Any home birthing mamas? « Back to Group Discussions

[swissmiss2584]

We are planning another home birth. I'm excited and nervous. My home birth with DD went crazy fast! Four hours from start to finish. It kinda freaked me out to say the least. i wasn't expecting that. Now that I know what to expect I'm hoping for another quick labor and birth. My midwife retired and moved to Florida but said she would come and deliver this baby. It would be nice to have her again but I don't want to deal with the "middle man" and all that goes with it. Instead I'm using the midwife that assisted in DD's home birth.

[momzilla]

I am planning a 5th homebirth. I am using my midwife from the previous two babies. I also happen to assist her at other homebirths.

SWISSMISS2584...how nice to have your previous midwife offer to attend the labor/birth.
Edited by momzilla - 1/8/13 at 3:52pm

[swissmiss2584]

It was so nice of her. She said she loves her home birth families. She has already been back for a few home births of precious clients. My friend and her siblings were delivered by her and then she delivered her children so she came out to deliver her recent baby last September.

[nettlesoup]

I would love to have a homebirth, but I had a nasty haemorrhage when I gave birth to my daughter, so I don't want to risk it.
 

[momzilla]

Nettlesoup...Homebirth midwives can carry Pitocin. Mine does. Midwives also carry herbs specifically for hemorrhage. What kind of labor and birth did you have last time? How was the placenta delivered? How long was your labor? Was Pitocin used at any point in labor? I just want you to know it doesn't have to be an exclusion to homebirth. Of coarse, only if you want to explore it further.

[KaliHekate]

I'm planning to do a home birth. :)  This is my first pregnancy.  I still have yet to have an appointment with a midwife.  

[happybunny]

My DD was supposed to be a home birth but ended in a hospital transfer. We're having another home birth this time. Chances are it will actually work out this time :-)

[chispita]

Originally Posted by KaliHekate 

I'm planning to do a home birth. :)  This is my first pregnancy.  I still have yet to have an appointment with a midwife.  

Me too, on all three things.

[LLtheTinkerbell]

We attempted a homebirth with my first, even though she was breech, but ended up transferring after a number of hours of pushing. Ended with a C.
Absolutely determined to have a homebirth vbac this time around!

[swissmiss2584]

My midwife carried pitocin. She actually gave me a shot of it after I delivered my daughter because I pushed for 2 hrs and my uterus was tired and I needed the contractions to help the placenta along because I was bleeding more than she liked. She also gave me an herbal tincture and made me stimulate my nipples to get the bleeding to stop.

[letniaLynne]

Nettle, I also hemorrhaged extremely bad with both my daughters. The first I had in the hospital with a midwife the second at home. I lost so much blood that I could not walk or stand up for a few days after their birth. Going to the bathroom in bed you can only imagine is absolutely no fun !
But in all seriousness my home birth midwife handled the situation much more aggressivly than the hospital initially. They seemed a bit disorganized all rushing around me trying to get the IV in as a first step verses shooting me up with drugs directly and then using their hands to manually squeeze off my uterus. They eventually got to the squeezing and drugs but not for a good bit longer than my home birth midwife which I believe contributed to an even tougher recovery. My home birth midwife was just more in control and organized. She gave the drugs and started pushing deep into my abdomen to squeeze off my uterus since it was so lazy after my placeta delivered. It took 2 hrs of this for her to feel completely comfortable that the bleeding was finally under control and we did not need to transfer. I trusted her years of experience to make the call.

I am planning a home birth this time around with the same midwife. She has delivered over 600 babies at home and I feel that her medical side is also something I trust to keep me and my little one as safe as possible.

Nettle, I know how scary the hemorrhage can be and how it really interfered with the joy I took away from the time immediately after my babe was born. Just sitting and looking into my babies eyes quietly would have been so dreamy instead of being truly beat up. I would have rather pushed my kids out twice verses having her push on my abdomen for hours. It hurt worse than birth! Did you have a similar experience with your first?

[katalopolis]

I'm planning a homebirth with my first. I haven't had an appointment with a midwife yet as it's still way early for me.
 

[aidenn]

I am planning a homebirth with this baby (#3).  My two previous daughters were born at a freestanding birth center and at home, respectively.  I am using the same midwife from the previous two births as I couldn't bear the thought of not having her with me!

[nettlesoup]

LetniaLynne; my first birth was meant to be a homebirth, but I was transferred to hospital after 36 hours of labour with little progress and a stressed baby. They gave me an IV to speed things up, and because I was worried about moving and dislodging it (I hate needles), I gave birth on my back. I also pushed too fast as I was starting to get the threat of a C section if I didn't get her out soon. All this resulted in a tear on an artery, and the midwives were panicking because they couldn't find where the blood was coming from at first. I ended up feeling so weak I could barely move and because my mind wasn't with it I said no to a blood transfusion; a massive regret!

So I actually think the blood loss was caused by the fact I didn't feel happy about moving with a needle in my arm, and also because I pushed too fast. If I had had a successful homebirth maybe none of that would've happened. Thanks for sharing your experience, and your positive words, they do give me hope. When I eventually get to see the midwife I'll speak to her about the possibility of a homebirth, and see what she says about my concerns.
 

[letniaLynne]

Originally Posted by nettlesoup 

LetniaLynne; my first birth was meant to be a homebirth, but I was transferred to hospital after 36 hours of labour with little progress and a stressed baby. They gave me an IV to speed things up, and because I was worried about moving and dislodging it (I hate needles), I gave birth on my back. I also pushed too fast as I was starting to get the threat of a C section if I didn't get her out soon. All this resulted in a tear on an artery, and the midwives were panicking because they couldn't find where the blood was coming from at first. I ended up feeling so weak I could barely move and because my mind wasn't with it I said no to a blood transfusion; a massive regret!

So I actually think the blood loss was caused by the fact I didn't feel happy about moving with a needle in my arm, and also because I pushed too fast. If I had had a successful homebirth maybe none of that would've happened. Thanks for sharing your experience, and your positive words, they do give me hope. When I eventually get to see the midwife I'll speak to her about the possibility of a homebirth, and see what she says about my concerns.
 

Nettle, 

Yours really does sound like birth trauma which could be avoided now that you have prior knowledge. A 36 hr labor and a high stress level is definitely a recipe for trouble!   I was curious....how did they stop the bleed?  Could they have managed that sort of procedure at home if necessary ?  

I really do understand how stress effects labor....I also started to get pressured by my hospital midwife to make progress pushing.  I was having a lot of trouble, incredible back labor so much so that I could not even feel my contractions the pain in my back was so much stronger and over all I was loosing it mentally.  Then they brought out the vacuum device and I went CRAZY! I did not want that on my baby but I was so disconnected mentally I could not speak and tell her no! So I pushed so so hard and fast she flew out and I tore bad!  It was an eye opening in experience since their was no need for that kind of stress in my labor.  Baby was fine! I needed emotional support not medical equipment.  

I hope what ever you chose you find a provider who can support you on all fronts and set aside your fears this time around.  

[nettlesoup]

They had to sew me up quickly with only gas and air for the pain, that was fun! I think they wanted me to push because the baby was showing signs of distress; they seemed pretty desperate.

Yours did not sound pleasant! And it sounds very similar to me; threats resulting in a bad tear. This time around my diet is far better, so I'm hoping that makes things easier this time around. That and experience. I just hope labour doesn't last 3 - 4 days this time! Oh, and the midwives completely failed me with breastfeeding too. I knew that the latch was bad but they just kept saying I was sensitive. Then I got group B strep, so that all went out the window as well.

The good thing is, this time I know exactly what to do differently with everything!
 

[KellyandKatie]

homebirthing here with this one too

2/4 are homebirthed prior to this one 

trying to decide my care plan

if I go with my midwife for all my care, if I get an ultrasound etc etc

[tigerlilymomma]

i will homebirth.

My first was a birth center birth, because i lived in a TINY 500sq ft cabin at the time, we only had a shower and couldn't fit the birthtub in our living area/kitchen! haha. 18 hours, lovely birth.

My second was a homebirth in which I almost completely slept through. haha. for a girl that was voted most likely to sleep through the 10 year reunion, I found it fitting. I worked all the way through the day my water broke. I went to work one morning, my normally very quiet office at a union hall with me and two other business agents, had a parking lot full of members attending a meeting. I reached for the door handle and my water broke right there. My husband drove me to work and I couldn't help but lmaf at him driving away. I tried resting all day, but no labor. Finally after talking to my midwife and deciding to talk in the am, my labor started at 8pm. Long story short I slept in between every contraction and didn't have my son until 11:30am the next morning after my midwife finally said "maybe we should think about going in" I guess this is the trick for me because it woke me up and I pushed him out the next contraction.

and that was april 25th, 2012.

yea, I can't believe I'm here again.

[swissmiss2584]

My birthday is April 25th!

[Rhoze]

I'm planning for a homebirth, but like Kali, chipsita, and katalopolis, it is my first.  However, we found a lovely midwife from last pregnancy that I'm excited to work with.  Because of insurance reasons I'll be doing shadow care with an OB, but the OB is midwife and homebirth friendly.