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mary theresa
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I was given a lot of loose leaf Red Raspberry Leaf tea. I've been ignoring it for most of this pregnancy because I don't know how to use it.  Now I'm in my third trimester and I'd like to start drinking it. I've only ever bought RRL tea in teabags, so in short, how do I brew loose leaf tea?
Thank you!
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Mary Theresa
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teachingmyown
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I have one of the metal balls that you put the tea into and screw closed. Same one my mother had while I was growing up. The grocery store should have something similar. I was at Wegman's not too long ago and they had a variety of them.
I just fill the ball about half way and put it in the teacup, pour in the hot water and steep for five minutes, or however long it takes me to remember that I have tea steeping. 
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MaryM
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When I used red raspberry leaf tea during pregnancies, I made it large quantities and kept it in the fridge. So the small tea leaf balls wouldn't work for that though I guess there are large sized ones to make a pot of tea. What I always did was just pour the hot water over a large amount of tea leaves and after it was done seeping, pour it through a strainer to remove the leaves.
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Mary M. in Denver
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JenPre
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Mary Theresa I too am in my third trimester....what are the benefits of drinking Red Raspberry tea during this time? I've never heard of it!
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Maggie
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My midwife and others have told me it is good for the uterus...I don't know why, though.
We brew our loose leaf tea single, "paper" tea bags from the Upton Tea Imports
We love love love loose tea!
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mathmama
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I would brew mine in a French press. I have a big one that holds about 32oz, I would put about 2 Tbl of loose tea in it and brew it for 15 minutes.
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mary theresa
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| Posted: Oct 29 2009 at 7:39am | IP Logged
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Thanks everyone. I'm glad their are lots of different ways to do it. I would probably drink more if it were cold in the fridge, but sometimes I just want a cup of hot tea, you know?
teachingmyown wrote:
| or however long it takes me to remember that I have tea steeping. |
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Exactly! 
Jen, I don't know tons about it but I have heard that RRL tea is believed to strengthen, tone and relax the uterine muscles making them more effective at contracting. Also, it supposedly helps after childbirth with returning the uterus to its normal size.
I've heard it said to drink cup in the 1st trimester, 2 cups in the 2nd and 3 cups in the third trimester.
I'm interested in seeing if it helps my labor be shorter than last time. It was about 48 hours (more than twice as long as my first) and the contractions were erratically spaced. I have a friend who says that it was RRL tea that made a difference btwn her long labor and her shorter one. I don't know, but I would like to try b/c I don't want to do 48 hours again!
I'm sure there are women here who know more about it or have used it and have testimonials about it Search "red raspberry leaf tea" and you might find some old threads!
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Mary Theresa
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mathmama
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I was induced with my first 2 and while I did ended dialating my contractions were never regular. With this one I started RRL sometime in the 3rd trimester. I tried most days to drink 32oz a day (probably managed to do this 5 days a week). I wasn't induced this time, had a 5 1/2 hour labor with very regular and very productive contractions. Not sure if it was the RRL tea or the fact that it was my body doing it and not some drug.
Beth
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mary theresa
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Yay Beth! That's the kind of story I want to hear.
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Mary Theresa
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pmeilaen
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Try a special tea filter or paper filter. I've used red raspberry leaf tea for all my pregnancies. It's wonderful! Put one tsp. per cup into the filter, put it in a cup or mug, bring 8 oz. of water to a boil, pour it over the filter, and let it steep for ten minutes. Remove filter and drink. Use new leaves for each cup. Here's a place where you can get filters and good black tea: Special Teas.
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wifemommy
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So if RRL tea will shorten my labor and last one was 2-3 hours and I have an hour drive to the hospital, dh work is 45 minutes away plus I am due in Feb living in the middle of the snow belt  maybe I need to drink the opposite of RRL this time Annie
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JodieLyn
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Annie, in and of itself it doesn't do anything for labor.. what it does is prepare your body to function better.. when you're already that efficient it may not help with labor.. but it could help with recovery from labor and reduced bleeding.. because it also has nice lovely things in it like iron and vit. K as well as a more toned uterus will clamp down after the birth better.
I also highly recommend arnica as soon as possible after baby is born.. and bromelain (pineapple) as well and continuing those for several days at least.. the amount of swelling and bruising is reduced markedly and bleeding is really reduced as well.. it makes recovery so much easier.
And then calcium/magnesium/potassium for those afterpains.. the pains are caused by the clamping down and the muscle cramping.. those minerals help the muscles move and function smoothly without the cramping.. helps tremendously.
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Topic: loose leaf tea
