Birth pool--when to blow up

[tygrss]

I'm getting towards the end of this journey and was wondering when most people blow up their birth pool. I think that I want to have it blown up before I actually go into labor (my last labor lasted 3 hours and 10 minutes from start to finish so I don't want to waste time with blowing the pool up then filling it too).

I was thinking that I'd do it at 37 weeks, then put it in one my spare rooms where DS and the cat can't get to it.

[cathicog]

Sounds like a good plan. With a labor that fast, you hardly have time to fill it!

[Dese]

Once you've passed 37 weeks (or whatever your guideline for having a homebirth is) I'd inflate it. I did mine around then and keep it on top of our dining room table against a wall so the cat can't get it. I just had to reinflate it yesterday because it'd gone down a bit in the last couple of weeks. It actually does take awhile if you're using a foot pump so it's a relief to get it done and not have to worry about it when you are in labour.

[JorgieGirl]

I had mine inflated at 37 weeks. Good thing too cause DD came at 39w and in record time. We barely had time to fill it with water. We would have had no time if we still had to inflate it.

Sounds like you've got a good plan!

[TzippityDoulah]

yeah... blow it up before you're in labour totally!

I bought a big old pool (only kind anyone has in stock!) and before I could ever get the faucet hooked up I was in the depths of intense labour and I wasn't budging from the bathroom tub at that point! lol what a waste of money! but yeah, blow it up... too bad you can't fill it with water in advance too heh

[ishyfishie]

How long does it take to inflate with an electric pump? Mine won't be here for another week or so, but I have an electric pump and I thought I'd read that it should only take 5-10 minutes to inflate that way? I hadn't thought about leaving it inflated in advance but I could gate off our spare bedroom from the cats and leave it in there on top of the bed.

[Belle]

I filled it up with air as soon as we got it from the midwives. (around 37.5 weeks) We kept it standing up on end in our living room so Dd1 wouldn't try to climb in it and miraculously our cat left it alone.

[tygrss]

Awesome. I'll fill it up this weekend then. One less thing to worry about when the time comes!

[smokeylo]

You'll want to keep an eye on it to make sure it stays fully inflated and top it off every once in awhile so it's nice and sturdy.

IMO the water is the slow part -- inflating with a pump takes about 5 minutes!

[SwanMom]

I was glad I filled mine ahead of time since it did some off-gassing while waiting. I kept it in the spare room till it was time to move it to the kitchen.

[Gray's Mommy]

I filled mine early (last birth) and let it de-gas. We are blowing ours up this week to make sure it doesn't have any holes, etc. On second thought, we'll be doing that tomorrow evening--that way I can attempt to repair or rent another one from a friend.