Accupuncture

I never thought I'd ever find a reason to willingly let a stranger flick needles into my skin for "therapeutic" reasons. My midwife recommended that I go try this a couple times to see if it will help start labor. Often times it does within 24 hours.

There are certain "forbidden" pressure points on a woman's body that shouldn't be messed with during pregnancy. The webbing between the thumb and pointer finger and an inch above the ankle bone, just to name few. It is believed that applying pressure to those areas can bring on contractions. I was skeptical.

I arrived, removed my socks and shoes and awaited my first needle insertion. It was painless! I can do this, I tell myself. A few more painless needles were inserted and then I felt one hit a nerve. That one was uncomfortable. She placed a few on the top of  my feet, my ankes, sides of my calves, both webs by my thumbs, clavicals, and my ear. The ear was to relax my body and numb any pain. She'd flick or twist each needle then let my lay in the dim room listening to relaxing music. Then she would return to flick and twist some more. This was repeated over 45 minutes, then it was off to work. I wasn't even half way to work when the contractions started. Facinating! My skeptacism began to fade.

The contractions continued through the night and became closer together. Nick was getting excited... I finally decided I needed to go to sleep. If I was truly going into labor, I'd wake up, which I did thanks to my alarm clock. Not labor.

I repeated the accupuncture three times total. It didn't work for me. Just provided me hopeful contractions that would always fade away while I was sleeping at night.