Is a water birth possible with a fast labor?

[honeybee]

So, with my homebirth with #2, I'd planned to at least labor, and possibly give birth in the birth pool. Dh spent my entire labor trying to get the darn thing filled up, but it wasn't done in time, and I ended up giving birth on the floor of my teensy-tiny upstairs bathroom. I had wanted to get in the shower while laboring, but didn't because I wanted the hot water to go to the birth pool, which I was looking forward to. So, I've had two births and have never been able to use water in labor at all (by the time I got "permission" to get in the tub in the hospital with #1, I was ready to push).

I have access to a La Bassine tub this time around. I'm hoping it will fit in our downstairs bathroom. Does anyone have any tips for getting it filled up faster? Or, how to keep the water semi-warm if we fill it up ahead of time, so we can just add hot water to it for a quick fill-up?

Or should I just chuck the idea and get in my small little bath tub, and at least have the shower?

[roadfamily6now]

I have only had one baby at home. He was born in the shower as we have no tub. with a one hour labor, there would not have been time for a tub anyway.
If you are anticipating another fast labor, why not just labor in the shower or house tub (smaller) instead of going for the full labor pool?

[storychick]

I had a two-hour labor and still managed to get the fishy pool two thirds-full, that worked great. Takes a lot less water than La Bassine or the like, but still has enough room to move in. I used the Intex 5' (I think? the one lots of people here use) round pool and it emptied my hot water heater in about 20 min.

[Defenestrator]

I would turn up the hot water heater as high as it will go and then run two hoses into the pool, one from the kitchen and one from the bathroom (you can get an adapter for the bath faucet or for the shower pipe). If you can get the pool full with one hot water tank (you should be able to) then it will take about 15 minutes this way.

Good luck!

[kerikadi]

We used our own bathtub and I know that fills easier but #4 was a 45 minute labor and I was in there most of that.

This is your third. I would not wait for anyone's permission before getting in the water. As soon as there are any signs of labor I would have DH fill your biggest pots with water and put them on the stove. That way if you decide to take as shower as well as the tub you'll have hot water to add to the tub to make it warm if the water is no longer hot.

[Pauli]

We used an AquaDoula and it had a heater so it would stay warm a long time (we did have to fill it with warm water but the heater maintained the temperature). I don't know how long ahead you could fill it up though....bacteria and stuff might grow i guess. Probably the manufacturer would have guidelines. We rented it for $200 and we had it at the house for almost a month before the birth actually happened.

[Belle]

I had a four hour labor. My dh didn't belive that I was really in labor so he kind of putted around and avoided getting the tub ready. I didn't get in until I was pushing. I spent most of my labor on the toilet. But I did have a water birth.

[barefootpoetry]

A friend of mine was in labor for all of three hours but had him in the water. It was in her bathtub though, dunno if there would have been time for a pool.

[SublimeBirthGirl]

I had my 2nd in the water. Her labor was less than 4 hours long. I wonder why it takes so long for people to fill tubs. I think I told my DH around midnight I wanted it filled, and it was full by 12:30. It was big, too.

[srlpenny]

I had ds in water. My labor, from first twinge which I thought was indigestion, to birth was 1 hr 51 min.
I have a history of fast labors so we knew it would be a challenge to get the tub ready so this is what we did:
1. We had a fishy pool, which we kept inflated in our MB from 38 weeks on. No need for a heater or all the other bells and whistles with a fast labor.
2. We kept it with about 5 inches of water in the bottom of it at all times (and our door locked so the kids didn't get into it) then when the time came we added water at full blast hot to mix with the cold. It gave us the right depth and temperature quickest.
Note: We changed the water every few days, and we did a few trial run, measuring the height of the water, the temp and time to preferred depth so that we had it down before I went into labor.
3. If you can turn up the hot water heater, do it. hoter water faster.

Good luck!

[Eman'smom]

I've had 3 fast labors and two waterbirths. With dd our hospital waterbirth, the tub filled fast. Our home waterbirth dh was also able to fill the tub in less than and hour ( I got in about 10 minutes before she was born). We did several trial runs so by the time I went into labor it went fine. We had the water heater turned all the way up, so the first water was screaming hot, but by then it ran cold so that the by the time it it the "fill line" it was the perfect temperature.


Basically dh would support me durning a contraction, do a set up step, support me for a contraction, do a set up set......

[pazerific]

i just had a pretty quick labor and gave birth in a la bassine. we had an aqua doula the first go around, and it was a bit more work to get up and took longer to fill. if you have an air pump, you can have the tub up and inflated in 10min or less. filling it didn't take too long either. we have a smallish hot water tank, and the tub was actually too hot. we dumped the entire ice maker tray in the tub and took out a few big potfuls of water and replaced it with just cold. hth!

[erinspice]

Yes. I was in active labor for 20 minutes and could have managed a water birth if that's what I'd planned.

[naturallyspeaking]

Your story reminded me my birthstory with #2. We had set up a hot tub in the living room the month before but I never got to go in. My labor progressed so fast and the midwife still didn't arrive yet by the time the baby was born :. (it was almost unassisted birth)... (I wanted the mw's OK before going in the water). I was a little disappointed that I didn't get to experience the soothing waterbirth but was glad that my labor was short (a little over 2 hours from the first noticeable pain). This time, I'll use the bathtub in the bath if time permits

Originally Posted by honeybee

So, with my homebirth with #2, I'd planned to at least labor, and possibly give birth in the birth pool. Dh spent my entire labor trying to get the darn thing filled up, but it wasn't done in time, and I ended up giving birth on the floor of my teensy-tiny upstairs bathroom. I had wanted to get in the shower while laboring, but didn't because I wanted the hot water to go to the birth pool, which I was looking forward to. So, I've had two births and have never been able to use water in labor at all (by the time I got "permission" to get in the tub in the hospital with #1, I was ready to push).

I have access to a La Bassine tub this time around. I'm hoping it will fit in our downstairs bathroom. Does anyone have any tips for getting it filled up faster? Or, how to keep the water semi-warm if we fill it up ahead of time, so we can just add hot water to it for a quick fill-up?

Or should I just chuck the idea and get in my small little bath tub, and at least have the shower?

[ChristSavesAll]

Here's my idea....http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=940725

[2+twins]

My second & subsequent births were really fast but I did manage to get the tub ready in time. The first time around (2nd birth) my water happened to break before contractions began giving me a tiny headstart. Contractions started up about 10-15 minutes later but during that time I told dh to go ahead and fill the tub. We did run out of hot water (I didn't yet know to crank the water heater up) so dh boiled pots of water and added those to the tub as cold water ran in. We were able to get it full enough before the birth (I distinctly remember telling him we had enough water and that I didn't want anymore). That was an Aquadoula tub - so pretty big. My baby was born 90 minutes after the first contraction, in the water.

Because of that experience I was prepared for another fast birth the next time around (which happened to be my twins). I had a Spa-in-a-Box which has the wonderful benefit of a locking cover AND a heater to keep the water warm. What I chose to do was to keep it filled with fresh water which I changed out every other day. I did scrub down the tub each day though b/c the walls/floor would start to feel slipper which wasn't a good thing for a laboring mama. I therefore had the tub ready to go when I went into labor which was a good thing b/c Baby A was born just 41 minutes later (in the water)!

[ZoeyZoo]

I had a three hour labor and labored in a pool (I have a Sevylor which uses less water than the La Bassine). Almost didn't because DH never even blew up the pool and our electronic air pump didn't fit the pool so we had to dig out and use one from out air mattress that kept going out. (You can tell we never did a trial...)I actually didn't like it and got out of the pool and labored on the side of the pool outside the water! LOL!

My advice would be to have the pool inflated and the hose ready so all you have to do is put the water in. Filling the pool took about 1/2 hour for us (and he have only a 25 gallon water tank).