What snacks/drinks will you have on hand?

[nova22]

I'm trying to get things organized for my first homebirth, which should be happening very soon and I want to have a full supply of snacks and drinks.

I already have RRL tea bags, and I'm going to get some lemon Italian ice and cranberry juice (things I've craved in the past).

Other than that, what snacks and drinks would you recommend? What will you/did you have at your HB? At my last birth, I was very hungry throughout my labor, but we were already in the hospital and all they had was salty stuff (like potato chips) and I couldn't even think about eating that while I was in labor. :

[Belleweather]

I didn't want much of anything to eat, but drank gatorade and emergenC to keep my blood sugar from bottoming out. (In fact, I had to ask for an emergenC like 2 minutes before DS was born because I knew I was about to birth this baby and was damned if I was going to do it shaking so hard I couldn't hold him when he got here!)

This time I'd really like to have some easy, quick snacks for everyone else because I know my husband was starving by the time the baby was born. But I'm trying to think of something that is not smelly or loud to eat and won't bother me in labor and I'm blanking.

I also want to have Matzoh ball soup ready to eat after the birth.

[rere]

I ate a whole tub of yogurt.I couldn't even think about chewing but the yogurt was nice.Especially since people were feeding it to me.

[XanaduMama]

I didn't want to eat last time either but was really glad to have brought along a bunch of Gatorade (hospital birth)--I think I drank about a gallon immediately after ds was born!

Some clever mamas have suggested making RRL tea into popsicles for labor. Sounds like a brilliant idea to me.

[cornpicker]

Oh, this is a good question, I've been thinking about this, too. I also want easy yet filling snacks for DH, MW, doula so no one goes hungry.

[MamaEssie]

With my first two I had graham crackers with peanut butter for lunch while in labor...protein and carbs for lots of labor energy. With my second I had frozen strawberries for a smoothie because I heard that strawberry juice can help with pain management but that made me really nauseous so I don't think I'll be trying that one again!

[AuntG]

I had all kinds of nice things ready....graham crackers, honey, juices, RRL tea, protein drinks and fruits, etc, but didn't even think about those things.

I had been in labor a few hours already when my husband left work for the day. He stopped off and got loads of BBQ and sides for us and the friends I had over at the time.
Later, about two hours before I delivered, he fixed me leftovers! It was so weird -- besides the intermittent pain, it all just seemed like any other ordinary night!

[AngelaB]

I hadnt even considered this, so great post!!
I plan to go out to eat in early labor!! Last time we had french toast and eggs, bacon and coffee. It was wonderful. We dont eat out often at all so this will be fun and distracting.

I loved 7 up to drink in labor last time. I will just stock the fridge with food and let everyone graze and keep delivery food numbers handy. I would love to see the pizza guys face when he delivers that pizza

Angela

[natural_mama89]

I didn't have time to eat

With my DS I had a very short (6hr) labor with no rest in between contractions really, and when we got to the birth center I had to start pushing immediately. I liked to sip apple and orange juice to keep my blood sugar up, though. I felt kind of bad because my DP had bought a whole bunch of food for me to eat in labor and I didn't. This time we are planning a home birth, so maybe I will be able to eat because we will not be rushing about. With DS we didn't have a phone, so we had to go to a friend's house to call the midwife!

[natural_mama89]

My midwives include on the birth supplies list as suggestions:
juice, crackers, fruit, gatorade, protien bars, applesauce, popsicles, yogurt, soup/broth

[charmama]

With my first I didn't even think to plan for food, but happened to have made a batch of oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies in early labor. I don't think I had any, but everyone else enjoyed them!

With #2 I planned ahead and got some different dried fruits, nuts, crackers, cheese, and a couple bags of chocolates, along with having water, teas and juice on-hand. Labor was so fast I didn't even have time to set anything out, but afterward we all snacked while basking in the glow of the beautiful new babe. The chocolates were so good, and sort of celebratory.

[luckyjen]

Heh heh. I had a loooong labor with my DD (46 hours) so I wanted to (and did) eat, especially for the first day or so of labor. I don't think I had bought much ahead of time, but my parents brought a bunch of stuff over. I know that I was glad to have:

eggs (I craved scrambled eggs for some reason early in labor)
wheat bread (for toast)
yogurt (I loved having the drinkable kinds of smoothie/yogurts)
energy drinks
lots of water

Hope this helps and best wishes to you!

Jen, mama to Anna (born at home 11/2/06)

[lovemy4boys]

Food? Eww. I couldn't think of food during labor. I did have lots of Emergen-C though. And water. And bendy STRAWS. And I drank a cup of hot calcium magnesium drink with lemon, too. Red raspberry leaf tea, also. Afterwards, I was famished and my midwife made me a sandwich with fresh baby spinach leaves, red bell peppers, and cheese. It was soooo good. And I didn't have to wash the plate, either.

[~Kristina~]

I'm planning on having:

oatmeal
cereal
bagels
deli meats/cheese
chips
maybe a crock pot meal
Power Aid
coffee
snacks for the kids

[blissful_maia]

I really like having soup during labor.

[Julian's Momma]

Originally Posted by Belleweather

emergenC to keep my blood sugar from bottoming out

Yes! EmergenC was the only thing I consumed, and lots of it! I am usually a ravenous eater but didn't eat a thing during labor.

The EmergenC came in very handy as I delivered well after my water broke and we wanted to be sure to avoid any infection. Also laboring in a hot tub can get you dehydrated quickly so helped to keep fluids going in me too!

You will have an awesome home delivery! Yeah!!!

[HeatherB]

I drank lots of Gatorade during my homebirth (which was quite a treat as I'd been pretty much sugar-free for a few months!), and ate some light things like fruit, toast, etc. I'm sure I ate more than that in the whole labor (which was about 3 days long), but I didn't have too much.

Afterwards, my MWs said I could eat anything I wanted but HAD to eat right away (well, maybe it was an hour after the birth, but once we were settled). It was the middle of the night and I sent my folks out for taquitos from Whataburger. For some reason, they were perfect!

I'm looking forward to more of the purple Gatorade again. And I'm planning, again, to have light snacks on hand - love the graham cracker idea. Bagels sound great, and I keep thinking of watermelon, but it may not be available in October!

[Romana]

I will definitely be having quesadillas with salsa and fresh grapes again. It was awesome during labor (I ate during active labor) and I didn't get stomach upset or throw up or anything. I definitely needed the energy as I ended up with a very long second stage.

I'm really not into the "light foods" thing. I see no reason why I shouldn't eat normally while in labor, if that's what I desire.

The labor food I had was literally the best-tasting food I've ever eaten. I'm looking forward to a repeat!

[jerawo]

I had a bunch of stuff, all vegan friendly for the MWs, but didn't eat any of it. The only thing I ate during labor was a cracker which I immediately threw up (didn't realize I was so close to transition when I got out of bed in the morning). I couldn't even keep water down, so I sucked on ice which I had to spit out once a contraction came.

Afterwards I remember eating the yummiest, ripest pear, and it was one of the best things I have ever eaten in my life.

[cornpicker]

I don't know if there are any other distance runners out there, but I passed the running store last night and bought a few packets of Gu. Who knows? Maybe I will want them in labor. The choc and vanilla ones taste like frosting.