Convincing husband that the birth pool isn't going to be as big of a production as he thinks it...

[listipton]

Allright ladies, I am posting this here because we're planning a home birth and having some qualms about the birth pool.  Lol, for the record, we ARE getting a birth pool if I have to set it up and tear it down myself...BUT here's the situation.  I finally got my husband to sit down and watch the Business of Being Born because I think it's a pretty good intro to anyone who wants to know a little bit more about home birth and natural birth, and I wanted him to actually watch a few non hospital births before we go and do one ourselves.  He's all for a home birth, and it addressed many of his questions, but he saw ladies giving birth in the regular bath tub, and is now balking at the idea of  the cost of a birth pool, and the set up and tear down.  This is most likely our last child, and I really want to at the very least have the opportunity to labor in a pool, if not deliver there should I decide I like it...(if anything my last birth taught me that I may not like what I think I will like in labor...).  I can understand his reasoning on spending the money on something that *I may not end up liking and using for long, so I'm looking for your opinions/experience on what was super awesome about the birth pool, am I being incredibly stubborn about it and can I do just as well with the bath tub itself, and what was the set up and tear down of the pool like?  TIA! :)

[liberal_chick]

Well, we used the fishy pool (I had the bigger hexagon for ds2's birth and the round one for ds3), so it wasn't complicated at all!  Dh blew it up and we purchased a hose and adapter for our faucet ahead of time.  When things started approaching toughness, dh filled it up (our hot water heater isn't the biggest, so while he was filling it up he also had 4 pots of water heading toward boil).  I got in and when I was done dh siphoned the water out our back door (we purposefully set up in a spot close enough to both the faucet and our back sliding glass door) and deflated the pool.  Easy as pie.

[XanaduMama]

We also used the fishy pool, and it was super easy. I blew it up ahead of time and kept it in the basement; during the night when I was up laboring (very easily) by myself, I went downstairs and got it. Right after I called the MW, then I'd felt things changing/getting more serious, I started filling it, which was around the same time as everyone else woke up, the MW showed up, etc. So dh finished filling it. We had to add more hot water by boiling pots/the kettle on the stove, but it was no big deal. Afterward, we also siphoned it out into the yard (no pump). Easy as pie indeed--and an absolute MUST-HAVE, IMO :)

I also baulk at the thought of spending $200 to rent or buy a fancier pool, I must say. The fishy pool cost $25 and worked fantastically...and ds used it all summer!

[lunarlady]

I have labored in a regular tub and in a pool, and the pool was better by far. First off, the bottom of an inflatable pool is soft, and easy on the knees for kneeling. Secondly, I like to labor with my legs spread a little apart, and by the end of pregnancy I simply don't fit in a normal pool sitting that way. Finally, it is much easier for attendants to get to you in a birthing pool since they can walk all around it. Makes it easier on them, which makes me more relaxed in early labor.

It really isn't much harder to set up than an air mattress, and draining it is pretty easy with a basic pump. Good luck!

[Peony]

I've labored in a hard regular whirlpool tub, gave birth in a AquaDoula, and then twice in a fishy pool. I'd pick the fishy pool again any day, hands down. The set up and tear down is not bad at all. We blow up ahead of time, our hot water heater also isn't the best so we do as much hot water as we can an then pots on the stove.  Emptying afterwards is a small, cheap pump and a hose out the window. Then DH just folds up the pool and throws it away. Very easy actually. 

[lookatreestar]

my dh filled and emptied the birth pool bucket by bucket LOL. he is such a trooper, i obviously forgot the hose adapter/pump part. 

that said i labored for maybe an hour (total) with my ds, i was miserable in the regular tub, but the birth tub was awesome. (i bought one from a water birth site and it was worth it for the fact that i didn't have the smell of vinyl off gassing- i am very sensitive to smells  ).  so yeah, towards the end when ds was already almost out i got out of the tub -dunno why! so my water did break in the pool but the water was clear. i would have felt really bad for dh if there had been blood in the birth pool.

so yeah, i say go for it, the padded bottom was great imo. then the kids loved jumping in the thing before and after i gave birth. just add some plastic balls and you have a mini ball pit 

[listipton]

Thank you so much for the responses ladies :)  After I posted, I saw the link on all the different birth pools and forwarded it to DH.  I think we're gonna end up going the fishy-pool route.  DH isn't opposed to spending 25-40 bucks on something the kids will splash around in.  His main concern was how/who was going to clean it up...and I think we've managed to address his 'fears' about that ;)  Thanks again!

[weliveintheforest]

Glad to see your dh is into it now :)  If anything changes and you end up getting a specifically-for-birth pool I totally recommend the liners!  We have done with and without and dh found the cleanup was so much easier with it.  If we had any other use for it we would have liked to buy a sump pump too, that makes the draining much easier.

[yaboobarb]

Get the pool, get the pool get the pool!
My 2 birth pool births were WAYYYYYYY easier. I had mine in a VERY small apartment. It is worth it.

I regret not having teh pool for my 2nd-- I thought the claw foot tub would do, but I was WAY wrong.

Less stress and pressure on joints.

Tell your husband that the pool is no trouble- only minds make it so!  Tell him that it will be lass work supporting YOU in the long run,if you have teh relief of the pool.

[sowega]

My husband has requested that I get a liner, which it does seem would make cleanup easier. I think we're gonna use the bigger, hexagonal fishy pool. Can anyone recommend a liner for that size? Seems like a lot of the liners are for the smaller pools....

Thanks!

[clockworkhobbsy]

We loaned an inflatable birth pool from a local group of homebirthers and I diligently blew it up with an electric blower (after washing it down with soap, of course!). It only took a few minutes and it barely fit in our tiny little studio, but when the time came, my wife decided she didn't want to do it that way and had the baby on our bed. Luckily, I had decided to wait until she was sure until I put the water in and never had to deal with that.

So, there is the possibility you will change your mind in the moment...unless you've done this before and know what you need already.

Good Luck.

[jenrose]

We used a 100 gallon rubbermaid horse trough, and it cost about $70 including all the hoses.

I used it constantly at the end of pregnancy, and my husband used it in the summers for cool tubbies out on the patio.

I like the 100 gallon size because it fills in about 20 minutes from one single hot water heater's worth of water, fits almost anywhere and isn't super heavy.

I'm plus size and it was enough room for birthing, and deep enough that hard bottom wasn't an issue, as my weight wasn't pressing down on my knees in any event.

[Caracol8]

Originally Posted by sowega 

My husband has requested that I get a liner, which it does seem would make cleanup easier. I think we're gonna use the bigger, hexagonal fishy pool. Can anyone recommend a liner for that size? Seems like a lot of the liners are for the smaller pools....

Thanks!

I looked at several places online for a liner big enough, but it seems like the big painters drop cloths don't claim to be chemical free.  It's so unfortunate!  All the chemical-free plastic liners on yourwaterbirth.com are too small for the hexagon fishy pool.  So I gave up and decided that as long as we (my birth team/family) are willing to clean it the day of the birth and not let it sit and get gross that it shouldn't be too difficult to scrub clean.  I admit the fishy pool isn't chemical-free either but I'm more comfortable with it than a thin plastic liner. 

[cameragirl]

I'm having a VBAC in hospital, and plan on laboring at home as long as possible. I was thinking about a large water trough after seeing them at the feed store. Our water heater is on the patio, and it would be really nice to put the tub on the patio, and just hook the hose up to the water heater.

[jenrose]

Originally Posted by cameragirl 

I'm having a VBAC in hospital, and plan on laboring at home as long as possible. I was thinking about a large water trough after seeing them at the feed store. Our water heater is on the patio, and it would be really nice to put the tub on the patio, and just hook the hose up to the water heater.

Really loved the 100 gallon (the taller, there's a narrow tall, and a short wide version at 100 gallons, I think) because once my body was in it, it just didn't take that much time to get deep and warm. We had a food-grade hose for filling it, and a cheap garden hose for emptying it. We set it up at about 35 weeks, and I spent SO  MUCH time in there because my hips hurt on land so much.