I know this has been discussed a thousand times, but I did a search and couldn't find it. Help a foggy-headed preggo out, please. :)

We have a Sevylor inflatable pool all ready to go. Can someone please tell me exactly what I need to buy to fill and drain it?

Also, someone posted recently about a submerged pump that you can put in the toilet to do the draining... more information on that?

Bonus points to links showing me what this stuff is. I'm tellin' you, the brain is moving mighty slowly these days. ;) I'd actually assigned the "figure out how to get water in and out" task to DH, but I trust y'all more than I trust him on this one-- after all, you're the experts!

I wanna know too! There is a converter you can buy to put on your sink faucet that attaches to a hose that we are probably going to use--so you can have hot water etc... as our kitchen opens into the living area and the tub will probably be on the tile in the kitchen, so we have that figured out....(you can get the converter at hardware stores or RV stores)

but I dunno what the heck to do about draining either! Please help us!

We use the converter for the sink for filling. For draining I have: Taken a shorter hose and drained it out the door (could also do the sink or bathtub but my lawn needed watered ;) ), on our second floor we stuck the hose out the window and drained it that way. Dh needed to turn the pool upright to get the water to go into the corner once it got really shallow (but this was with a fishy pool). Left overs were thrown out with cups and buckets. The one where we had to use the shorter hose we just didn't have enough pressure with the lonegr hose. Dh just took a old garden hose and cut it in half. I thought he was just so clever to figure that out ;)

Michelle

We are using a garden hose hooked up to the washer connections for filling with hot or cold water. I dunno about draining. I figure a bucket or two. My mid-wife and assistant will do that when we are all through. They are on cleanup duty. If we run out of hot water we will have to boil it on the stove. We're not getting any kind of pump or anything.

The hose I bought is safe for drinking water and screws onto the faucet in my bathroom sink for filling. I wouldn't want to use a regular garden hose, because of the risk of chemicals leaching into the hot water. The hose is white, 25' long, and marketed for use in RVs and boats.

I bought a water bed drain and fill kit to use to empty the pool. You hook it up to your sink, attach the hose, turn the water on and it empties the pool. I imagine we'll also use some buckets to completely drain it.

For filling:
Make sure that you use a NEW hose! not one that's been growing things in your yard! You can use your sink or washer connector. If using washer connector you can buy a "Y" splitter which would allow you to connect both washer connections (cold & hot) to one hose so you can adjust the temp. You can accomplish water temp adjustments with your sink faucet too by buying a converter to put on your sink. You can get these items at your local hardware store. You can turn the temp up on your hot water heater in early labor to allow for hotter water... be sure to turn the temp back down to avoid accidental scalding... I usually like to have a large cooking pot nearby to bucket out water when it gets too cold and then add more hot.

For draining...
You can buy a submersible pump at the hardware store or walmart if your ok with walmart... These pumps are about $50-$70 and will drain you tub in about 5-10 minutes. I know one woman who bought the pump, kept the receipt, and then returned it after the fact. I bought one for my birth & now share it with others. (that's why the pump is only used AFTER the birth)

It is also nice to have a small fishnet just in case someone needs to fish any floaters out.

I'm planning on getting a Python (or similar brand/product), which is sold in pet stores for filling and draining fish tanks. If I remember correctly, the hose is drinking water safe (it has to be for salt water fish tanks!). You hook it up to your sink, turn on the water and fill the tub. When you need to drain the tub (a little or all the way), you turn the water back on but first flip a switch on the Python and it sucks the water out instead of filling it (similar to the way a free-standing dishwasher or clothes washer works). The hoses come in lenghts of up to 100 feet, I believe. The filling/draining end is a siphon designed for filtering gravel and emptying tanks, so it gets just about every bit of water out.

we got potable hoses from home depot to go all the way from the basement to our upstairs bedroom.. we got a waterbed fill/drain kit from a furnature store (I am offering it FFS on the trading post if you are interested...)

somehow it all worked out.. :)

I have some info on my website: http://www.midwifemama.com/waterbirth_hints.html

Some boating stores have inexpensive pumps to drain tubs, as to aquarium stores. I think you can get one for about $10 and adapt it with some tubing and an adapter to use with a hose (ask the employees for help!). I have a client who made one and her dh gave it to us to use afterwards. Its' great!

If the water gets a bit too cool for mom, we pump some out, then use hoses to put more in!