Clary Sage
DON’T USE THIS IF YOUR PREGNANT OR NOT FULL TERM! Clary Sage helps kick start your oxytocin production which speeds up the labor process. During my labor, Rhett changed his mind and stalled my labor so clary sage on the ankles helped get things back on track!
Frankincense
The wisemen brought this to baby Jesus as a present and there’s a reason they were called wisemen! Frankincense is grounding, it erases negative feelings… which was super helpful because Rhett's birth was pretty traumatic for all three of us. Placing a drop on the crown of my head and putting a drop in my hands before holding baby helped both of us in release those negative feelings.
Gentle Baby
Ahh! Just the smell of this oil makes my heart flutter- thank you, olfactory system! I had been placing this oil on my chest while folding Rhett’s baby clothes during pregnancy and it just has a relaxing, baby smell to it. I put this on my chest before nursing to help me relax so the milk will flow. Still to this day, I put this on each night before our night time feed to help us both wind down for the day.
Peace & Calming
It’s all in the name. Sometimes my brain can’t turn off and I get really anxious. There were some times after delivery that J and I were both super anxious. Putting a little drop of this on our hands and smelling it in helped us relax and feel peace about the situations.
Lavender
I love diffusing this during nighttime to help us relax into a deeper sleep. This is just one of those scents your brain recognizes and helps your body relax. I used a few drops on this in the water during my labor. Not only does it help the body relax, but it's really great for soothing skin.
Lemon
Lemon is a great oil for detoxing- our livers just love it. Think about how you feel after drinking some lemon water. When we were being released from the hospital they noticed Rhett’s bilirubin was too high and made us stay to monitor Rhett’s jaundice. I put a very diluted amount (1 drop in 5 ml of oil) on the bottom of Rhett's feet. Almost immediately he started peeing and pooping- the KEY to getting that extra bilirubin out of his body.
Stress Away
I did a nondedicated labor and this oil was SO helpful for a variety of reasons. One, it’s in the name-it keeps stress away! But two, help helped keep my blood pressure lowered. We had quite the scare my last week of pregnancy. When I went for my appointment, my blood pressure was extremely high. They immediately sent me to triage and told me that I would be induced that very day- not something I wanted since I planned on a natural birth. I put Stress Away on my temples and the back of my neck on my way home to get our bags before heading to the hospital. After 2 hours of monitoring, my blood pressure was completely normal and they sent me back home. I rolled this oil on every few hours until my water broke four days later.
Peppermint
An oil that’s not pictured above but the nurses used during postpartum is peppermint. That first time they walk you to the bathroom to try to do your business is SCARY times! My sweet nurse, Samantha, put a drop of peppermint oil in the toilet to help things do what they should. ;)
Are you packing oils for your labor and delivery? What oils are you taking?