Homebirthin' Mamas Thread - Page 2

[sweets]

My second child was homebirth on his due date Aug. 21st and his big brother 27 months watched the whole thing. He tells people "my baby come out moma vulva, he had paint on him, daddy cut bilca cord" We had support for him but he was right in to being there to watch. He grabbed the baby a hat as soon as I caught him. I never thought he would be capable of handling it but he didn't even flinch. It was a beautiful moment.

[MonikitaUT]

Hi all!

I'm 31 weeks, and planning a homebirth with baby #1. I just ordered my birth kit, my sling, and am starting to try and stock up on baby jammies and onesies.

I feel a great stress relief because I finally found a replacement midwife on Friday. She is very sweet, has great energy, and is perfectly okay with being nearly totally hands-off. This is as close as I can get to UC, since DH is uncomfortable not having anyone there but us. She says she will stay (quietly) in the background unless we need her.

I have a question (Pam?) about using embroidery floss instead of a cord clamp. I asked a midwife I was interviewing about it and she stated that nothing else works but the clamp, and the baby can bleed out if you don't use it. ?? She had already said she would wait to cut the cord until it was limp. I don't get it! Any thoughts / answers are appreciated.

[Mom2baldie]

Chrissy & Amanda,

Do you girls think that you will be "aware" enough to catch your babies? I desperately want to catch my baby, but Im not sure if I can do it. Im going to be very disappointed if I don't though. I just hated pushing so much last time and wasnt really "calm or collected" enough to even think about that. I barely even touched Paityns head before she was born...

My midwife said that she will help me, but I think I will def. need to be talked through it for it to happen.

Also, Amanda, Im glad you are okay for now. I will be thinking about you next weekend!

Shannon,

Your homebirth sounds beautiful! I hope my children are able to handle being at the birth. Did having your DS there distract you at all? Or make you feel any less comfortable (to be vocal...)?

[sweets]

momn2baldie,

having my ds there did not distract me at all. I think it would have been more of a distraction wondering how he was doing if he wasn;t there. He did ask about the noises and was told "mommy needs to make those sounds to help the baby come out" and then he was fine.

I also caught my own baby. It was quite by accident, not at all planned. The position I was in no one else could reach the baby, without an conscious thought I reached down and scooped him up. Even now it seems quite surreal.

I am hoping to one day have my hands free enough to write the whole story.

[StacyL]

Originally Posted by MonikitaUT

I have a question (Pam?) about using embroidery floss instead of a cord clamp. I asked a midwife I was interviewing about it and she stated that nothing else works but the clamp, and the baby can bleed out if you don't use it.

I know someone who has UC'ed three times and has friends who UC, and she recommended using cord clamps also. She said too many of her friends had problems or infections otherwise. So, I ordered two cord clamps from InHisHands.com

I plan to have my dh catch the baby. I think he deserves the honor to be the first to touch the baby, since I got to carry him for nine months!

[AmandaBL]

Pushing ? CB Class ?

Mom2Baldie:

I hope I will be aware enough to catch him. Last time I wasn't - I was so focused internally I never even opened my eyes till he was out. I'm planning a waterbirth, so I'm sure someone will grab him if I don't - Babies float, right? That is a joke.

Everyone - Pushing Question:
I've heard so many people say they hated pushing latley, & that just never occured to me. I loved that part SOOOO much. I even told this poor girl in my hypnobirthing class how wonderfull it is. She's a first time mom & that was the part she was really scared of. I just went on & on about how great it is - that all of the sudden you KNOW your baby is comming & all your efforts are just about to accomplish something really big....bla bla bla for like 10 min. Now I'm hoping I didn't do her a disservice - maybe she'll hate it too & be cussing me!

Anyway... for those of you that didn't love this part, do you think you were really "ready" to push? Did you have the urge or did they tell you it was time? What exactly did you not like? Did you have a long, drawn out pushing time or did it hurt you alot, did you feel like everyone was rushing you??? I'm just wondering because this seems so foreign to me, but it obviously is NOT a rare occurance to hate this part. Going into the birthing, I just "knew" that I would enjoy that part & that I would love nursing. Both came true - I'm just wondering if I lucked out or if maybe my mindset had a lot to do with it. It truly never occured to me that women have such a hard time delivering babies & nursing - I figured if I could "get through" the first stage I'd be great.

Did anyone take classes this time around? What have you done before & how helpfull did you find them?

I'm adding a website I found on another board here - you may have seen it before, but it may be the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. It's a photo essat with music of a home waterbirth with kids attending. It's not graphic, my 5 year old loved it, but it gets loud at the end so if anyone is at work, put on headphones (ha ha) It's maybe 1.5 min long.

http://danielfairbanks.pseconds.com/jude.htm

I'm probably heading up north tomorrow... Hurricane Ivan looks like a bad one..... I may not be on for a while after today, but I really look forward to the responses!

[Mom2baldie]

Amanda,

To answer your question about why *I* hated pushing: I had kindof a different situation than most people do I guess. I was having a VBAC with a very unsupportive Dr. so I decided to stay at home until transition. We didnt actually leave for the hospital until I felt the urge to push and when I did bear down a little bit in the car my water broke. All of a sudden, I went from having fairly manageable contractions (or at least contractions that I was used to) to having extremely STRONG pushing contractions. I was told not to push, but to blow through them until we got to the hospital, but it was SO hard. I couldnt control whether I pushed or not and it was incredibly painful not to push with the urge. When we got to the hospital I pushed 3 times before the birth and it was very scary to me. My support people "forgot" to continue to support me, I had strangers around me, I was already having to argue against an IV, a nurse was doing perineal massage that was unwanted and was more painful than just letting my body stretch on its own.........

I know that the pushing stage was so hard for me because of the environment and the lack of support from my husband, doula and hospital nurses, not because I just had a hard time or whatever. I know that it will be different this time, but I guess that I have a hard imagining that it could be enjoyable.

I did really like being in labor though. It was very nice and calm. I hope my next labor is as close to it as possible...

I didnt take childbirth classes with this pregnancy. I actually never have. Last time when I was planning my VBAC I just read a lot of books and websites, practiced relaxation and visualization, stuff like that... I think all of that helped me. This time Ive been kindof lazy. I have the attitude that "I have given birth before, Ill be able to give birth again. My body knows what its supposed to do..."

Anyways, I will be thinking of you tomorrow! I cant believe that you Florida residents are having to deal with so much! 2

[SunniB]

New here

Hello everyone, I am new to this on line forum thing but am so excited to find more home birth mammas! I live in a small community, so I don't get to meet too many others. I had a home birth with my first, who is now 13.5mons. and am 3mons. pregnant with my 2nd. We are again planning to do it at home... I couldn't imagine it any other way!! I still am suprised though at how many people look at me like I'm a nut-case when I tell them. Anyway, looking forward to getting to know some of you... We're due March 28th.

[blessed2bamommie]

I had a about this forum in church today. : I came in and saw this thread. Can I join? I see some of my fellow due date club members. I changed to a hb late in the game b/c according to a mw I spoke to, "UNC sitll isn't doing wbs." So, this is a known thing to them. My birth kit is sitting in my mws office. The girl who owns the company dropped it off with her b/c she's getting ready to have her 5th child. I need to pick up the other supplies and I'm cleaning the apt and dh is cleaning his dungeon so that the mws will have a place to sleep and not get injured. Mil was respectful but amazed at my plans b/c I was scared of the pain before we started ttc. She even asked if we needed any towels.

[Boobs]

StacyL~ You look amazing! You mamas with no stretch marks are starting to bug me though! :LOL Good luck...sounds like it won't be long now.

AmandaBL~ That link you posted is incredible. Makes me consider hiring a professional photographer for the birth.

[Jemper]

Hi Ladies! Can I join?

I've homebirthed both my DDs, my second was a waterbirth. My third is due in January and I'm planning another home waterbirth.

Lyndsey ~ I'm not a big fan of pushing, though it was *much* easier the second time around. (First DD was posterior, so it took me a while to even find the pushing urge. DD #2 came out after just 20 minutes of pushing). Anyways, my 2nd m/w shared that most women prefer either active labor (dilation) or pushing, but rarely both. I thought that was interesting!

[AmandaBL]

Everyone still doing well?

Any exciting news?

Everything is great for me!!! No Hurricanes!!! Baby is head down!!!

[Jemper]

Is it me, or are there two Homebirth buddy groups going right now?

[Mom2baldie]

39 weeks 1 day

Amanda,

I am still plugging away and feeling pretty darn good for being 39 weeks. I dont feel like I am going to go into labor any time soon either, which is okay I guess, although I am feeling very "on edge" about when its going to happen.

I am so excited to find out the gender of the baby and see how big he/she is... At my 38 week midwife appt. she estimated by palpating my belly that the baby weighed around 8-8.5 lbs so it is going to be interesting.

Jemper,

I agree with your midwife! I def. prefer labor.

Also, there are 2 homebirth threads going on right now. One is for 2005 moms only I guess and this one is for anyone. I know that there are 3 of us here that have posted that are due this month. One of us (Stacy) was due yesterday!

[Changed]

Just wanted to join in. I'm super excited to be planning my very first homebirth!

I've got 2 beautiful girls already, ages 4 and 2 and we are expecting a boy in time for Christmas. I'm am using a wonderful homebirth midwife that I just adore. I plan on having a waterbirth but who knows where i'll actually want to deliver. It's an option i'll prepare for anyway. We have a 2 story house so i'm wondering how that works out while you are in labor. I can't imagine putting a pool upstairs and I can't imagine crawling up the stairs in labor. Anyway, My daughter is the only person locally that's excited about this. Everyone else is still in shock. I think they'll adjust. My mom isn't excited per say about where i'm birthing but she's definatly going to be with me anyway. Im looking at kits and trying to decide what I want. I found a site that I really like. www.birthwithsol.com They have a ball cover that i'd like and I NEED that stool. I'm just too excited.

[StacyL]

Can someone tell me what is the point of a birthing ball? I don't get it.

[blessed2bamommie]

I think it takes the pressure off andit helps to open things up...sitting on it. Its nice support if you want to lay across it too. I notice when I sit on it that it really helps relieve my lower back pressure and I circle my hips on it. Maybe some other mamas can give a better explanation.

[mtn. mama]

Hi mamas! I too am jumping in here. We are planning a homebirth for our fourth baby due 11/8. The others came several weeks early so I wouldn't be surprised with this babe! My first three were waterbirths at the hospital and knowing that this is my last I really wanted to go with where my heart is truly at. Dh has been very into it but is having trouble accepting this new mw. He was so used to and trusted our previous one this is a hard transition. Unfortunately it is coming up again (probably bc we are closer to the end now) in conversation and putting a stress factor on the birth. This has been a real bummer, I struggle with my wishes vs. not wanting dh to feel alienated.

I wanted to add another thought to the birthball question. It works well for laboring moms for several reasons. It definitely helps open the pelvis up. When mom is sitting on it gravity is working with her helping the baby to descend. Mom can sway/rock on it during ctx which is soothing and helpful as a form of pain relief. Moms who are having back labor can use the ball to support them in positions that will take pressure off of the lower back=less pain, i.e. leaning mom's torso over the ball with it on the bed while standing, or on the floor on all fours. It is a versatile tool that is great for moms in labor and pospartum, esp. if they have sore bottoms or lower back pain. And of course can be used pp to get back into shape! I love using it with my birthing moms! If you check it out more and want to get one, make sure it is burst resistant!

[Jemper]

Just a quick add to the birthing ball discussion ~ it's great to sit on in the final weeks of PG to help baby's head engage and face anterior!

[feebeeglee]

howdy, up late with heartburn and due in 25 days, 4th baby, 3rd hb