My PhD advisor saw me recently eating a bowl of fresh pineapple. She said, “Laura, didn’t you know that pineapple can cause contractions?” Since I wasn’t having any contractions, I laughed and blew it off as an old-wives’ tale. I did do some Googling, and read that mango and kiwi contain the same (possible) labor-inducing enzyme as pineapple. I love all three fruits, so I decided it was wisdom worthy of completely ignoring.
Incident one: I bought and ate a fresh mango one afternoon. That night as I was trying to sleep, I was awoken several times by extremely painful cramping ten to twenty minutes apart. I asked Tim for a glass of water, and things settled down.
Incident two: I ate some delicious mango sorbet at an ice cream shop. Repeat Incident one experience with nighttime contractions / cramping.
Incident three: Yesterday I drank and Odwalla mango smoothie. Last night, I could barely sleep because I kept having contractions, and was awake from 1:00 – 4:00 am with very painful cramping / contractions that were two to three minutes apart. Drinking water didn’t help at all, and I was already resting. I was terrified that I was going into labor, and I think Tim was too. It’s just too soon! I drank three glasses of water, did laps between my living room and kitchen, and finally fell asleep in the rocking chair in Squiggles’ room. I slept for a couple hours, and awoke to contractions again, but much less painful than before. I went back to our bedroom and slept for another couple hours, and woke up with only minor Braxton Hicks contractions. Phew!!! I had spent the night before trying to come up with a plan for caring for a premature baby in the NICU, taking care of Squiggles, and finishing my PhD. I hadn’t actually come up with any viable ideas, so hopefully I can keep this baby in for another couple months. :)
Needless to say, old-wives’ tale or not, I’ll be staying away from mangoes. Until week 40, at which point there will be mango mania!
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