Homebirthing Mamas Expecting in January

[OhMel]

We had a great (but long) homebirth with ds. There are a few things I wish had been done differently (really really minor things) but overall it was a wonderful and empowering experience. We will be planning another for the wee one.

The only kink in the works is that my midwife is having a baby next month. That would put her babe at almost 6 months when mine is due. I talked to her a few months ago when we were thinking of TTC and she said while she wouldn't be taking new clients at that point she would deliver repeat clients in the area. As we live about a half of a mile away we qualify. She did say she may need to have her baby there as she will be nursing.

During my last pregnancy I had co-care with a CNM but this time I don't feel like I want to bother. (The CNM practice I went to just moved to a very icky hospital.) Is anyone else forgoing co-care? Will you be doing any USs/GD testing? I would love to hear your plans.

Melinda

[because]

I'm having another HB but with a different midwife (long story).

We do regular prenatal stuff like blood pressure, urine testing for protein and sugar, weight, measurements, and baby's heart rate (although I'm not sure if we'll use a doppler or wait for the fetoscope). We will not do any u/s or other testing unless there is an indication that more information is needed. For example, I never spilled any sugar with DD but if I consistently did and diet and close urine monitoring didn't help, we would follow up with more GD testing. I tested neg for GBS with DD, have since changed my mind on what to do in case of GBS colonization anyway, and will not do that test this time.

I don't plan to see any other care providers unless a reason develops.

Our birth will be attended by a CPM and an apprentice. We'll have a tub set up and I'll probably labor in it like last time but I don't know if I'll deliver in it - I wanted dry land when pushing last time.

We haven't made decisions about where DD (3 by the birth) will be. We're going to have someone designated as "her" person and I think we'll follow her cues when the time comes.

I'll also have a full staff of people. :LOL I'm very needy in labor and it takes a village... We'll have at least: DH, midwife, apprentice, DD's person, photographer, DH's support person (last time it was my dad because his hands were the only ones strong enough to squeeze me when DH needed a break), and my mom (but she might be DD's person). Whew!

I can see how this could be, like, 8 separate threads...

[OhMel]

I only became crunchy half-way through my pregnancy (I actually uttered the sentence "I think elective c-sections are a great idea.") so I saw an OB for the first 6 months. I had 3 USs. I think they just liked the money. I don't know if we'll do the 20 week one or not. Some of my friends have gotten them to rule out placenta previa and other things that would eliminate the option of HB. I did feel that the latter two us's were great bonding moments for dh and me.

I know what you mean about lot's of people in attendance. We will have the midwife, her assistant (just another mw), her baby, someone to take care of her baby, dh, ds, someone to take care of ds, and someone to take dh's place when he needs to smoke. Geesh. That's a lot. UC appeals to me but dh says why take the risk. Maybe this labor will just be super fast and end up unassisted anyway.

[because]

Originally Posted by OhMel

UC appeals to me but dh says why take the risk. Maybe this labor will just be super fast and end up unassisted anyway.

That's my secret UC fantasy!!

[hottmama]

Ha, some UCers would say why take the risk of interventions that come along with a midwife? Which isn't where I'm coming from, I just know that I don't need a midwife. For those who do, that's cool. Everyone should have the birth they want (as long as it's safe for baby- epidurals and elective/unnecessary c-sections irk me). Anyways, I'm having an unassisted homebirth, so yeah. Homebirthing, yay! I'm hoping for a waterbirth, but who knows how I'll feel when the time comes.

[Black Orchid]

We haven't decided whether to opt for a homebirth or the birth center... The birth center is actually set up much better than our home and it might be nice to not have to be concerned about waking my DD or scaring her when I am in labor (she has issues with noise). We do not have a jacuzzi or a place to put a freestanding one and the BC has three of them and most likely we will be the only family there and have the whole floor to ourselves.

OTOH I am like others on this thread who secretly wish it would be taken out of my hands and I'd end up with a homebirth by default. I progressed very fast with my DD once my water broke (from 4 cm to fully dialated and ready to push in 45 min) and it was easy pushing her out.

I just love that there is a thread like this on this board! I briefly was a member of a TTC group elsewhere and when I told them I was considering a h/b, they all agreed that it was irresponsible considering "what could go wrong" and "birth should be handled by trained professionals". Gag. It is nice to discuss these options without feeling like I'm being stared at!

[OhMel]

Mandy, was your first child born unassisted?

Black Orchid, that sounds like a wonderful birth center. I am working with a group of women to get one started in this area. I think it would be beneficial to a lot of people.

[Mama2Tristan]

I'm thinking about a home birth, but not sure yet. My sister's unschooling playgroup just went through several tragedies involving home births, so I'm easily influenced by that sort of thing...but I definitely would love one. Unfortunately, since I live in Illinois, we do not have any freestanding birth centers - thanks to the AMA...

[EllasMummy]

I gave birth to DD in hospital, it never crossed my mind to have a home birth. I wasnt so crunchy then.

I would love to have a home birth this time. In the UK everyone has the right to a home birth with an NHS midwife but they really try hard to persuade you out of it. I am hoping that our community midwife is supportive of homebirths, I won't meet her till I am 8 weeks though.

[ahuva]

Hi. We just got the pink line today (actually a faint one a couple of days ago). We had a homebirth with our DS, and are planning another one this January with one of the midwives who attended us before.

I highly recommend renting a birth tub. It really got me through labor last time and we're definitely going to have one again.

We're not planning an u/s or GD testing either, unless something comes up, I guess. We didn't do either last time.

Also, as for having a midwife who has a 6-mo. old at a birth, I think it should be fine. I brought my son to a birth when he was 4 months old, and it wasn't a problem, especially considering that there were people around to help out and he slept through most of it.

Glad to join you all!

[Jlse]

We are planning our first home waterbirth - also vbac! I don't have a midwife yet - still asking around but there are several near me so I'm not worried about that. I just started reading up on 'The Bradely Method' and have been going to a local homebirth meet-up group for several months. Oh and can I say I'm kinda in denial about the vbac thing - I mean I know that is what happened but it still seems odd to think that was me. After all I had planned a natural birth with ds

So anyways, planning to have success this time around. We aren't doing an u/s or any other testing (just did urine monitoring with ds). I've done lots of reading about UC but dh isn't in that place yet and I'm happy with where we are now!

[hottmama]

OhMel- I had a CNM attended hospital birth with Julian, and she did everything she could to make a fast, healthy labor bad. She broke my water when I was 9.5cm and progressing fine and then forced an episiotomy on me. She then cut the cord almost immediately- uggh. I caught him myself, though, and was drugfree. I wish I would have known about UC then because I would definitely have done it! I HATED being in the hospital, and was only there for 15 hours total, before and after the birth. If I had any friends who were midwives, I might consider having them come to my UC, but I don't want any strangers at my birth this time around.

[megpaw]

We had a totally unnecessary c-section with dd's, and a horrible recovery, so we are swinging completely the other direction and are planning a HB with this kiddo. I've already found a midwife and set up an appointment! Now, I just have to convince this baby to stick!

[rebx]

If all goes well, I'll be having this baby at home...DD was born at a freestanding birthcenter, and I had a wonderful experience. Our house was so tiny, there wasn't room for a birthing tub or the 12 people who were in the room with me when DD was born (DH, my Mom & Dad, my sisters, and a handful of good friends along with the MW and assistant). I really wanted DD born into a room full of love, and that's what happened.

Now, we're in a larger house, but we're on an island and farther from back-up medical assistance if necessary. I don't have any fear around birth, but my DH is anxious about the transfer time if a transport is needed. The great midwife who attends homebirths here is very frank about this, too - She says there are definitely some potential situations where the transfer time could lead to a bad outcome. But, she's comfortable delivering babies here, and that's enough for me, as I'm comfortable, too.

The more serious complication is that our insurance doesn't cover this midwife, the only one who routinely attends homebirths here. And we don't really have enough $ sitting around to pay out-of-pocket.

So, I might end up with 2 midwives a ferry ride away. They're fully covered by our insurance, I like them, and they'll attend a homebirth on my island if there aren't other women in active labor at the same time. If they couldn't make it over on the ferry, I'd have to catch the boat and meet them at 1 of 2 freestanding birth centers in the city. We shall see...

[Persephone]

I'm posting here and in the UC thread, cause I haven't decided yet which one I"ll be doing. It'll definitely be a homebirth, but I'm not sure about whether we'll have a midwife there or not. If I can get a good one that will basically sit in the other room and leave me alone, I'll likely have a midwife there. But she's also a doula, so maybe I'll just ask her to come as a doula. Cause if I want the midwife there for no reason, why bother even having her there? Yeah, so as you can see, I'm still wrestling with this. Thank goodness I have time to figure it out.

[OhMel]

Well I'm glad we have so many HB'ing mamas aboard. If I could swing dh I would go unassisted, but he'd much rather have the midwife here. And he's a pretty NFL type of guy -- he pushed me into looking into HB with the first munchkin.

I had my first app't today. I mentioned that I felt that having a lot of people (ok, 3 + dh) at my labor made it stall. We didn't really explore it but I put that out there. I also said I was looking to have her there for the pushing stage and that was about it. I also declined to record my weight. She is a DEM but is licensed in WA so she's a bit more techy than most midwives. Other than a bunch of talking, I peed on a stick and had my bp taken. I'm ok with that.

[guestmama9906]

We will be trying for a homebirth with this babe--we just live an hour away from a hospital and that's a potential problem.

[anarchamama]

I had a great experience HBing Ds and plan to with this baby as well!

Heather

[Sweeney]

Thought I'd check in as well!

I'm due aroundish Jan. 6, but I went a week late last time so I'm not paying much attention to any date

This is my second pregnancy and I'm still patting myself on the back for switching from the OB practice I started with to the local CNM group about halfway through. The birth was awesome, they were great, the hospital sucked, but the midwives were wonderful.

So DEFINITELY at home next time. I'm wavering between having a hands-on or hands-off midwife, or even heading towards UC. The thing is, if this birth is exactly like my first, I could do UC no problem. And I really don't want to pay someone thousands of dollars (not covered by insurance!) to come sit in a corner and not bother me. But what if something happens? ARGHHH! Well I've got some time to figure it out.

Glad to join you!

[OhMel]

Originally Posted by Sweeney

I'm wavering between having a hands-on or hands-off midwife, or even heading towards UC. The thing is, if this birth is exactly like my first, I could do UC no problem. And I really don't want to pay someone thousands of dollars (not covered by insurance!) to come sit in a corner and not bother me. But what if something happens?

This is my dilemma as well. My mw is pretty hands-on but is very respectful too. With the first I didn't have any particular requests so I'm hoping she'll be ok with my hands-off request this time. I did decline to do weigh-ins and she was fine with that.

Has anyone read Ina May's new book? I was really surprised how hands-on they are.