Willowsmommy, you can buy it at Walmart for around $5 I have also found it at walgreens, but it was like $12 or so from there.
There are a number of things two already mentioned were raspberry leaf tea and epo which are both good to start with.
Oh, and doing it vaginally Also helped me lose my mucus plug!
Evening primrose oil! I started taking it at 37 weeks because I was scared to take it before then just in case I ended up going into labor early. For a week I took one 1000 mg pill orally 3 times daily. That got me to 1 cm dialated and 70% effaced. After that I started inserting it vaginally. I still do the one pill 3 times daily, just not orally.. And at this weeks appointment I was dialated to a 2. I forgot to ask how much effaced I am. So far it's dialating me about 1 cm per week. Which works for me!
The opening is called dilating. If you want to thin your cervix which is called effacing or ripening you need to talk to your dr. Ask your dr about raspberry leaf tea, it's suppose to efface the cervix which makes it easier to dilate but you will be advised not to drink it until 37 weeks.
What if you can't have sex because you live with your parents?