Traditions, ideas?

[tex.mom]

Hi! I'm new here and planning my first homebirth in Sept. with a CNM. I have two children, my oldest was born naturally but in a hospital setting (not doing that again) and my youngest is adopted.

So I'm wondering, can anyone give me some good ideas for homebirth "traditions"? I've started thinking about it because I've been reading "Runa's Birth" to my daughter and in it they toast with champagne after the baby is born, which is nothing out-of-the-ordinary but I might not have thought of it otherwise. They also have a candle that looks like it has special meaning lit in a few illustrations. I'd like to do some special things, especially with our children.

[sapphire_chan]

I know some mamas here bake bread during the first stage of labor. I think that would be nice to do with older siblings.

[paisley]

I am planning to bake a birthday cake for this one so we can all sing Happy Birthday when s/he's born.

[CuckooMamma]

These really aren't traditions, but they're things we did that turned out being really meaningful for us. I began labor in the am before dd was awake. When she was waking up I lay next to her and told her that we were having the baby that day and that she could call everyone to let them know. Once we got up she loved calling and telling relatives that today was "the day".

Because dh didnt have a lot of vacation time, I told him to go to work until I called him. As a result, dd was my labor partner. I had her look at the clock and tell me what it said (digital clock) at the beginning and end of contractions so that I could time them. I was running around the house cleaning up, so it was kind of fun for us to yell back and forth to each other.

We also did a lot of singing up until transition. Old MacDonald has a special place in my heart now

We'd planned on baking a cake but our labor was way too quick. I got the dishes washed and the cat litter changed and not much else!

All the best with your birth. You'll absolutely love it!

[Emilie]

we lit our wedding unity candle and the candle from our wedding for my dhs deceased mother.
remember tradtions can be all your own so maybe go pick out a new candle with the siblings etc for the birth.
homebirth is the way to go!!!! good for you.

[georgia]

Having the older children cut the cord was really special for our family. Perhaps having them announce the sex?

I might be muddling this up, but....I've seen a beautiful candle ceremony where there's a family candle and then a smaller candle for each member of the family. Everyone takes their candle, lit from the main candle and lights the next family member's candle down the line until it's baby's turn. The next to youngest would get to light baby's candle. Our family's love burns bright. I, Carrie, granddaughter of S, daughter of Wanda, mother to Tim and Elise and someone new, partner to Steve. I, Steve, son of Mary, dh to Carrie, father to Tim and Elise, share my light and love with Carrie. ......then, mom or dad can help the little ones w/words and or lighting. As baby's candle is lit, you can announce his/her name and welcome baby to family and then talk about warmth, light, love....

[Emilie]

beautiful georgia.....

[awinkler]

I wasn't sure what I would want to do while in labor, so I kept an open mind. I thought I would want to make cupcakes, but it turns out I really didn't! I have a little pregnant goddess statue that helped me during labor, and I had a small water fountain running during labor. We had sparkling juice to celebrate our baby's arrival, and we had eggs, bacon, and toast for our first meal.

I thought I would want music playing, but it turns out that I wanted things quiet

Good luck!

[megny]

Both times, we've had a "birthday" party the day of my DD's birth, with a cake and some fabulous Chinese food. Didn't really expect this to be *the* tradition for us, but after having done it twice it seems like the thing to do this time too.

I love the other beautiful ideas shared here, though... Have to think about perhaps adding something to our "tradition".

[mommy_milky]

When my little brother was born at home (29 years ago!), my dad got the family a cake from a bakery. And a zero candle (the kind that's supposed to spell out "30" but we only had the zero. I had just turned six the day before his birth, and the whole birthday party was very exciting for everyone! For years after we always had a Snowflake Bakery cake to celebrate his birth.

When my daughter was born at home (2.5 years ago!), we didnt really have any special ritual, but we did make sure that one of our friends who attended the birth had the job of taking pictures. I put the photos in a really special album, and my daughter loves looking at it! We look at the birth book and tell tell her the whole story, and she really gets into it. We're welcoming a new baby sometime in late Sept/early Oct, and my hope is that the birth book is helping her prepare, too.

I won't say no to a fancy bakery cake though!

[JENinOR]

We do homemade ice cream cakes for birthdays and I will buy one to have in the freezer for a family/birthteam birthday party when this baby comes. MMM, ice cream cake in the heat of the summer and after labor sounds soooo good right now Aslo, we will sing happy birthday to baby and take pictures for a special baby album I am going to make. Pictures for my baby is the most important to me, maybe because I have maybe a handful of photo's from my baby and growning up years. I'll keep it simple though so it gets done and basically just border pics with colored photo mounting paper that is cut with decorative scissors and write under the photos. I use cards that have been given and cut the pics, printed sayings, personal writing out and decorate with those. Maybe some stickers and craft punches as well.

The main componets of the album are:
pregnancy pics
pics of prelabor
pics of mom and dad meeting baby after birth
pics of our kids meeting baby after we call them in (shortly after placenta is born)
pics of our new family on baby's birthday (taken before whoever cares for my children during labor leaves *after midwives leave and dad, mom, and baby have napped!)
pics of midwives with family members especially baby and me
birth certificate with foot prints (filled out and done by midwife by or on one week well baby)
ultra sound pics (only have one baby that was necessary to do)
pic of our home
birth announcement
birthday cake and party pics

Congratulations on your baby coming!

[Arwyn]

I've heard of passing out candles to all your family/friends at your shower or blessing before birth, then when you're in labor letting one person know (so they can pass it down the line) and they all light the candles in their homes for you. You can light one, too.

Candle light can be a nice focal point.

[mammamoon]

I was comming to this forum to post this exact thread!
I'm not due until Feb but thinking of the birth and planning gets me through the rough days of being sick.

I have a few ideas of birth traditions I want to incorporate. One is a birthing quilt made by me and family and friends. Created coopertivly and wraped around baby and me after birth. All my loved ones will symboliclly holding loving and supporting us on our first moments together.

Another is a birth necklace or bracelet. Gather beads from friends and family members and string them together, use it as a focal point or as a mala (or rosary) while in labor .

Another idea is to make a birth collage to hang on the wall. Glueing together pictures that empower you in labor. They might be pics of laboring women, or pregnant women, Babies, nature pics or pics of your family. You can look at it and feel inspired while in labor.(For my first birth in a hospital all I had to look at was a bright red electrical outlet)

When the baby is born we are going to sing a song that traditional midwives used to sing.

Drink camomile tea afterwards, It's soothing to the baby and the mother.

I am open to more ideas, I could talk about this forever. I have too much time on my hands

[rad]

I kind of wih I had started some thing special sooner. These are all great ideas. I wanted to bake a cake or cookies while in labor with my 1st. But that labor went so fast, there was no time. And the last 2 have gone faster. I also have let the kiddos sleep during the births before. So I'd usually just go back to sleep after the baby arrived.

This time my oldest DS wants watch the birth and help Daddy cut the cord. I think maybe I'll have a cake handy so we can have a small birthday party with the older kiddos.

[mammamoon]

Part of any tradition is the process. THe time before you have the baby is part of the labor , part of the birth itself in a spiritual way.
Start preparing now so when you are in labor you won't have to do anything but labor and be in your own sacred space.

The handy cake sounds like a good way to go Rad.

[hrutledge]

I had planned on baking a cake with dd1 when labor started so that we could have a birthday party. However, labor started well after she was in bed for the night and i turned out not to be in the mood for baking When dd1 woke up at 5 a.m. and saw that the midwives were there she ran back into her bedroom and put on her party dress ( pink,lots of ruffles and bows) I'm laughing just remembering. In the middle of pushing she remembered she had forgotten her party shoes so between contractions we were trying to convince her she didn't need them I'm not sure if this is going to be a tradition but I will always remember it. Whatever you plan for your birth will probably get brushed aside when labor starts anyways. You can't predict what you are going to want during labor.

[flapjack]

Often, a lot of the best traditions are the ones that start spontaneously: I'd second mammamoon's suggestion that you stay on top of the housework so that when labour starts, you can concentrate on having the baby.
Personally, though, I think champagne is overrated. My 7yo made me a cup of tea with about twenty sugars, and it was both literally and metaphorically the sweetest thing possible. My guys toasted crumpets for everyone as well.

[BennyPai]

Dh & I made a belly cast the day before dd2 was born. I was having so many contractions it affected the cast.

I'm glad I planned for my doula to take pictures & video. MIL took some great black&white photos as well.
One regret I have is I didn't remember to have a tripod ready / the dresser cleared for the video camera just in case. It turned it that I needed everyone to leave except dh & MW in order to relax to push.
I have no pictures or video during dd's actual birth.

My mw suggested placenta prints, and they came out great! They look like trees w/ branches & there are plenty to frame one for myself & one for my mw. *Though dd is 9mos & I still haven't framed them.

[mamaheart]

We have a next-child-in-line-cuts-the-cord tradition, and that child also bakes the birthday cake, after the birth. If that child isn't really cooking yet, there is alot of help involved and probably a mix, LOL. It's been interesting over the years how often it comes up, "Mama, who made *my* belly button?" - they love to hear the story of their sibling and cutting the cord.

Our midwife for our second baby taught us a tradition of her ancestors' tribe, which is that a woman's first postpartum meal is brown rice with root vegetables. Whatever root veg's we can get, but always ginger and garlic involved. I have found this to be the perfect, perfect food at that moment, so dh always makes that for me.

Kim, mama to 7, expecting a new baby boy July 10th

[lacfalls]

8 yr old dd wants to cut umbilical cord

I had been leaning towards having my dh cut the cord as he did for dd 1 and 2, but after reading these tradition ideas together my dd #1 wants to cut the cord and I think we'll let her. any ideas for something special for dd #2 to do? she is four and will be jealous if we don't make a special "job" for her too.