If you are reading this, there is a good chance that you are very pregnant, tired and weary and you are ready to put this chapter behind you. The pregnancy that is. Every pregnancy is different so there is no cookie cutter way to being pregnant but legend has it that a few tricks can help speed up labor.

During my first full term pregnancy I had a lot going on including moving from one state to another with my then U.S Marine hubby, and my baby came a week prior to the due date I was given so I did not feel like I had enough time to worry. As a matter of fact, I remember wanting a bit more time. On my second full term pregnancy, I was overwhelmed at seven months. I started talking to baby early about exiting my womb. Again I did another major move because hubby was retiring from the Marines, just my luck, and everything my body thought was easy in the first pregnancy was a hurdle in the last.

By the time I got to 38 weeks, I was through with being pregnant! I was heavy and I was swollen from my face to my toes and I started looking for remedies to safely help this baby out! Hubby and I started walking for 30 minutes a day, which did not help. Since I am Haitian, the suggestions for home remedies kept making their ways to me so I ended up entertaining a few. My sister boiled raw peanuts and had me drink the stock, did not work for me. My mother in love cooked me a meal with okra, since it is slimy I guess she was hoping the same effect happened on my cervix, baby did not budge. When I went for my 39 weeks appointment, out of desperation I had the nurse stripped my membranes and I was sure that would do the trick but I was not so lucky. I did the baby mama dance with hubby, walked up and down three flights of stairs many times and lastly I drank some castor oil. Nothing helped! At least not for me.

Now I do not want you to get discouraged, because I have heard of people who rave about these methods but it could also be the fact that they were ready to give birth and they coincidentally used one of the methods above. If you are already active throughout your pregnancy and your doctor says it is okay for you to keep going, keep moving! But I have learned that baby will come when baby is ready, the wait might seem long but it is not longer than the many months you have been pregnant, plus increasing your level of activity is not a smart choice at the end of your pregnancy. After putting my body through all that at nine months pregnant, I was exhausted and when I got the hospital I was in labor for nearly 48 hours because I still was not dilated. I simply wished I had saved my energy for actual labor.

If your body is not ready, it does not matter what you do, baby will stay put until baby sees fit. I suggest you take plenty of warm baths, relax, have plenty of sex, as much as your body can go for, get a pregnancy massage and plenty of foot rubs at home. Put your feet up, sip on some tea and save your energy because you will need it for labor and beyond.