Have you tried castor oil and a warm bath? My friend did that and within 5 minutes in the bath she could tell something was going on. When she left L&D that afternoon she was at 1cm, went back in at a 4.
I tried that with my DD and all it got me was diarhea and the worst stomach ache ever. And that is really not safe. It can cause harm to the baby and make the baby have a bowel movement in utero...
I would say walking and sex is the best plan. I don't understand if you are over weight have you not been told to lose weight that will stop the pushing on the spine. I would say the doc knows best for baby. Hope all goes well.
I would consider the induction....your OB doesn't specialize in spine disorders and if your spine dr thinks there's a serious risk, you really want to carefully consider his/her opinion. You're far enough along and you've had enough babies that you're highly unlikely to have a problem with an induction and it may help reduce the risk of your spine - baby is most likely fully cooked at this point, and what are your babies going to do if you end up paralyzed?
just food for thought :-).
Not much you can do after several babies I'm sure you know labor happens when it wants to without medical intervention and you're right castor oil is NOT safe...some midwives and very few OBs still recommend it, but it carries a lot of risks.
I don't really know what to advise other than what you're already doing- walking and sex, but I would consider again what your spine dr said...that is, after all, what he/she does and will know better about that kind of thing than your OB.
hang in there...soon it will be over either way and you'll have your new little bundle...I love labor and delivery it's so exciting! please update us soon :-).
It's kind of hard to lose the weight that you need to when your confined to bed most of the time in pain......