Home birth: what did you do with the other dcs?

[Belgianchocolates]

I was going through the home birth thread that's active at the moment and some of you mention the other dcs. I'm hoping for a HB with dc3. DS is 7 and dd is 5. It would be nice to know what everyone did with the other dcs, just to have an idea what to do with my own if I go into labour out of school hours. Did anyone have them with them for ther birth? Were they in the house? Were they around and popping in and out? How did they react to seeing their mum in labour if they did see you labouring?

California I think that being in the water would not only work as good analgesia for my SPD, which is a lot worse than with the other 2. I hope it will also work a bit as a barrier between me and the rest of the world and let me go into my own little world like with the other 2 labours, despite having ds and dd around.
My ds is getting quite mature and he's starting to grasp complicated things when I explain them to him, so I'll definitely talk to him in depth when the time comes a bit closer. My dd tends to let things go over her head a lot more. I have already talked to them about it in general, they know my tummy will go hard, and that the baby will come from a hole inbetween my legs, but I haven't talked to them that I'll be behaving a bit differently on that day.

Thanks to everyone who recommended the 'Helly Baby' book. I'll have a look for it on Amazon.