Preparing my almost 4 year old?

[nicholeraine]

I've started watching home birth videos with my son today, I'm just wondering how else I can prepare him for his brother's upcoming birth? I'll be 37 weeks this Friday. My midwife has some books I can borrow for him. My sister will be there to watch him as well, but I just want to make sure he is fully prepared for the experience. It's my first home birth as well so I'm not too sure what to expect, with my hospital birth I was induced and I did yell a bit and cried. I know this could be totally different.

[reillys_mom]

Definitely get "Welcome with Love". We read that a lot before each homebirth. It helped my boys understand the upcoming birth. I liked how the book handled the labor and that I would be in pain and make noise. We also watched a number of videos some that were "produced" and some more real-time, though you'll have to judge where your son is as far as readiness. It's a matter of getting him excited as well as prepared. 

One of the sweetest memories I have of my second birth was my then 2 yr old waking up. He was nervous and needed to come into the room to make sure I was okay. He gave me a hug and a "kissing hand" from the the book of that name. Then a bit later at a particularly hard point in labor I heard him laughing from the next room and it helped me get through the rest of the birth.

It can be hard to find model sof how to integrate children into your birth, but it can also be wonderful for everyone.