Homebirthing feels like I am hostesing a party! - Page 2

[Smokering]

LOL! I've thought about this--I love cooking, and I like the idea of having lots of goodies on hand for the midwives to munch.

What happens with meals? Am I supposed to provide those too, or do midwives bring their own or disappear one at a time for meal breaks, or what? I don't mind cooking for them, I just hadn't thought about it. What's a good 'labour meal'?

[Kitten]

I'm not hostessing a party or anything, but I was planning on cleaning during early labor to keep me occupied. Also, it will probably be the last time for a while I might actually have a clean house, LOL, with a newborn and a 3 yr old. But it has snowed 20" here in the past 12 days (newspaper says normal here for the first two weeks of Dec. is about 3 or 4") and I have been shoveling every few days, bleagh. So I told DH last night that I will probably be shoveling in labor so that the midwife can actually get in the door. And then we will take an hour break after the birth and go shovel some more.

[Eman'smom]

I SOOO feel this way. The food thing really bugs me for some reason. I'm supposed to have food for her and her support person during and after my labor. Apparently help yourself to the fridge doesn't cut it : So at the end of my pregnancy I'm supposed to keep midwife food on hand.


Dh and I also feel very private about our space and the midwife only does one home visit before the birth so we won't get the chance to feel comfortable with her in our space.

[akl7248]

I totally understand. I'm fairly certain I wouldn't be able to relax and give birth in a messy house--I have a hard time even goint to sleep if my house isn't in order.

[mama_in_PA]

Wow, I hadn't even thought about feeding our midwife. Ugh, a whole new concern. Well, our next appointment is on Tuesday so I'll just ask her point blank what kinds of foods she likes so that I can have some things prepared.

[Night_Nurse]

For our homebirth, our midwives (we had one chosen midwife but her partner always came along as back up & they also had an apprentice) had a long list of required food/drink items : BOTTLED water, juices, teas, muffins, fruit, veggies, cheese platters, healthy snack foods (nuts, trail mix, etc).
My father, who was there for almost a month prior to watch dd whenever the event happened, was completely annoyed by all of this! He thought all of the food requirements were totally bogus, saying "you're paying them all this money and they can't bring their own lunch"???
Well, the whole 10 hours or so they were there for the birth and recovery, they only ate just a few things. So when they left, I had tons of leftovers - healthy leftovers - that did not require preparation to eat. So I think in hindsight they recommended all of these things so hubby & I could easily eat/snack without cooking and have healthy snacks to feed our 2 yr old. I think we spent the next 3 days eating all of those "required" foods and it was a real blessing not to have to wonder "what should I make to eat"!

[kathywiehl]

I feel like it will be a party here too but I need that! My midwife is 2 hrs away and her assistant is 45 minutes away but will need to pack up her baby and possibly arrange childcare for her other children before she can leave to be here. My last labor was 2 hrs, so just in case this one is quick I'll have some friends on call to come when labor starts. They will be helping out with my kids, and possibly even catching the baby if he comes fast and my dh is too freaked out to do it himself. Knowing these friends, they will probably clean up, make food and do whatever else needs doing before they leave. I plan on having lots of food in the freezer for everyone and I'll probably get really anal about housecleaning but even if my house is messy I won't care. My friends and midwives have seen worse I'm sure. My only worry is not being able to catch up on laundry cause if I've got a big pile sitting here when I give birth, chances are it will stay that way until the baby is 2 weeks old or so and I feel like doing a load a day.

[Fruitful4Him]

Originally Posted by transformed

The reason is that I want my kids there...and MW said I need someone to watch them. So I have each grandma taking a kid. (I dont expect the grandpas to be there.)

And MW and birth assistant...and me, and dh.

Guess its not that many. :

Well, imo.. if it feels like too many, even if it is only one or two people..it is too many for YOUR desires. Feelings are what they are, ya know?

[URwhatU8]

I find this so fun to read, because I thought I was nuts for feeling the same way. For some reason I kept thining of the birth as a party. I wasn't too concerned with the cleaning, it was the meal preperation that drove me nuts. I felt like I had to have meals, drinks and snacks ready for everyone that was planning on being there; my mom, MIL, step-daughter, 2 midwives and 1 midwife student. Some were veggies, some vegan, some meat eaters. I was really starting to panic as my due date approached.

In the end my DS got his was and only Mommy and Daddy where there to welcome him into the world. It's a good thing too, becuase I never did get around to making all those meals.

[zoie2013]

Okay, now I don't feel nuts either. Both my babies were early and I didn't have time to clean as much as I wanted to before, so I was cleaning during. With ds, labor started the same day as my blessing way, so the public parts of the house were clean AND full of food for the mws.

This time, I'm asking for gift certificates to a maid service and I'm planning to use them often my last month of pg. I'm sure I'll still be scrubbing & cleaning anyway, but at least that will be cleaning for hormonal reasons, which is kinda like nesting for the new baby.