homebirthin' mamas - Page 2

[koalove]

i had a hb with a birth pool in my 350 sq. ft home. it took the whole living room. my dould moved the furniture around a few days before my expected due date and set up the pool (my labors are FAST) and we all fit ok. i mean, its not like you are entertainig or having a dinner party. folks are not there to be dancing, kwim? im thrilled to be dong it again, and maye in the hot tub this time? were gonna clean it out and fill it up. we have lots of privacy out there so it wouldny be too weird to be birthing in the yard.
my family was definately less than supportive of my hb the last time but i think once they heard how awesome it was, they mellowed out and for this baby, they havent said one negative thing. in fact, nobody has asked where the babe will be born. i think they know...
i had my first babe in the hospital with all the drugs and episiotomy...very scary. #2 was supposed to be a birth center biirth but ended up in the e.r. becuse it was sooo fast. # 3 was my home birth child and a very nice delivery. im excited for this one!

[dogmom327]

We are planning our second home birth. I can't fathom doing it any other way

[NaturalMindedMomma]

Homebirthing!!! YAY!!!!

I planned a Hb with Abrielle and after 36 hours of labor I transferred for some pitocin and then an epidural. As hospital births go, it went well. I was allowed to move and had a CNM but it was not what I wanted.

My HB crew is fantastic this time. I KNOW this baby will come out at home!

I'm reading Ina MAy Gaskins book right now and it's VERY helpful!!!!! Making me feel empowered...

[Reha]

I'm having this baby at home! Ds was born at home, a planned UC but we ended up calling a midwife friend of mine after about 40 hours of labor, but she only arrived in time to see him crowning.

This time, I'm having an attended unassisted birth. I'm having 2 of my good friends there who happen to be midwives, but will not be acting as midwives unless something out of the ordinary pops up. I don't want them listening to baby or anything like. One of them has the job to take pictures of the labor and birth. The other one will be there to take care of my ds and dh (getting them water, food, etc). But mostly I want them to stay in another room.

[BlessedEarthMother]

We are planning our first homebirth. I qualify for medicaid and there is a great midwifery practice here that accepts medicaid for homebirths. Medicaid will cover everything except for $1,000. We also have to pay for our own birth tub and all the accesories we will need for that. But, all in all the cost will still be very manageable.

Our first birth was at a free standing birth center and it was great. I loved my midwife and felt at home at the birth center. I would say it was as close as you could get to a home birth w/o being at home.

This time around we are living in a new area and there is no birth center. But that is not the reason that we are choosing home birth. After we had such an amazing experience with our first birth going so well without any drugs or intervention, we knew that we could do a home birth this time.

To the original poster: Have you looked into birth centers in your area? You could have more of the birthing environment your looking for and they usually take medicaid and insurance. And, I also just read Birthing from Within. It is such an amazing book!!! Good luck to you!

[AnnR33]

We're having a homebirth after an accidental UC for #3. It went great and DH was awesome through the whole thing but I think we'd both feel more comfortable with a m/w there to assist this time.

My m/w has a birth tub we can use at no charge but I'm not sure if we'll use that, my own tub or not do a waterbirth. I was so attached to the idea last time but this time I'm thinking a birth stool might be the fastest and easiest thing for me.

[yarnaholik]

Hi there! I'm having a homebirth too. My son was born in a hospital 2 years ago, completely naturally. We didn't get to the hospital until I was ready to push, so it was pretty easy. But now that I've done this before, it seems so much easier and calmer to just stay at home. I'm really excited! I was giddy about the thought of a homebirth before I even knew I was pregnant this time.

We've told friends our plans. They haven't been unsupportive of it, but we can tell they don't necessarily approve. We haven't told our families our plans yet though. My mom was aghast at the idea that I wanted to have a natural birth last time, so I'm sure the idea of a homebirth will be quite strange to her.

Anyway, nice to meet you all! I haven't posted in this forum before.

[rebeccalynn]

Hi everyone. I would like to join in the chat. This will be my 1st hb and 3rd baby. This pregnancy is flying by even faster than my previous 2. I can not believe that I am already 13w. I will feel more relaxed about this birth after we have the u/s around 20w. My second baby was split footling breech and would not turn. We think that this was due to a short cord and placenta placement. I had a c/s at 41w5d. I know that there is nothing that I can do about placenta placement, but that is the only thing that I am worried about that would prevent my hb (and another footling breech baby). I am just so ready for an uneventful pregnancy and delivery or at least things that I can at least do something about (successfully that is).

On another note, we are not going to find out what the baby is this time around. Last pregnancy, we had a final u/s before the c/s and we caved to curiosity. Stupid I know - I was only an hour before I knew with my own eyes. This time, I must be strong .

[graciebell]

I'm hoping to have a HB, but DH is not on board yet. He is still on the fence and worried about "what if something goes wrong". I've got to do my research, and am feeling a little bit overwhelmed right now!

[haren.13]

We're also planning our first homebirth (second baby) DD was a mostly natural hospital birth, but I'm really excited this time to have the baby at home.

I do have a question for you ladies, though...

I realize that, as a homebirther, I take on a certain responsibility and understanding of the potential risks. And, DH and I are both totally on board for the homebirth and understand that for us it is a safer environment than the hospital. But there is still that nagging voice in the back of my head that says "what if?", you know? It's hard to get past that, besides the fact that if anything DID happen, our family and friends would blame the fact that we were at home, whether that had anything to do with it or not. I fully anticipate a beautiful and amazing homebirth, and am fully committed to the idea, but how do I get past the brainwashing that the hospital is inherently "safer" ~ I realize that this is due to society's influence, but it's pretty powerful...

I want to be confident and excited Anyone else feel the same way?

[DahliaRW]

haren.13 - look at it this way, there are risks and benefits both ways. In the hospital there are risks that don't exist at home (MRSA being one). With a good midwife, the chance of something not being caught early enough to transfer is really really small. And if a transfer is needed, that's what the hospital is for. I read a study when I was pregnant with ds2 that studied homebirth in Maine. In the 1-2 year period (can't remember exactly) the study occurred, there were 2 deaths of babies who were homebirthed. What they died from would have been lethal had they been in the hospital as well (for example one baby was born without some vital organs). I guess what I'm trying to say is that there are risks each way. If you chose hospital and ended up with a c/s or an infection, you would wonder if birthing at home would have changed it as much as if something happened at home you'd wonder if the hospital would have made a difference. There truly is not "peace of mind" either way. And since you've already had one baby, the risks for you are even lower.

[lindsayjean]

I agree with Dahlia... like it says in Birthing from within (love that book, just finished it!), worry is the work of pregnancy. I love how in the book she encourages us to work through our feelings, not just push them aside. Because they WILL pop up again in the throes of labor. So it's GOOD to work through your feelings of "what if." I have those too. THis will be our first homebirth and honestly I do think that there is risk no matter where you are, but I am nervous about being at home, just because of how our society has brainwashed me to think it's dangerous. I am doing affirmations... I say things like "my body knows how to birth this baby safely and naturally" and "I am perfectly build to give birth to this baby" and "my body knows what I am doing, I trust my body" etc etc... like when I am taking a bath or something
I am thinking about doing hypnobabies as well, I think it's all about positive thinking

[rebeccalynn]

graciebell - I am not sure where in IN you are but this might be of some help to you

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group...hsupportgroup/


haren.13 - I know what you are talking about. I second what DahliaRW said. What really helped me was to think about other things in everyday life that we take small risks in everyday that people are used to so that are more comfortable with the small risk. Think about cars for example. I am a careful driver but I can not control other drivers, road conditions/hazards, and car malfunctions. There are a lot of innocent people killed every year in car accidents but I ride in a car almost everyday without the fear of dying.

I would encourage you to stay away from people who are negative about homebirth or at least limit birth conversations to those supportive/open to hb. I have a yahoo group in my area that gets together monthly maybe you do too. From my experience, I would say that having a like minded care provider is crucial. My 1st was with an OB that I know now was not like minded. While I have a healthy baby, I suspect that I would have chosen differently in a lot of areas had the OB not excluded a lot of information that they decided I did not need to know. With my 2nd, my midwife was like minded and I received excellent care & information from her. She was honest with me about her limitations, gave me information, I researched and we made the best choice for our pregnancy. Even though I ended up having a c/s with #2, I am happier with my 2nd birth/pregnancy than my 1st which was a induced vaginal birth at a hospital. I am confident now to have a hb vbac with her now. I do have some concerns but they are not about hb or my mw. Surround yourself with solid information and trust your gut.

[blissful_maia]

I'm a homebirth mama! This one will definitely be born at home, and may or may not be a UC. I haven't decided yet. It's strange, though, I have been having these transient thoughts/visions of myself birthing in the hospital, but I can't foresee a reason I would be there if it weren't for an emergent c/s. I thought for certain I would have a UC this time, but I am seeing a lovely midwife I know very well and who I see as the "perfect" midwife for me, so in line with my philosophies. I do birth quickly though, and she lives in the country, so we'll have to see what happens!

Looking so forward to another home birth! dd1 really wants to be there. Anyone else planning on having their other kiddos present?

[NaturalMindedMomma]

A lot of "problems" in birth are CREATED by the hospital and the interventions they regularly perform.

Read Ina May Gaskins book. It has a lot of inspirational birth stories and only listen to positive birth stories and DO NOT watch mainstream birth shows. They are poison.

[DahliaRW]

My kiddos will be home and probably stop in to see me (I labor up in my bedroom) from time to time. Not sure how much they'll actually be in there. Last time I really wanted ds1 around as much as he wanted, but everytime he came in my labor slowed down (mama bear instinct my mw said). So at one point we had to have my sister just keep him distracted downstairs since I was getting really tired and we needed to get things moving to get the baby out. So it will depend on if that happens again or not. Ds1 did come in right after I pushed his little brother out and it was the sweetest moment imaginable. He started singing the abcs, and ds2, who was on my chest, turned his head towards ds1 and tried to open his eyes. It was so adorable! I guess all those months of hearing big brother from in the womb stuck with him and he recognized his voice! This time ds1 really wants to help cut the cord (afer it stops pulsating) and be involved like that. So I'm sure he'll be in right after the birth again and we'll just play it by ear. Same with ds2.

[Reha]

My ds will be there. He is SO excited!! He says he'll be catching the baby. I think what is more likely is that he can help me bring the baby up out of the water if this babe is born in the water. I am hoping he can be in the water with me when the baby is born.

(of course, he's just as excited about my milk coming in!)

[NaturalMindedMomma]

my DD is only 20 months and I think it will be confusing and she will be a distraction. My older two are 5 and 6. They are step children and I can only guess their mom would FLIP... Plus I am not comfortable with them being there either. My DSS is 6 and is at that weird stage about seeing me in a sports bra and talking about sex, so that is a DEF no go anyway.

I'm actually going to have them all stay with relatives for a little while (maybe a week) so we can get acquainted with the LO and establish bfing too.

[chrissy]

My kids will be there if they want to be. I'd love for them to be there for the actual birth, but not for much of labor. I'll have to enlist a friend to be here to play with them until it gets close. They'll be 7, 4, and 2 when baby is due.

My oldest, Noah, was there when Lilah was born. He got there just before she came out, and that was perfect. He was about to turn 3 at the time.

Both Noah (5) and Lilah (2) were there when Rowan was born. We had just moved here and didn't know many people and so we didn't have anybody to occupy them. Once I started pushing they were in the room. It was good and bad. They helped pour water on my back in the birth pool, which was good, but they were a little chatty too, which was annoying. Right after a big contraction, Noah asked me, "So what is a contraction anyway, Mom?" I think I said, "I'll tell you later Buddy."

[donutmolly]

haren.13 -- I totally went through that thought process, particularly with my first birth. I do think it's true that if something happens to mom or baby at a hb, then you will be blamed for it... not fair, but I think that's the automatic response when you do something counter-cultural. But it helped me to focus on that as a perception that's not founded on truth, just cultural assumptions (hospital=safe). You have obviously come to the conclusion through research that this is not actually true, that hb is as safe or safer for you and your baby. It also helped me to think how women who have babies at the hosp. are just as responsible as homebirthers for the outcome of their births. I really think that it's important to work though all your worries and fears before the birth so that they don't interfere with the birthing process, so it's really great to bring this up!