Walking,sex,nipple Stimulation Please Help! I Don't Want Medical Induction!

What about trying a membrane sweep? I had it done less than 24 hrs before I went into labor on my own and as much as it was uncomfortable I totally agree with you that if you can do it without the drugged out intervention I would want that route too. I was facing an induction as well and I so didnt want it so my Dr did a membrane sweep at my last appointment before I was scheduled to be induced and I went hope and just waited and at about 5 or 6 in the morning BOOM I was in labor
Good Luck

Clean like crazy, it has worked for me twice. Then when I finally sat down to relax in the evening my water broke.

Oregano worked for me I think! I had a calzone with tons of oregano for dinner and gave birth that night. I've heard the same from some other women too. I think it has something to do with the estrogen-like quality of the herb oregano. I wish you the very best. Take care.

I am a midwife and a former NICU Respiratory Therapist. You need to remember that you are the one in charge of your baby, your body and your birth. You tell your doctor that you will NOT consent to induction without a true medical need. Going over the so called "due date" is not a medical need. Most women go to at least 41 weeks. A friend of mine recently went to 43 weeks. Baby and mother were perfectly healthy and fine. Also your doctor and the hospital will not show up at your house on Tuesday and drag you to the hospital. Just don't show up. They really don't care.

Your baby should be the one to choose it's due date. You are right and need to listen to your mother instinct that induction is not the way to go. If I were you I would quit trying all the natural induction techniques as well and just relax and be patient and trust in your body and your baby that they know what they are doing.

However if you want to try castor oil there is no harm in it, if you do it the correct way. Eat a good dinner with lots of protein and carbs. Get a good nights rest. At 6am get up and take one tablespoon of castor oil mixed with ice cream or orange juice. Go back to bed for about 4 hours. At that time you should start having some mild cramping and maybe contractions. If not, then get up and take one more tablespoon. After about three hours you should start feeling something. If nothing then don't take anymore. Rest, stay hydrated, eat. Your body is clearly not ready. You can repeat the same routine the next day if you so desire.

Let me know if you have any questions. And remember your baby will be here in a matter of days. You are at the end. Just be patient. And don't let anyone talk you into induction.

You know, if you don't show up at the hospital for induction on Tuesday, they won't come and get you. It's your decision if and when you want to be induced.

Unless you know exactly when you conceived, a due date is an approximation. Fitting in the doctor's calendar is NOT your responsibility. Unless it's medically necessary, tell the doc you don't want to be induced - perhaps if it were more than 2 weeks, that would be a fair option, but not a week. Good luck!

I think you may want to have a serious discussion with your doctor. If all looks well on ultrasounds with you and the baby, I don't see why they push induction. Due dates can be wrong, and some babies just take a little longer than others. Remember that this is YOUR baby, YOUR body, and you hired your doctor to assist you and help keep your pregnancy healthy. If you and baby are both healthy, and there's no medical risk, tell your OB that prefer not to be induced, or come up with a more comfortable timeline.... say 10-14 "overdue." IMHO, we give too much of our control to the medical profession..... (one big reason I had 2 home births *smile*)

Ummm 6 days? Two of my friends have had late babies and both their doctors have scheduled their inducement for 2 weeks after the original due date. I second calling the dr and say, hey! I want this au natural and don't want to go in on the 3rd.
Keep trying the nipple stimulation. I would even talk with a midwife and ask for tips on the right stimulation.

The women in our birthing class several years ago swore by eating Jello. I have no idea in the world why, but they all said it worked. Old wives tales don't always have to make sense I guess. :)
A lot of doctors schedule inductions according to their surgical schedule or hospital day. It wouldn't hurt to ask about giving nature a little more time. If you go into labor naturally the doctor has to plan around it anyway, so it isn't like it should be a huge problem.
Whatever ends up causing your labor, it will be okay. The end result is the main thing, and the rest will melt away when you hold your baby for the first time.
Hang in there, and let us know when the baby comes! :)

Castor oil will give you the runs, which sometimes happens before you go into labor, but doesn't mean that you will go into labor. So skip it, unless you like spending a lot of time in the bathroom : )

Is there a reason your doc is only letting you go one week late? Can you ask to push back the induction? Call tomorrow and talk to the doctor. Ask to be pushed back.

Otherwise, keep hittin' the hay with your husband. Semen is the only thing that's been scientifically proven to work. Good luck!

try pressure point massage on your ankles and feet. its known to bring on labor.

Well.. first off RELAX.

It's pretty easy to phone your doctor and ask/tell that to wait another week. So many women don't care at this point HOW the baby get's out (Use a forklift, I don't care!!!!!!) this late that your doctor may well just be going off of past experience with mums who are begging him/her and be just FINE with waiting a week. Or there may be pressing medical reasons, but more than likely, he/she is just trying to be helpful/ put your mind at ease that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Even if your baby were actively dying, you don't have to accept medical inducement if you're conscious (from working in healthcare TRUST me, people can and do refuse treatment ALL the time, and as a healthcare worker one is *powerless* unless the patient loses consciousness). I'm sure you wouldn't refuse emergency treatment... I'm just trying to show you how much power over your body (and what happens to it in a hospital) that you DO have.

So ring them up tomorrow and say "You know, I've been thinking, and I'd like to wait a little bit longer." they'll want you to come in on the 3rd to get checked out... but then you'll be sent home if the baby is doing fine AND you refuse to be induced "just yet". It doesn't make you a pain in the neck patient, it just makes you a patient patient.

Trick: Doctors have to deal with cranky patients all the time. Lie through your teeth with a big smile to get them on your 'side'. "I have no problem with being induced later on if it's necessary, I'd just like to give it a few more days."

What you should do is tell your OB NO INDUCTION! Please do not forget you are paying him for a service, at YOUR convenience and whim, not the other way around. If you had a Midwife, this would have never even come up in a visit's conversation until 2 full weeks passed.

Your OB is not infallible, probably has made many mistakes that were not documented during his career, etc... you do not have to accept his opinion to induce as an absolute. For never forget - estimated due dates are not dates set in stone - each baby requires a different amount of development time in the uterus. Also, just because your OB recommends something, doesn't mean you have to do it.

I did castor oil all 4 times. It worked 3 of the times. not sure about the eating poo thing but you will maybe get some diarrhea. I took it for baby number one at about 9pm at night had baby the next morning. woke up at like 630 and she was born at 11. second baby I took it at bedtime he was born at 530am it didn't work at all for the 3rd baby. doctor told me he was ready wand would weigh in at more than 10 lbs if I waited the extra 3 weeks till my due date. he was inducing me. so i took the castor oil the night before no baby. the next day they induced me and it took longer than any labor i had. baby came out and was jaundiced and we ended up in the hospital for a week. although the baby did weigh in at 9,2. 4th baby i took it and he was born less than 12 hours later. so if your ready it will work. use a bathroom dixie (the 3oz not 5 oz) cup about 1/2 full of castor oil and fill it up the rest of the way with rootbeer or orange juice and slug it down. it will work if your truly due if n ot you will just get cramps and diarrhea good luck

I don't know if it'll work for you, but having a pedicure and foot massage got things going with my second baby. If it doesn't work, at least you have pretty feet and toes for the delivery! <wink>

Good luck!

A friend of mine tried pressure points on the feet, etc. She went into labor like 12 hours later and this was BEFORE her due date. She found it online. I am sorry I don't know where.

I don't have induction advice, but wanted to let you know that my first daughter was almost 2 weeks late and my second a week early, and I am convinced that late babies are the way to go. My little big girl was sio much easier to care for! She never had any latch problems, barely any colic, slept 6 hours starting her second week, and is still an incredibly rational easygoing child. So far, my second is Torquemada incarnate-doesn't know how to eat or sleep, or poop! Everyone is miserable and exhausted and I wish she could have baked a bit longer. So do you NEED to induce? Really? Just because the doctor wants to is not a very good reason! Too many moms let the doctor dictate when and how a child is to be born, and that's not always best for mom and patient! Ask the doc why, and if you don't like the answer, just say no!
Best wishes!

I did castor oil with my last two pregnancies. Both were good sized babies (one was five days late) and neither had issues with meconium. Is it a possibility? Yes. Is it likely? No. Not if you only take 2 tablespoons in orange juice. If you don't go into labor within 12 hours, drink another 2 tablespoons in orange juice. Don't take more than 4 tablespoons in 24 hours.

Then take a warm bath and relax.

Good luck!

Are you a high risk pregnancy? I don't understand why the doctor is insistent on inducing if everything is fine. I'd tell the doctor you are not going to be induced unless you have to be for a medical reason. 6 days post due date isn't bad. Due dates can be off quite a bit.

I have a friend who does massage therapy and she swears that if you get a certain massage on your ankles it will get you to go into labor. She did say to make sure you have a massage therapist that knows how to work with pregnant people. I personally have not had this done but if I go late with this second pregnancy I will probably have her try it for me. She has three children and had her husband do the massage on her each pregnancy and it worked every time. So I can't speak from my own findings but I would say it is worth a try. If it doesn't work at least you get a good massage out of the deal :)

I agree with everyone else. If your that desperate to have him that your going to stress yourself out till Tuesday, call you doctor and say that you don't want to be induced on Tuesday. I was almost three weeks late when I was finally born. My son was a week late before he decided to come (I had planned an induction cause I WANTED to be induced. I almost tried to convince my doctor to take him early but she refused to. Luckily, he came three days before the scheduled day. At that point he would've been almost 10 days late). Putting so much stress on yourself to have him before Tuesday is probably actually going to hinder, not help your labor process. My water broke while I was laying on the couch on one of my off days from work. I did nothing to prompt it. It was the first day in about a month that I was not doing something to prepare for baby. I had spent the whole day just relaxing, playing games on the computer, watching my shows. After about 8 hours of that, I got up to go to the bathroom and saw that my water and had broke and had the baby by the next day in my arms :) Even now, I found tha he doesn't like to cooperate with me and be a happy child if I'm acting to stressful with him. I think he was just one of those empathetic babies and refused to come into the world without momma being nice and calm and relaxed for his arrival. So try relaxing a little more!

Don't do the castor oil. It can be dangerous.

Go ahead and walk more. Thoroughly clean your house (my grandma swore by the old fashioned mopping). Keep up with the sex if you both feel like it (there's other benefits to it too!)

And tell your doc you aren't ready to go with a full induction yet. You'll only be a week late ... it's considered safe to let a mom go until 42 weeks without induction as long as baby looks ok. Ask about stripping your membranes (it's like a vigorous pelvic exam, can lead to labor if you're close, but nothing like the pitocin). A good doc should listen and respect your feelings, or give you a VALID reason for wanting to induce.

Finally, relax. Even though there is an increased chance of c-section and complication with induction, it's still not huge. And the pitocin won't affect her much. I had to have it with my first (after 3 hours at 9.5 cm and no progress it became a must) and she was just fine - more stressed from the hard labor than anything. So if you end up being induced, it's not super risky for her. But I do agree to avoid it if you can. (I had one baby 6 days late, no induction, just was waiting for her time, and she was my smallest anyway)

Being induced is not that big of a deal. I was induced in the evening around 8pm, then I had an epidural at about 2am and went right to sleep. When I woke up I was still numb so they had to give me pitocin to start the procedure again because I was ready but couldn't push and had the baby 11am. I had to be induced because they noticed the cord wrapped around the baby's neck. Just pray. whatever happens will happen and it will all be o.k. God bless you and your baby. Inducing is better than a C section for me but on the other hand...many women say they loved having a C section.

Tell your doctor you do not want to be induced......if you go with the induction, tell your doc you do not want pitocin....I was induced with my first and was given a pill in my vagina to help things proceed naturally. I had my daughter without any other drugs!! With my second, I was scheduled to be induced and went into labor on my own the night before 8-) No drugs and a very healthy little girl!
Hope all goes well and stop stressing.....please let us all know what happens!

i walked constantly from 7 months up until delivery. I was off on maternity leave and went to the casino everyday! (had nothing else to do) i walked and walked and walked. the day i ran out of money, i said i guess I'll go head and have this baby, i went into labor! my labor lasted 2 hours!!!!!!!! he came so fast i couldn't get drugs at all, and had him at a hospital other then the one i was supposed to have him at because i would not have made it to my hospital! My doc said all that walking helped ALOT! i haven't really heard of wives tales to make you go into labor but i know that walking helped a whole lot! good luck s/n i agree with Momof3girls. it is your body if you don't feel comfortable they can't make you do it!

I tried Castoroil with my 2nd and he was born that day, I went to the hospital and by the time I got in the room he was born, no time for epidural. I didnt try with my first, I was induced at 35 weeks for medical reasons and with my 3rd I tried the castor oil and NOTHING, BUT the nipple stimulation and that worked RIGHT AWAY!!!
My friend did the castor oil and she went into labor but also got really bad diarrah... Good luck

I have never given birth, I did the "sister gives the baby to the older sister thing". What if you are not there? Are they going to track you down and put needles in your arms?? Six days doesn't seem that much over unless you are having huge issues. Good luck!

Accupuncture worked for me!

Eat Chinese food! It worked for me and 2 of my cousins

Girl i told you a couple of days ago to drink the castor oil and walk! lol
Get busy. Sex never works for me. Spicy food and walking have helped me most. Glad you are still doing good! Hang in there.

Hi well done for standing firm as you are right in not wanting an induction unless medically necessary. My doctor gave me 11 days to go over my due date saying it starts to get dangerous after that so I would push your doctor to the maximum time which would give you a few extra days past Tues and take the pressure off a bit. The best thing you can do spend a good portion of the evening in birth preparation positions that will help the baby progress, like http://posterous.com/getfile/files.posterous.com/temp-201...
And relax, do lots of deep breathing but also keep up the walking, cleaning general activity during day. I avoided induction even after waters broke and doc gave me 24hrs, by this method especially the breathing and I had an amazing drug free birth. I loved giving birth and was on a natural high for days, for both children. All the best!!!

Raspberry leaf tea, good luck!

My friend swore by castor oil -- and her doctor recommended it. I have never heard the thing about babies "eating their own poo" due to it.

Why not just ask your doctor? Often they're happy to recommend things and I'd rather hear it from a doctor than from hearsay.

Also, take a deep breath and relax a bit about induction. My daughter was induced, not with any internal meds but with a gel that the doctors use, so the baby actually had very little contact with any medications in HER body -- they weren't in my bloodstream so much as in the gel in contact with my body. It took less than half the usual amount of gel to start labor. You may be readier than you think to go into labor and it may not take much induction at all. Ask your doctor for more details and you may feel more reassured that induction isn't necessarily a big flood of drugs to the baby. It beats having problems because the pregnancy went on so long that problems developed.

My OB is letting me go 2 weeks past my due date with baby #3 to get my VBAC (first was vaginal, 2nd c-section due to short umbilical cord of 6")-- tell them you want a little longer and set a new induction date for next week. Also, try accupuncture induction if you can find a reputable place that deals with pregnant women often or accupressure points, eat eggplant, etc. Good luck - let us know how it turns out!

Lunges and Squats! If you attended a Prenatal class, they taught these two excercises to stretch your thigh muscles and also helps to turn the baby. With my first baby, I put myself into labor doing lunges and squats. I think the lunges I did broke my water actually. Put one leg on a chair and lunge forward while stretching your thigh muscles.

With my second baby, I broke my water because I was trying to drag a very heavy piece of furniture across the baby room. I DO NOT recommend this because you can get hurt but I think the pressure popped my water and put me into labor.

The only thing i can say is to speed walk.

Go get a pedicure! I did nails for 6 years.The stimulation of the getting the blood circulating on your feet and ankles helps. Ask for a vigorous massage on the ankles.The pressure point is located just above the inner ankle. Ask for a circular massage pattern in that area for 15 mintues! Heck, go have the hubby do it now with some intense pressure! It must be rubbed continuously and in rapid succession for it to successfully cause uterus contractions! Its safe for anyone who has reached 38 weeks!

I have seen caster oil work. I have seen it make people very ill and not work too. Try to make it to wednesday. Maybe call your doc monday and discuss you not wanting to be induced. You are still with in an ok means to be pregnant. You are not medically needing to be induced yet. Keep doing all you are doing in the mean time. I would hold off on the caster. Just relax. That is your best bet.

Good luck and hope to seen a new baby question from you soon!!!!

I tried it all and nothing worked! It was n't until I relaxed and gave into the idea of interference then away I went. You can ask for more time - it is your body and baby will come when it is ready :)

Hope things worked out for you....

Please know that the doctors cannot do anything you do not allow so if you don't show up for a something scheduled, then they can't do anything. ;-)
(Note: I am not necessarily advocating this, but my doctor was getting cranky at 40weeks and 3 days based on LMP and I knew based on date of conception, the EDD was off by a whole week!! Docs sometimes don't listen... My third showed up at 40w5d (LMP) or right on time with her siblings if you subtract 1 week like I insisted... I would NOT have allowed an induction either.)

Anyway... more to your point... I'd keep moving - walk, walk, walk. I'd also keep up the sex, especially with orgasms as these are contractions. The raspberry tea worked well for me. You could also probably start Mother's Milk Tea (from Babies R Us) which should help start contractions too. Also, spend some time making peace with yourself and baby, the stress you are feeling could be hindering your progress.

Again, hope all is well with you and your little one.
~C.

If you don't want to be induced, don't go. If you are healthy and baby is well, there is NO reason for you to be pressured into induction. You will not regret allowing your body to do this on its own. It would be nice if more doctors had respect for the process, but they don't. It's on their time table. The bottom line is you don't have to do anything you don't feel is right. As long as you know you're not in a compromising situation, this is not reckless and you should have confidence with your decision - it's a good one!

I know you're anxious, but worrying and stressing about this won't do a thing (except, well....worry and stress you! lol) so try to RELAX, rest up, eat well and prepare yourself mentally and physically for baby's arrival.

Good luck!