a homebirth questions about beds

Mnnice -- sounds like you really love your bed! This might be the best route for you to go:

1. Buy a 99cent shower curtain for your guest bed or carpet depending on where the mood strikes you to labor. Make sure you open it up to air out well before you're due date. The smell of plastic is not very comforting and can cause nausea during labor.

2. Buy a vinyl mattress protector for your bed. It's like a pocket that your plain mattress goes into and gets zipped into. Then your mattress pad goes over the top and then your sheets and then your covers. The cost is from $15-40 depending on the size & quality that you want. Put this on your bed well in advance. It's great in case your water breaks, you throw up, you pee or have messy sex with chocolate (thought I'd make the conversation a little more enticing). Then, when you go into labor, if you feel like hanging out in bed, you just pull off your good sheets & mattress pad & put on some old ones. Also, it's a great thing to have when a newborn comes to your house. Even if you're not planning on cosleeping, the baby will probably be in your bed a little bit in the beginning. The vinyl cover will protect your mattress from any baby juice (ie spit, spit up, poop, pee, breast milk, etc). You can find these vinyl covers at most stores like Target, K-Mart, Wal-Mart, etc.

You never know what's going to work for you during labor. It's best to be prepared for different places you might decide to labor or push out the baby. The trick is to not spend an arm & a leg on things you may not use. Who knows, you may just like to push on your toilet. Talk about minimum mess!

Also, moonshine, I should say, most homebirths aren't messy. But, a bottle of Hydrogen Peroxide on hand is a good idea in case blood gets into the carpet. Chances are -- there won't be a spot! Lots of Chux pads, help protect things, too.

Best wishes to both of you!

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That's what I did (well, my sister did it for me) and it was great to have a fresh bed instantly.

It's really hard to know where you'll end up feeling like birthing. My first I spent all my labor and birth in a big armchair. I think we just used the chux pads to protect it. With my second, the same chair felt horrible and bed is where I wanted to be.

You can easily protect your mattress. Many good suggestions here. We just used bed sized chux pads.

Alison

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That is what we did - minus the blankets, it wasn't quite cold enough for them.
The plastic sheet did make me sweat at night though... it wasn't pleasant but I put up with it. If you're not worried about your water breaking on the bed, I'd just wait until you go into labor to make up the bed like this.

We planned on a waterbirth but we didn't get the pool filled up. I spent a few minutes in the shower and that was it.

I ended up giving birth sort of half on my bed with the midwives supporting my legs. I had a cheap vinyl mattress cover on the mattress and an old dark green sheet over it, which I ended up pulling off b/c I needed something to hold onto. I paid less than $5 for my mattress cover at wal-mart. I also had several chux pads under me, draped over the side of the bed and on the floor.
For PP I bought a heavy duty washable, waterproof pad from cascade, sort of like the ones they use in the hospital, like a cloth version of a chux. I can't stand to sleep on a mattress with a cover, it's too hot and too loud. The washable bed pad was the best hb supply I bought. I sat/slept on it for the first few pp days just incase, and afterwards my ds slept on it for over a year b/c he was wetting the bed almost every night.
he called it his pee pad, and he became attached to it! Now that he doesn't wet the bed anymore he still wants to sleep with it.
I paid a few $$ for it but it was well worth it!
As for blood, we had two tiny spots of blood, one on the carpet and one splattered on the wall when dd's cord was cut. Peroxide got rid of them both, and afterwards I hardly bled at all. I had plastic backed sheets and extra mattress covers and shower curtains but we only used chux and they took care of everything. I still have a supply of plastic backed sheets and things.

Another tip (that I haven't yet seen mentioned here) to prevent mess is to keep the vagina covered while pushing, if your water hasn't yet broken. Having your midwife, your partner, or yourself hold a warm washcloth against your vaginal opening will feel good, help your tissues stretch, and keep the water from flying everywhere! Bags of water often break at the height of a contraction, and I have seen water shoot over 10 feet through the air.....

And, here's the deal, birth can be messy. Accept the mess. That stain on the carpet that you can't get out after the birth...do you think that you will look on that with disgust every time you see it, or will you smile every time it catches your eye? When you move, will you think, thank god I don't have to look at that any more, or will you cut out that piece of carpet and take it with you, wherever you go?

I like chux; they are easily repositioned (unlike big shower curtains) and they hold a surprising amount (again, unlike shower curtains, which will just slosh the fluids around) and don't let stuff leak through (like towels). They *are* disposable, and I know that is unappealing to some, but I still think they are an awesome option, and we use them all the time.