Apartment Logistics

[sarahkristy]

Hi everyone..

I have a question for anyone who has btdt, ... we are having a homebirth in our apartment in February. We live in an old farmhouse adjacent to my parents ...its split into a duplex.
Our kitchen and living room are adjoined and is the best place for the birth pool to go. Our bedroom (that we share with DS) is upstairs.

I'm wondering if I do deliver in the pool, I don't really want to deliver the placenta in there. Kinda grosses me out... I know that if the water gets really bloody, I will want to get out ASAP. However, I won't be able to get into bed because its upstairs and I doubt that my midwives would want me walking upstairs with my newborn half delivering the placenta...hah...

So WHERE would I do this? I have our couch...and its really old and ugly and I would love to stain it so I could burn it but haha...I dont know if it would be the most comfy place to be right after the birth.

Any ideas?

[laurata]

I sat a bowl with a lip inside my toilet and delivered the placenta on top of that.

[Sihaya]

Originally Posted by laurata

I sat a bowl with a lip inside my toilet and delivered the placenta on top of that.

A sitz bath would be great because they're made to fit in the toilet. Another option would be to move to an empty bathtub and deliver the placenta in there. But neither of those options sounds particularly comfy to me.

You could find either a couch that folds out into a bed, a futon, or some kind of portable mattress (air, roll-up, etc.) to set up in the same room as the pool so you don't have to go very far and you can make a comfortable nest near everything else you'll need those first few days.

[sarahkristy]

I could def. do the futon idea I think. Will I truly not be able to walk up the stairs for a few days? I think I will need to be in my bed...

I don't remember last time because we didn't have stairs at the time and my prev. was a hospital birth so I was wheelchaired around for a day or so.

Hmm.. i wish I could just put the birth pool upstairs but I really doubt the structural integrity of the floor up there.

[AFWife]

Originally Posted by sarahkristy

I could def. do the futon idea I think. Will I truly not be able to walk up the stairs for a few days? I think I will need to be in my bed...

I don't remember last time because we didn't have stairs at the time and my prev. was a hospital birth so I was wheelchaired around for a day or so.

Hmm.. i wish I could just put the birth pool upstairs but I really doubt the structural integrity of the floor up there.

If everything goes smoothly (no serious tears or anything) it's not that you CAN'T climb stairs...it's that you probably won't WANT to.

[sarahkristy]

hm this is creating some not so great feelings for me... I want to be in my bed with my baby.
That's one of the biggest reasons I'd like to birth at home.
Maybe I'll have to recruit my dad and hubby to carry me up after the placenta/initial recovery.

[Twinklefae]

You'll do fine on one flight of stairs, provided you don't have major major tears. Just take it slow and steady.

I birthed in the hospital last time, had a minor second degree tear, left 8 hours after birth, and walked up 6 flights of stairs to our apartment. Fun? Nope. Doable? Absolutely.

[Jane]

You'll be fine. My suggestions -
1. birth in the pool
2. snuggle adorable newborn
3. when cord stops pulsing, clamp and cut cord
4. immediately hand newborn to daddy
5. step out of pool, get dried off
6. deliver placenta on birth stool, toilet, sofa, floor (yoga mat works fab). It's really not that messy.
7. head upstairs with someone holding a waterproof pad around your butt to avoid dripping on stairs
8. climb in bed, take baby back and snuggle, nurse, etc.

[sarahkristy]

Apricot- I like your thinking. :-)

Hoping I don't hemorrhage like last time. I guess you can't plan for the unexpected. Not to mention my 2 yo might be sleeping upstairs so I may not want to bother him... hope it's a quick night time birth... wouldn't that be wonderful?! (my last was 36 hrs..blehhh)

[Jane]

Hopefully you won't! With a (statistically likely) shorter labor, your risk of hemm. goes down.
If for some reason you get stranded downstairs (never happened in my experience), just have someone haul down your mattress and remake your bed where the pool was. No worries.

[Virginia884]

Originally Posted by sarahkristy

I could def. do the futon idea I think. Will I truly not be able to walk up the stairs for a few days? I think I will need to be in my bed...

I don't remember last time because we didn't have stairs at the time and my prev. was a hospital birth so I was wheelchaired around for a day or so.

Hmm.. i wish I could just put the birth pool upstairs but I really doubt the structural integrity of the floor up there.

What does a birthpool weigh? 500lbs? So about the same as 4 adults standing in one small area. Would your floors not hold 4 adults standing around in a small circle talking?

[FillingMyQuiver]

Originally Posted by Virginia884

What does a birthpool weigh? 500lbs? So about the same as 4 adults standing in one small area. Would your floors not hold 4 adults standing around in a small circle talking?

Actually, most birth pools, filled, weigh about 800-1000lbs. *Most* floors can support the temporary weight of a birth pool, though.