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Originally Posted by Mama2010  I am (hopefully) days away from my first baby and homebirth. I have a couple random questions.
What snacks did you have on hand for DH, midwives, yourself? I have some raisins, granola bars, dried fruit, pretzels, bottled water, gatorade etc. Do you think that is okay or should I have something else as well?
Menstrual pads for after the birth. What is the best kind? I just got overnight, super heavy flow pads. Do you think that will work?
And any other tips you want to give to a first timer?  |
Snacks: I sent my mom out when I was in early labor to buy tea, juice, soda, and sandwich fixings for the midwives and other attendants. A crockpot full of rice & beans, or chili, or soup, is really nice too (wow, did Mom's black beans and tomatoes smell good while I was in the birth pool).
I think you should probably have some "real" food on hand for midwives. A frozen lasagna or something that you can just pop in the oven would be fine. Even frozen TV dinners, or $20 on the fridge with a number to the local pizza delivery place, if you must. You don't know how long your labor is going to be, and you want to make sure the people who are supporting you have the energy to do so. You might also want to be sure you have some coffee and chocolate around - a few midwives I know say they practically live on those two things while attending long births.
The absolute best things in the world when I was in labor were: banana, honey and peanut butter smoothies; lots of peach sorbet; supersweet iced raspberry-leaf tea; white grape juice; vegetarian bouillion; buttered toast; and popsicles (I made my own out of RRL tea and tart cherry juice). I had a long labor and those things helped get me through it almost all the way to the end.
I always use natural cloth pads for my menstrual cycle, but I found that I didn't much like using them for postpartum bleeding. The big heavy plasticky pads should be fine for the most part, though you might find for the first couple of days that even a heavy-flow menstrual pad won't do the trick. Several people say that Depends are wonderful for those first few days; I haven't tried them but I imagine that they would work nicely. There's something to be said for
not dealing with the giant shifting-pad phenomenon, especially if you're already dealing with a tear or hemorrhoids. I was surprised by the amount of blood, personally, and went through a LOT of the giant postpartum pads. Just be prepared for a much heavier flow of blood than any normal menstrual flow.
ETA: One additional piece of advice. If your early labor seems to be going at a relatively slow pace, and you're feeling calm, for heaven's sake DON'T call anyone and tell them you're in labor!!! If I had just slept through my first full DAY of early labor, I would probably have had the energy to make it through the next TWO days of full-on labor without having to transfer to the hospital for exhaustion. (Not trying to scare you; my transfer and birth were fine. But I would have preferred to stay at home!) Instead, I called everyone right away, and said, "it's going slow, I'll let you know when you should come over," and they all proceeded to ignore me and show up at the house in a bustle of excited energy. So much for resting.
So, rest rest rest rest REST when you first go into labor, don't overdo it, try to sleep as much as you can, and don't tell ANYBODY until it feels like labor is really ramping up. You don't want to deal with anyone else's frenetic energy while you're in early labor. Trust me.
