of my pregnancies, regular cups of this are believed to help prepare your body for labour by stimulating your uterus. (1x cup per day from 32 weeks preg & build up to a max of 4x cups daily).
• 1000mcg of Vitamin C daily - I have been very strict this time taking 1 tablet every day since 30 weeks to help reduce the possibility of afterpains.  The afterpains after my 2nd child was born were toe curling, horrible pains every time I feed for the first week or so and I was told they get worse with each birth.  I do not want to experience them again so am hitting the vitamin c hard!
• Daily brisk walks - walking helps heaps, keeps you busy, tires you out so you sleep better, builds your muscles/fitness etc ready for birth, helps get baby down into position and engaged and with both of my births, I went for a really good walk when contractions were just starting and it absolutely helped to make the contractions stronger and more regular, speeding up the first stage of labour for sure.
• Warm baths - this helps me for 2 main reasons, firstly its one of the only things I can do to stop the Braxton Hicks and therefore be able to tell if they are real of false contractions. Secondly, it relaxes me and the amazing sensation of weightlessness is worth the total blow out of hot water I waste daily!
• Nookie -  I won't go into detail here as far to many of my friends, family and colleagues read this blog, however I will say the benefits and reasons for this helping to kick start labour seem pretty obvious to me and I can think of worse things to try!

.... on that note, one thing I haven't tried before but am going to next week is to have a stretch and sweep.  It was meant to happen today actually at my 39 week midwives appointment however we have a pretty nasty snow prediction forecasted for the next few days, so we didn't want to risk it working and putting me into labour sometime in the next 24-48 hours when I could potentially be snowed in.  And finally one thing I absolutely wouldn't try is castor oil to induce labour.  It sounds disgusting and potentially risky, so not worth it in my mind!

So ladies - any other safe home remedies you swear by or think are worth trying?  Love to hear your advice, old wives tales or experiences that helped you prepare during the last few days of pregnancy!

Birth story for Baby Bell #2 - our cheeky, adorable daughter B

By the summer of 09/10 hubby J and I were thoroughly enjoying parenthood and totally smitten with our firstborn H.  She was a delight and our little family was humming along nicely.  I had received a years study leave for 2010 and we were building a new house so we started the year with lots of changes on the cards but excitement too.  I was also trying to get back in shape and was training for the Buller Marathon teams event we had entered in February, over on the coast in Westport, so I was running regularly too.

J and I even managed to escape to Wellington with friends for a weekend to attend the AC/DC concert and we had a great time...too much of a great time it seems as a few weeks later I realised I was late.  I thought surely just one time wouldn't result in a pregnancy, especially not this soon after H, so I took a test and it said negative.  Life carried on and I put the lateness of my period down to running lots and having a young baby.  However it gave me enough of a scare that I decided to book in a visit to my Doctors so I could go back on the pill.  A couple of weeks later when I finally got around to visiting the doctors you can imagine my shock when before she prescribed me the pill she got me to do another preg test and sure enough, a very strong 2nd line showed up almost instantly, and thats how our little B began, not planned but a blessing all the same!

B was due on the 26th Oct 2010 (H was due & born on the 26th May 2009).  Monday 25th Oct was actually Labour Day and we had been joking about going into labour on Labour Day.  Sure enough, I woke up that morning after a pretty rubbish sleep thinking this could be the day.  Braxton Hicks had been driving me crazy for the last couple of weeks and I had had a bad night with them on and off right through.

At 11.30am we decided to go for a family walk and see if I could either get the Braxton Hicks to stop/settle down or force them to crank up a notch and get labour going.  We walked 5km with pains coming sporadically the whole time.  We got home around 12.30pm and had some lunch, J said he might shoot through to Mitre 10 in town and I said maybe give it another 30mins, just in case this was the real deal. By 1, 1.30pm the contractions had def cranked up a notch in terms of pain and regularity and I was finally sure I was in labour so we called the midwife.


Even though H's birth was an unplanned home birth, it went so well and was such a good experience that we had always planned to have the 2nd baby at home too.  This time though I wanted to try a water birth, so I borrowed our midwives portable birthing pool and we set it up in our dining room.  After J rang the midwife he went about filling the pool and I settled in on the swiss ball to work through the contraction pains.  I am one of those lucky woman that in between my contractions I am pain free and everything is totally normal, chatting and moving around no worries...until the next contraction hits!

My midwife and trainee midwife arrived around 2.30pm, at which point I was having strong but manageable contractions every 5 mins, but felt like this was just the start. She checked me and said to my shock that I was 8cm dilated - most likely a result of all the Braxtons I had been having for a few weeks already.  She calmly suggested it might be time to get in the pool but I still thought I had heaps of time.  I mucked around for a bit but eventually climbed into the blissful, warm, relaxing pool around 3pm - it was heavenly!  I would recommend a water birth for anyone considering it that has had a risk free pregnancy.

So finally at around 3pm I was in the pool, music was cranking on the ipod (The Cranberries I think) and things were at the noisy end of labour for me.  I am a yeller during contractions, not abusive or anything, just very loud groaning and moaning.  We had 3 contractions in the pool and our newest bundle of joy - Brooke was born, at 3.15pm, 25/10/10, 8pd 3oz!

Coming up for her very first breathe

It was a very fast, but peaceful, easy birth.  She floated up to me and squawked one or twice to clear her lungs and then lay peacefully and quietly on me from then on.  Having a trainee midwife there was great as she took lots of photos and we actually had a video camera set up in a corner too to record the whole thing.  H's birth happened so unexpectedly and differently to how we had planned that I found myself struggling to remember the night accurately.  This time I really wanted something to watch back and recall the whole event, there are no close ups or anything too full on, it was just recording quietly in the background and I am soooo thankful to have it as it is really special to me now.



H was bought back home after only an hour or 2 away at her grandparents to meet her new sister - we were now a family of four!

...Soon to become a tight-5!




Brookey is a stubborn, independent, loving and cheeky wee girl - a typical middle child who is more like myself that I like to admit.  She is very different to H, is so much fun and the 3 of us girls have a great time together, we can't wait to see what the next baby will bring!

Birth story for Baby Bell # 1 - our darling daughter H

Now I am waddling down the last few weeks of pregnancy,  your mind evidently turns to the ultimate outcome of pregnancy, which is to give birth.  As I didn't blog with my first two babies I figure it would be an ideal opportunity to add their own birth stories to this blog as hopefully all 3 of my kids will have this as a momento to read years from now.

So, back where it all began, our firstborn.  I fell pregnant with H in 2008 after a miscarriage earlier that year.  It was a really good pregnancy, all the usual pregnancy symptoms in the first trimester but I had never felt better ever than in my 2nd trimester.  We decided not to find out the sex of the baby at the 20 week scan but I was absolutely 100% certain it was a girl anyway.  Just after we left the scanning room I got called back in to quickly check something they missed during the ultrasound and so I went back alone.  The scanner accidently then told me the sex of the baby - it was a girl!  Just as I thought.  I told my hubby as I knew he would be dark at me if I knew and he didn't.  We decided not to tell anyone else we knew though as they all wanted it to be a surprise.

30 weeks pregnant with H

Once I went on leave by week 35 of the pregnancy I was ready and eager to get the baby out!  My sister-in-law had just had a baby and I asked her to tell me what labour was like and if she had any advice.  She said "When the contractions get really bad and they start hurting like crazy, suck it up, because that's just the beginning!"  I stupidly took this advice really to heart!

I was more worried about going overdue than the pain of actual labour - this is a throwback to how impatient of a person I am, so the day before my due date of 26th May I did almost all of the home remedies out there to kick start labour - a long walk, a hot bath, curry for dinner, half a glass of wine, I ate a whole tin of pineapple, and there may have even been some nookie involved!  At 3.15am I woke up and thought I needed to go to the toilet but once I sat down realised I didn't so went back to sleep.  At 4.15am I did the same thing and again at 5.15am and 6.15am.  So at 7.15am I told my husband I think I might be in labour, having mild contractions 1 hour apart.  The excited and supportive reaction to this news never arrived...he promptly cracked up laughing and then told me off saying "I knew you would be like this today, just because it is your due day does not mean you are going to have the baby today!" and off he went to work.  Don't get me wrong, even I agreed with him and I have been known to over-react or exaggerate at times so I figured he could be right.  However as the day progressed it became obvious that there was a definite pattern to these pains, mild as they were and they time in between was getting shorter so I was looking forward to my midwives visit at 4pm to see if she thought it was the real thing or not.

J (hubby) and I went off to the midwives after he got back form work and we were both excited to hear that I was 1-2cm dilated and that sure enough, this was the very early stages of labour.  Our midwife said it could be hours yet, most likely tomorrow before baby would be born so we decided to head to my parents for dinner.  By the time I was finishing my roast chicken I was having contractions 5-7 minutes apart and they were starting to cause a bit of pain so we thought we better head home!

We got home at 6.30pm and I jumped in the shower hoping that would help with the pain which was becoming pretty tough at this point.  I still had my sister-in-laws warning in my head and was thinking how am I going to last the whole night with this pain if this is just the beginning!  By 7.30pm my contractions were 5 minutes apart and I was hurting-I told J to ring the midwife as surely I must be 4-5cm dilated by now and we should go to a hospital soon.  He rang her and said you might want to come down soonish as things have picked up slightly...we didn't want to rush her or over-react, typical first time parents!

I had planned on going to St Georges hospital to give birth and was wanting to try a drug free birth if possible but was totally open to the possibility of pain relief should I need it.  By 8.30pm I was lying on my bed crying through the contractions thinking if this is just the beginning I am absolutely going to take EVERY single pain relief option available and was desperate for the midwife to arrive.  When she arrived I remember saying to her "If I am not yet 5cm dilated and ready to go to the hospital I need drugs fast because I can't do this!"  She checked me and said I was fully dilated and the head was crowning - we are having this baby right here at home!

I wont go into all the gory details but the short story is we got me down into the lounge, next to the fire and cranked up the heat.  I did panic a bit as this was not what we planned and I tried to say no I want to go to hospital but once another contraction hit it was all over.  I didn't want to have the baby in the car and all I wanted was to get it out as fast as possible so we settled in the lounge. J got some towels down on the carpet (I had to send him back to get the old beach towels after he bought in our never been used, white, wedding gift towels!) and my midwife got me to start pushing.  I was screaming through the pain of contractions and she helped me to stop yelling and focus all that energy into bearing down and pushing.  At 9.15pm Harper was born, a perfect little girl, 6 pound 10 ounces and our lives changed forever.

J and H - 1st Daddy daughter cuddle

Our first cuddle in bed at home an hour after Harper was born

Even though it was not what we had planned or expected, it was a pretty amazing birth.  Faster than I expected to go from 1-2cm at 4pm to fully dilated by 8.30-9pm.  Yes, the last 2-3 hours were extremely painful and scary but it all happened pretty fast and once she was out all the pain disappeared and it was a beautiful time.  It was drug free although I DEF would have taken something towards the end if I could have!  I didn't need any stitches or medical attention afterwards so preferred to stay at home rather than have to go into a hospital.   I was able to have a shower and jump into bed with J and H and start learning how to feed her straight away.  We had turns holding her all night and napping so both J and I got to bond with H and still get a good nights sleep.  I loved being at home for that first night together and sharing it with my hubby, I find it crazy that some of my friends who have just given birth in hospitals during the night have had to say goodbye to their husbands as they can't stay the night.  It must be awful for both Mum & Dad!  Overall, I was very thankful for how well the birth went and we were super excited to finally be parents.  If I could go back, I actually wouldn't change a thing - H turned 4 last weekend and is the most amazing little girl who brings us huge amounts of joy, we love her madly!