decided at 37 weeks to have my 2nd UC

[Dahlea]

 I had a lovely UC with my second, but since our third was planned to be our last, I wanted to have a midwife, just to have that experience too (my first was in a hospital with an OB) Turns out our midwife just had charges filed against her (a baby died under her care this summer), and has been served a cease and desist order...and she didn't let us know. I had to hear from someone else! So anyway, my husband and I are very upset (mostly because she lied to us) and so I am firing her today, a couple days shy of 37 weeks. I doubt we will see any $$ back, and at this late date, finding another midwife that we can work with (and will work with us on $) just isn't worth it. My husband is confident in his skills, and was the one who was pushing for an UC over a midwife before.

I'm just a little nervous since it's so last minute, and I had this whole other birth planned in my mind. Not to mention, last time I felt very prepared and educated, and I don't have the same time to prepare this time. I can't even find my list of homeopathics and other things to have on hand!

Anyway, just here looking for support and I always love reading others' birth stories. If you've got any tips or advice you'd like to pass on, please do! I'm due around Nov. 7 (based purely on dates, I haven't had any ultrasounds) and I went early with my other two.

[Almi]

Awesome!  I'm so excited to hear your birth story, and you're so close, yay!!

Here's a video of my second birth/third child:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_RwXud1hfI4

The birth story of my twins is linked in the video description.  I love birth stories and birth videos, please videotape yours if you can!! <3

[Linnaea]

I'm so sorry you're being pulled around emotionally.  I know how hard that is, especially being so far along.  You've spent so much time preparing for a midwife-assisted birth and now all that's changed.  What she's done is very unprofessional and if she tries to keep some or all of your money, I strongly suggest looking into a lawsuit because I'm pretty sure you'd get most, if not all, of your money back.  Don't worry about it now, just keep it on the back burner for when you have some free time.  

Since you don't have much time to prepare, I suggest you get the basics together and focus on being calm and centered.  It seems that everyone has their own ideas of what they need and don't need at their birth, so I'll list what helped me and you can do what you will with that: chux pads (about a dozen was good enough for me), coconut water for hydration, a bowl for the placenta, floss and sterilized scissors, extra clean bed sheets, baby blankets, lots of prepared food in the fridge and freezer, and that's about it.  I thought about herbs, I bought some After-Ease but it turned out that I didn't really need it (I had mild after pains that weren't difficult to get through).  I didn't buy any herbs for possible excessive bleeding because I planned on eating a chunk of the placenta if needed (didn't turn out to be needed).  The chux pads and coconut water were by far the best things to have on hand for me since I felt pretty dehydrated during and after birth and the chux pads made for easy clean up.  One thing I wish I had but didn't was adult diapers.  That might sound funny but it would have been way easier than the overnight pads I used.  I wouldn't have had to deal with leakage and also it was difficult to get up and go pee the first few days.  Thus, Depends would have been very convenient and the least messy.  

As for feeling calm, I suggest reading as many positive unassisted birth stories you can.  You can do a search in this forum for them or look on google.  Laura Shanley's site is very positive, I highly recommend it: http://www.unassistedbirth.com.  You might want to get a copy of the Emergency Childbirth manual to have on hand.  This is what EMTs use, so it's helpful for understanding the signs of a true emergency.  You probably won't need it but it might help you and your husband feel more secure.  

[Dahlea]

thanks to both of you =) I'd love to video it, but we'll have to see if I stay in one spot or not! Last time I went from pool to tub to toilet to tub etc.

I'm on the yahoo uc group and Laura's forums as well. I applied to join the private lounge here, but it's been over a week and I've not heard anything, so I assume I've been denied or ignored for some reason.

I'm feeling much calmer now, and feel completely confident and ready for whenever baby decides to make his/her appearance. Thanks for the support.