Long overdue

You've heard it said, "I'm long overdue for a haircut." Or "The van's long overdue for an oil change". And by the way, both of these statements are true around here most of the time!

Well, I'm long overdue for a baby. Not really long overdue, just overdue.  Doctor had me due on Sept. 6.  So I'm a little past that. 

I've gotten some unique advice to induce labor and thought I'd share:

1. Eat some spicy food. 

With Abigail, this worked. 

We had Mexican food last week and in the pico de gallo on my plate were sliced green chillies (my mouth fired up 3 times).  It didn't induce labor.  It gave me severe heartburn though.

Louis picked me up from CBS and had a special treat waiting for me- fried pickles from Tennessee BBQ.  If I've craved much this pregnancy, it's been for those.  Well, if you've had theirs, you know they can light up your mouth too.  I ate nearly all of them myself. 

Today I saw where you could get a Blooming Onion for free at Outback.  It was tempting to drive there and eat one to see if that would stir things up.  Something about the hour drive didn't appeal to me though!

2. Get down on your hands and knees and scrub your floors.

I got down on my hands and knees in the driveway and scrubbed the brake dust from the van wheels.  I'm glad no one saw me sprawled out in the driveway.

I got down and cleaned behind the toilet today.  It was work that needed to be done and when I went to stand up, I kind of got dizzy and lost my balance.  I don't recommend that when you're 40+ weeks pregnant.

3. Ride the lawnmower around.

Seeing as how this is kind of embarrassing to just ride around on the mower and not be mowing, I grabbed Adalyn to sit with me so it looked like I was giving her a ride.  Ya know, in case the neighbors saw me.  Well, when your belly is big and you have to hold on to a 2-year old with one hand, it's kind of tricky maneuvering curves on a hillside.   

4. Just pig out.

Well, this was fun.  I heaped food on my plate at the lunch we had at church yesterday then got full before I could finish because our 2-year old kept raiding the food table for more food.  She really needs to be in a high chair wherever she goes so she's not constantly on the go, and I can finish a meal. 

5. Do power walks. 

We went last night to local park with this huge track that goes around the whole park (including ball fields and basketball courts.  Abigail and I walked it and by the end, I was pretty worn out. 

Louis has had me walking to the mailbox and back several times.  I actually carried two pieces of mail down and dropped them in the mailbox individually so that if anyone saw me, they'd assume I was taking mail to the mailbox and not think I was walking to induce labor. 

6. Climb stairs.

I probably make 20 trips a day up the steps here at the house because our laundry room, home school room, and family room are downstairs.  I feel the most out of breath when I'm about 5 steps away from the top.  Kind of like you feel when you're in labor.  But then I remind myself, I'm climbing steps.

7.  A good scare

Louis has tried this several times.  The. funny. guy. 

Tonight, as I was typing this, he fell asleep stretched out at the foot of the bed because our night owl FINALLY fell asleep on his side of the bed. Well, I finished my jug of water then put an ice cube in my mouth and chomped.  My recuperating-from-back-surgery-husband yelled out in a fast wakefulness and fell out of bed onto the floor.  I'm totally in huge freak-out mode thinking he has disrupted his whole back in such a terrible way.  So I jerk up out of bed to check on him (even turning on the lamp and risking waking up our night owl who we plan to put to bed in a few minutes).  He rolls over and says, "Did that make you have a contraction?"  That about sent me into outer space...better yet- him to outer space!  It was pretty funny though and we both laughed pretty hard. 

However, about a week back, I was getting the van loaded. I started the van and air conditioning.  Then I asked Anna to track down her sisters in the yard and have them get in the van.  I was about 3 steps behind them, gathering a couple things, the diaper bag, etc. when I had this terrible thought of Adalyn getting in the driver's seat while the van was running and driving through the garage door.  Then I'd run out in front of it to stop it (like some superwoman) and being ran over.  Well, call it intuition, the next thing I hear is the van rev up.  I RUN out of the house to see Adalyn standing in front of the steering wheel and Aliza in the driver's seat.  They said they were trying to get into the van.  For the next 30 minutes following that, I had 3 contractions.  So it's possible scare tactics do induce labor.


8. Eat Eggplant Parmesan

Considering I probably gagged myself into sickness as a child eating eggplant, I think it's possible that the same could be said if I tried that now.  Although I will say that my tastes have changed considerably since I've grown up.  So maybe a trip to Olive Garden is in order. 

9. Get an hour long foot massage

I can totally go for this.  Even if it didn't induce labor, it'd be time well spent! 

The things I haven't tried:
Riding some bumpy hills on a 4-wheeler, going horseback riding, and going tubing out on the lake. All of these suggestions came from church friends who graciously offered the experiences to me.

All of these tips seem WAY better than pitocin.  I'm all for hanging out without the Pitocin stuff and just going in naturally!