URGENT 911 Help! Novice water birth "you used a birthing tub at home" please chime in!!!!

[Mama_2_Boy]

We got a AQuaDoula tub from the MW and brought it home and decided to take it for a test run. It's not even half full yet and we've emptied the hot water tank!!! Did anyone else have this happen? The tub/heater will only keep the temperature at what you fill it at so we can not throw in cold and throw on the heater. Does this mean when my labor starts we have to fill it till we loose the hot water, then wait for the hot water tank to heat up again? That could take 2 hrs! I'm starting to panic now....I'll be 37 weeks Friday and pretty sure I'm going early. Please chime in...or ask you wonder DP to give their two cents...I'm going crazy! GGAAAAAAAAAAA! We were thinking that we could fill it now...and just keep the heater on and keep filling it for the big day, but the instructions say that the standing water has to be emptied after 72 hrs due to bacteria issues I gather so that's not an option either.

[lynsage]

Have you tried turning your hot water heater all the way up, waiting a while, then filling the tub most of the way with cool water, and then adding 1 tank's worth of REALLY hot water? That should do the trick.

Also, you can have someone heat water on the stove and add pots of hot (not TOO hot, obviously!) water while you're in there if you run out of hot water.

[xixstar]

I'm sorry this is so frustrating, but it is a common issue with birth tubs and water heaters. Usually people suggest you turn the hot water tank temp up high, this should help you get in more water. Pots on the stove help too if you're in a big rush, but waiting for the hot water tank works too.

By doing the trial run, you'll know how long it takes to fill and will know to make that an early labor task instead of waiting until you need it. Good luck!

[wbg]

We turned our hot water heater up all the way which was super helpful. Then just had signs on our taps, reminding ourselves not to scald ourselves with the hot water! Our plan was to then top up with pots of hot water, but we did not land up needing to.

I will share with you my rookie mistake:
I turned up the heater at 37 weekes so we would be prepared! Well, the first load of laundry I did, the water melted the washing machine hose !

So put your washing machine on the cold cycle and save yourself a $200 plumbing expense!!

[Mrsboyko]

Turn up your water heater. Just be careful til lyou turn it back down after the birth. Fill your pool with about 6" of cold water, then turn it full blast to a comfortable temp. Once the hot runs out, turn the water off till the hot water is back again.

[Tizzy]

And this is why a hotel birth seems SO very appealing to me Unlimited hot water!

[lunita1]

I do have a friend who ran out of hot water while attempting to fill up their birth tub. It really sucks. I'm glad you found out with time to turn up your water heater.

[Peony]

Fill up as much as you can and wait. If you are in a real hurry like I was last birth then you yell at DH to boil water as fast as he can.

[ani'smommy]

We used up our hot water tank and then did the rest with really really hot water in stock pots on the stove. We didn't need it super hot, though, it was a very very hot August afternoon. And we were outside.

[cileag]

We had to use 3-4 tanks of hot water to fill up our birth tub---it stayed very toasty with the cover on and a couple of blankets over that. It's pretty normal since most hot water tanks are 55 gallons and most birthing tubs are 100 or so gallons. I just had a water birth on the 30th of Oct. and it did take us about 2 hours to fill it up, but we just started early and it was ready in plenty of time. Worked great!

[CallMeMommy]

My midwife said to crank up the water heater about a week before my due date, then when we filled the tub to just turn on the hot water tap and let the pool fill. It'd be almost-boiling at first, then when the tank ran out and it started spitting out cold the cold water would cool down the hot water enough so it was warm but not scalding by the time it filled. Never did get to try it out, though (baby came too fast).

[nikirj]

Some observations from lots of personal experience filling tubs:

You're not going to get it full all in one shot. Even if you turn up your water heater, it's going to take more than one fill. You'll want to run pure hot water. It's good that you've run out your tank once already, because if you had any sediment buildup you've cleared it.

Count on it taking your water heater 1-1.5hr to get back up to heat between fills.

DO NOT let the water get below 100 degrees during filling. It is REALLY hard to heat it back up; it takes a pretty astounding volume of hot water to make up for a 70 degree pool (seriously, you might as well start over). It's really easy to cool down, though (ice cubes) if you wind up with a full tub that's too hot.

Any cover on your tub (a sheet, shower curtain, whatever) is going to help keep the heat in and reduce the amount of work you need to do.