what was your favorite thing about having your baby at home? - Page 2

[onetwothree]

I loved every single thing about my homebirth but my 2 "favorite" aspects were...

-being in the water and
-having my kids watch the whole thing

the water made my super fast labor with a 10lb baby way more bearable!! and my two older children are so bonded with their new little sister its amazing. I truly believe it has a lot to do with them being included in the process of her birth

-Lia

[CageFreeFamily]

There are so many truly wonderful things about having my DD at home, but the thing that stands out the very most for me was the shower I took the next morning.

When I had my DS 4 years earlier it was a hospital transfer when my MW declared failure to progress at home. The c-section was painful, emotionally and physically, but for some reason the thing that stands out the most was not being able to clean myself after 3 days of laboring and then surgery. I begged every single nurse, for three days, to allow me a shower, but no go.

When I had my daughter at home I woke up feeling so well rested (no hourly nurse checks!) and utterly blissed out. Knowing that I could just stand up and walk 10 feet to my own shower was a freedom that made me weep. I can so clearly recall the sun pouring in on the big white bathroom, glinting off the glass and porcelain, the steam filling the room and the physical freedom of moving, soaping, caring for myself while my HB blissed baby slept a few feet away. I stayed in the shower for the longest time, sobbing, then crying and finally simply letting go all of the pain from the hospital birth and bringing back that powerful part of myself. I stayed until the water was only warm and the steam seemed to have carried away everything icky from years before. Homebirth was THE most important experience of my life thus far.

[wiggles06]

I loved my home birth for many reasons, but most importantly:

I could eat, drink, dance, moan, be loud without feeling shy about it.

I was free to push in any position I wanted...Did it squatting by my bed

My husband was fully engaged in our labor, which I absolutely loved. We did it together! Our wonderful midwife gave us lots of freedom in the entire process.

After our DD arrived, we ordered some take out and all enjoyed lunch together! I was Sooo hungry!!!

Shortly after everyone left and just 3 of us snuggled together in bed and stared at each other for a while. Nobody interrupted us. It was so peaceful...We were bonding and loving each other right there, in our home, our bed.

I can't imagine a better birth experience. I loved every minute (about 360) of it.


r

[KaylaBeanie]

I love reading these!

I'm still young, single and childless, but I decided about two years ago that my future babies will be born at home. So many girls my age (twenty) are so scared of childbirth that they never want kids, but I can't wait for that stage of my life! My mom and my sister can't wait either...in about five years, I'll be laboring in the tub in front of the flat screen tv, surrounded by the few people I love most. Reading about home birth just constantly reaffirms that it's the only way I can picture birthing babies someday

[ghuaghua]

I tried to think of one or two things, but I really can't narrow it down. The whole experience is the best part!

[anne1006]

My favorite things were:

That it was opposite of my purple pushing induced horribly painful first birth where I got a 4 th degree tear.

I got to labor in my own bed alone with my hypnobabies.
I got to push for 7 minutes (not 3 hours) in a pool next to my aquarium.
I got to pull my own placenta because I was afraid it would hurt like last time.
I got to see the gender myself first.
I had no tearing or bruising.
I got to eat a half a pizza before, and the other half after, while laying on my couch snuggling without worrying about anyone coming in and disturbing us.
It was all about me, not all about the process.

[hikingmommy]

My favorite thing? Having a vaginal birth. I had a VBAC, 13 days past my due date, 40+ hours of labor, 4 hours and 40 min. of pushing my 9lb, 10oz boy out. I never would have been able to have a vaginal birth at a hospital.

The big overarching thing was that throughout the pregnancy and birth it wasn't about policies or procedures, but about me, my body, and my baby. At a hospital they would have said I was in labor too long, pushed too long, etc. to be "safe". At home, the MWs were vigilant about monitoring me and the baby, but they let things happen naturally because everything was going well. They weren't tied to policies and didn't pull scare tactics with me. Everything went well, so they let it happen even though it took a long time and there were a lot of things that COULD have been a problem.

It was the most amazing experience of my life. Having a homebirth was the best decision I could have made. (And the smiling 6 month old baby in the sling grabbing at my mouth and blowing raspberries right now thinks so, too!)

[CageFreeFamily]

I got to eat a half a pizza before, and the other half after, while laying on my couch