Where do you set up the birth tub?

[oceanbaby]

I'd rather not be assembling the tub after labor starts since I have no idea how quickly things will go, but I have a small house and can't really imagine where I could have the tub set up for 2 weeks, or even a few days, without it being a major problem. It would be smack dab in the middle of one our rooms, and I'm sure ds would want to be in it.

If I give birth in the tub, I'd love it to be in our bedroom, but there's no way I can leave it in there beforehand as it would take up all the floor space. Plus, if I end up giving birth in the middle of the night and ds is asleep, I would rather not be in there waking him up (he sleeps in our room). (Just writing that makes me really hope that he is awake and is okay with seeing the birth - I so want him to be a part of this!)

Anyway, when and where did you set up your birth tub?

[georgia]

We set ours up in our bedroom, close to the bathroom, sandwiched in a corner and under a window . This way, we had easy access to the water faucet, shower and bed. When it was over, dh and mws siphoned the water out the window and into the bushes (and those bushes are thriving!). We inflated ours as a labor project, but I really can't say that I'd recommend that b/c like you said who knows how long labor will be/when, etc. Do you have an electric pump thing? If so, it really only takes minutes to blow up---and if you did a trial run, you might feel comfy waiting to inflate it like we did.....Do you have a garage you can leave it in if you assembled it? A spare BR you can close off? Oh, the forbidden fruit of a shut off room and pool!

How exciting! Best wishes!

[ilovebeingamom]

I have the same problem, our house is too small to have a giant tub in the middle of it. I have considered putting it outside on our deck, and hoping that the day we have the baby it isn't raining or too cold to be outside (or too hot). It will be July/August, so I am not sure if I would even want hot water it it, maybe it would feel better to have luke warm. I don't know, hopefully our midwife has some suggestions.

[anothermama]

I hear what you are saying. I had the same feelings.

But, for me it was really a matter of practicality..........I want this tub here, and it's going to be worth the inconvenience. It will either live in the living room or corner of the bedroom until birth time, and yes it will be in the way, and yes I'd rather not have it there.........but really, if I really want to make sure I have it, what other choice to I have?

FWIW, we re arranged the bedroom this weekend as to have more space for ourselves if the tub gets stowed in there...........

[Ceili]

Ours is going smack dab in the middle of our living room. It's the only place with enough floor space.

My best friend had hers out on her patio (it was August). She constructed this big tent around it for privacy and shelter in case of bad weather.

[ChildoftheMoon]

Just an idea-for those of you with limited space, maybe you could temporarily remove a piece of furniture that you could live without for a week or two. Put it in garage/storage, someplace out of the way and put your tub in its place?

I have not decided for sure where to put the tub. Either in the bedroom, or right outside the bedroom in the sewing area of my living room. I am leaning towards the latter, because it would be facing out our french doors and it would be roomier. But the bedroom may be nice because of the privacy and closed in and protected feeling I have in there, along with being closer to the toilet. Our hot water tank is only 30 gallons, so I will have to skip the shower this time, or I will not have enough water for my tub! As it is I will be boiling water on the stove. The one draw back with having it in the bedroom is if my girls are sleeping I do not plan to wake them up, I would rather them just come to the birth naturally of their own accord. I have to decide because there is no way a blown up tub will fit through the doorway!

Good luck everyone with arranging your birthing spaces!
Brandi

[mollyeilis]

We just got our fishy pool yesterday, and it's all set up. We have three bedrooms in our apartment, but one is destined for an office (and is now used as storage, much to our cat's displeasure), one is our big bedroom (we are moving out all non-sleep related furniture as we just want it to be the sleep and room), and we now have a "dressing room" with the dressers, changing table, and so on.

The pool is in the middle of that room. Now we just have to get a hose and adapter and we're all set.

[cottonwood]

We don't have a lot of space either, so I'm just figuring we'll have to live with a weird furniture arrangement for a while. We'll probably just put the coffee table up against one wall and put the tub smack dab in the middle of the living room. It's really the only available floor space. We're probably going to be using a rubbermaid trough like we did before -- my older kids will know to stay out of it, but my younger will probably find a way into it, so I was thinking of just lining it with a sheet to keep it clean until the big day.

[MamaAllNatural]

Our house is very small too. We set it up in our bedroom. It took up all the space and we could barely get into our drawers but it was so nice to not have to set it up during the birth. You probably want to put it where you feel the most relaxed and at ease (which is usually the bedroom, but not always). Also, I was worried about my older kids jumping in it and playing with it. Having it in the bedroom (they pretty much only sleep in there) was better for this reason too.

[tmarina]

We set ours up in our kitchen (we have a dining area in the kitchen) and moved our table and chairs into the living room. I put a big sheet over the tub which discouraged the kids from messing with it/getting in it.

I'm so glad it wasn't in the bedroom - where I originally thought it would be - because my kids sleep with us and were still asleep. As it was, they woke up when I was pushing and they were well-rested and happy.

[oceanbaby]

Thanks for the replies. I would really like it in our bedroom, but don't want ds awoken if I go into labor at night. I think I will wait until I get the tub and do a practice setup - see how long it really takes.

[Konur's Mom]

Man, I didnt think about the waking up Konur if it's in the middle of the night. I had planned for mine in the bedroom, too, I guess I would put it in the livingroom if Konur is still up. I am also borrowing an airpump.

Should I put a tarp under it or anything?

[Sassafrass]

I am using a fishy pool from the midwife, and I will be setting it up in the kitchen......it is really the only room with enough floorspace, and I don't have to worry about carpet in there. When should I set it up? Wait until in labor, or beforehand? My previous labors were like 26 and 27 hrs each, so I was kinda thinking that I would just wait until I was actually in labor before I have DH get it ready. Good idea? Bad?

Angela

[Sherry]

we used the fishy pool as well...i had it inflated and hung it from the ceiling against a wall so it was kinda out of the way until needed. once i told dh i was ready for it, he set it up in the living room...filled it with hot water until that ran out and then topped it with cold. thankfully it was only set up for about 3 hours, so space wasnt really an issue. now, fitting 2 doulas, 2 midwives, 1 husband, and 3 other children into my dinky living room around a huge inflatable pool was pretty funny... lol my midwife had to sit on the steps going upstairs!

[amyamanda]

We had two waterbirths in two different houses. In both cases (for various reasons) we ended up setting up the birth tub in the kitchen - it was the only uncarpeted room, the basement access underneath was good for setting up removable support columns underneath the floor where the tub was, there was easy access to water for filling the tub, and it was space that we could do without for a short while. In one house we pushed the kitchen table over to the side, in another we removed it from the room. The tub we rented had a cover that latched on so the kids couldn't get into the water. We set it up at 38.5 weeks and birthed a week later, and set it up the next time at 38 weeks and I birthed two days later. The first of those births was FAST and we wouldn't have had time to set the tub up while I was in labor. I was very, very glad we set it up beforehand.