what supplies/goodies made your homebirth perfect?

[forumyonly1]

Hi I am 26 weeks pregnant with my 4th baby. This will be my second home birth and i'm really looking forward to it! i was wondering if there were any supplies or extra things that were really nice to have on hand for your birth? Like candles or special music or anything like that!

[aloneinid]

For both of my previous births I didn't use A SINGLE THING I had prepared that could be considered a "goodie". The essential oils sat untouched, candles unlit, music off, tennis balls for massage in the the package. I figured the first time my birth was just too fast (4.5hrs), but the second time was 18 hours and I still didn't give any thought to those types of things. I was focused on getting the baby out and annoyed by pretty much anything "extra". Not what I expected at all!

[cileag]

The coconut cream cake and champagne that we had afterwards!

[isabchi]

Coconut water (Icy! with lots of sugar), the birth pool..

[HeatherB]

The Birth Pool in a Box! It was *awesome!*

I had thought about birth music but it ended up only playing in my head as I went through transition, rather than on any speakers. It did help, but wasn't necessarily a supply or goody!

The birth pall (exercise ball) has been heavily used in each birth, too. It's awesome for so many things - sitting on, leaning over, leaning over on the bed when your knees are tired from the floor , etc.

With my first homebirth, I did have my chiropractor come and do some adjustments, but she didn't make it to the second homebirth - he came too quickly.

[forumyonly1]

thanks you guys!!

[Galatea]

Originally Posted by aloneinid

For both of my previous births I didn't use A SINGLE THING I had prepared that could be considered a "goodie". The essential oils sat untouched, candles unlit, music off, tennis balls for massage in the the package. I figured the first time my birth was just too fast (4.5hrs), but the second time was 18 hours and I still didn't give any thought to those types of things. I was focused on getting the baby out and annoyed by pretty much anything "extra". Not what I expected at all!

Amen. We got a crock pot and cloths to do warm perineal compresses, birth ball, etc., and I was just out of it and didn't care about anything except for the right figure 8 rubbing of my lower back. I didn't know or care who was in the room nor what was happening!