Do you know what a Pawpaw is?  I actually didn’t until just 4-5 years ago, and they surrounded the area where I grew up… amazing.  It is this wonderful little fruit that is remarkably similar in taste to a banana – maybe a little more mango-ish.  There is a festival every year in a neighboring city dedicated to this interesting fruit.

My estimated birth date for my 2^nd son was, by LMP a day before my birthday, and by my conception estimates, about a week after – regardless, it was about pawpaw harvesting time.  These trees literally surround our yard.  We didn’t get to do much with them the year before because it was an off season (they have about a 2 year rotation on the quantity that they produce, so we didn’t get much fruit the year before), so we were looking forward to some pawpaw bread.  My mom came to visit and we took my daughter pawpaw picking.  I insisted my mom not get me a birthday cake, so she took it upon herself to make me some pawpaw bread from our harvest.  Yum.  I love banana bread – so this was even more exciting because it grew wild in our back yard.

I treated myself to a very nice thick cake-like slice that evening and then treated myself to almost an entire night of diarrhea and extreme nausea.  You see, apparently, pawpaws only create this reaction in some people.  It appears that I am one of those some people.  I’m not surprised after ending up in the ER that summer from a honey bee sting (of which I’ve had before and never experienced an allergic reaction… luckily I didn’t need any medications, although they were very pushy on trying to get me to take Benadryl to make me feel better…  I chose to be monitored for 2 hours instead and avoided the drugs).  I’m told pregnancy may have made my body react differently to the bee and the pawpaws, but frankly, I’m a little scared to test those waters.  I’ll just enjoy their sweet aroma from afar.... and my mom is so scared of having the same reaction she won't eat them anymore.

I felt fine the next day, and luckily, too because I had a prenatal that day.  I think you can imagine how ecstatic I was to know that I would not be getting a vaginal exam that day… no one needed to be near my nether regions parts… that area needed time to heal.  What does this have to do with birth and induction?  This is quite a similar response that one might have to castor oil – a common home induction method.  We had a nice chat about how my body was not ready to have the baby, or that kind of response surely would have brought on the contractions.  We expected for this little guy to gestate a bit longer after that night.  And, girl, was I happy to hear that because I would not wish that on anyone!  Birth date is best left to be determined by nature.  Your body will release when it’s ready.  Don’t coax it.  Don’t pressure it.  Don’t force it.  You’ll have a much better experience all around if you let things progress naturally.  No need to increase your chances of feeling more uncomfortable than you may already feel, and increase risks of bacterial infection.  Let your body do its thing, naturally... physiologically... biologically...

What is your experience with castor oil?  Induction?  What about pawpaws?