Hellobee Boards

I don't really think any of those old wives tales work. Maybe walking briskly, maybe DTD, but all that advice about what to eat, no, I don't think it works a lick.

I would start drinking red raspberry leaf tea and doing perineal massage, if you aren't doing that already. I'd also take out the exercise ball and start sitting on it and rolling your hips.

unprotected sex

I ate a ton of pineapple, walked A TON, drank red raspberry leaf tea and had my membranes stripped in the week leading up to my water breaking (at 38w5d). An hour before my water broke we DTD for the first time in a while! I'm pretty sure that everything helped my body prepare but that's what kickstarted things

I tried most of the old wives tales and nothing helped. Baby comes when baby wants to come. Hopefully your baby wants to come a little early

I bounced on my ball a lot and took a lot of long walks, I really think it helped.

Yoga ball, maybe some Spinning Babies, the Miles Circuit, and pumping. Oh, and really, really, REALLY strong RRL tea, 1 qt. within 30 minutes. I've heard of pumping being used as a complete induction method, from no contractions to labor, it takes a lot if dedication and time, but it can work. I think it's more effective though if you already have some contractions going on. It definitely kicked my second labor from latent, first-stage piddly labor to "Ok, yes, I'm definitely in labor now."

@Cherrybee: No, not really, just a little bit of colostrum. Maybe a teaspoon worth, total. And I agree with @FarmWifeGina: at my midwife's suggestion I tried it several times but it was definitely most effective when I did it after contracting for almost 12 hours. They were still pretty far apart (10-12 minutes) and not horribly strong, but afterwards they definitely picked up a lot, fast.

Sex only works if you enjoy it to it's "conclusion". If you dont think it will get there, dont bother. I know my full term ass couldn't have had an orgasm.

Evening Primrose Oil! It softens the cervix. Even if it didnt send me into labor, I feel like it really helped my induction go quickly.

I went bowling at 40+4 and my water broke that same night. lol

We walked a lot during the day the night my water broke. The lady in Lowe's asked me if the concrete was making me have contraction. No clue what she was talking about but maybe that is what did it.

Not a thing worked for me, Buuuut a friend of mine swears by her breast pump to start contractions!

@Cherrybee: I think you are the only bee that I read with an accent in my head, lol!
I never went into labor naturally and I had a super drawn out induction that resulted in a c-section, BUT I think that the RRL tea I drank in the weeks prior helped. It is supposed to "tone" the uterus to contract effectively, and it took just the merest smidge of pitocin for my uterus to respond like gangbusters.

In the end, anatomy is destiny. Not all the spicy food, pineapple, sex or RRL tea in the world would have made a difference for a poorly shaped pelvis!

Nothing worked for me except a vigorous stripping of membranes at 40+4. I tried everything!!!!

I am selfishly reading all these tips and keeping them in mind for a week after I stop working. I want that week at home, without the baby, but then it will be all systems go. I have a good feeling that you will go a bit early on your own-- AFTER your DH gets back.
I did hear lobster supposedly is another food that will help jump start labor. I don't care if that's true or not, I'll be eating lots of lobster leading up to labor

I drove myself crazy trying to self-induce. Walking, sex, RRL tea, pineapple, and bouncing on a yoga ball for hours. On my way to the hospital to be induced at 41+1 my pre-labor contractions changed into "real" contractions. They never had to up my pitocin past a "2." I don't know if all the things I did to start labor made that possible or not but I'd like to think I helped to prepare my body for the smooth and easy induction that I had!

Sex and nipple stimulation gave me contractions, but nothing that progressed into labor. A membrane sweep/rough check is what sent me into labor!