First time home birthers and their support squad

[jollyjoanne]

Not a homebirther personally but wanting to offer support to Boobz and others who are going for a home birth . . .

Adding myself:

DUE
LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn, due 8 September
RealityVonCrapp , due 19 September, DC3
Jammyscone, due 21 September, DC1
2blackcats, due 22 September, DC2
KateeTheBump, due 16 October, DC1
KellyKettle, due 28 Oct, DC2
GirlWithTheMouseyHair, due 24 November, DC2
Tortoiseonthehalfshell, due 26 November, DC2;
usingapseudonym, due 2 Dec, DC2
HoneyLovesCake, due 2 Dec, DC1
redheadbedhead, due 23 Jan 2012 DC1
Boobz, due March 2012, DC3

ARRIVED
SelinaDoula, Baby boy Finn arrived 5 days overdue Aug 3, quick homebirth but transfer due to tear.
JenniL, Baby girl Elise Olivia arrived 28 Aug, crash section due to placental abruption.
KtisPG, Baby boy Edwin James arrived very overdue on 10 Sept, fab hospital waterbirth.
Nannyl, Baby girl born 14 Sept, amazing hypnobirth at home.
MissTriangle, Baby girl Eva born 19 Sept, long labour with transfer to hospital for C-section.

Adding myself:

DUE
LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn, due 8 September
RealityVonCrapp , due 19 September, DC3
Jammyscone, due 21 September, DC1
2blackcats, due 22 September, DC2
KateeTheBump, due 16 October, DC1
KellyKettle, due 28 Oct, DC2
MrsArchchancellorRidcully, due 16 November, DC2
GirlWithTheMouseyHair, due 24 November, DC2
Tortoiseonthehalfshell, due 26 November, DC2;
usingapseudonym, due 2 Dec, DC2
HoneyLovesCake, due 2 Dec, DC1
redheadbedhead, due 23 Jan 2012 DC1
Boobz, due March 2012, DC3

ARRIVED
SelinaDoula, Baby boy Finn arrived 5 days overdue Aug 3, quick homebirth but transfer due to tear.
JenniL, Baby girl Elise Olivia arrived 28 Aug, crash section due to placental abruption.
KtisPG, Baby boy Edwin James arrived very overdue on 10 Sept, fab hospital waterbirth.
Nannyl, Baby girl born 14 Sept, amazing hypnobirth at home.
MissTriangle, Baby girl Eva born 19 Sept, long labour with transfer to hospital for C-section.

Girlwith last time I was induced at 39+4 but I know it was too early for DD and in hindsight should not have been necessary (long story, i won't go there) so I have no idea how long I normally cook em for.

And I am very lucky that DD goes to her nana's house 2 days a week and 3 days a week to private nursery as I work FT, so I can rest in my lunch hour and she will still go to nursery when I'm on mat leave. I remember the months of having no time to yourself and how going back to work was a rest! SAHMs have it the hardest IMO.

yeah they do - I work in theatre so m either at home full time or out of home way more than full time, poor DS doesn't know whether I'm coming or going a lot of the time. I definately find it harder when I'm a home full time

Adding myself:

DUE
LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn, due 8 September
RealityVonCrapp , due 19 September, DC3
Jammyscone, due 21 September, DC1
2blackcats, due 22 September, DC2
KateeTheBump, due 16 October, DC1
KellyKettle, due 28 Oct, DC2
Elgoldenflower, due 28 Oct, DC1
MrsArchchancellorRidcully, due 16 November, DC2
GirlWithTheMouseyHair, due 24 November, DC2
Tortoiseonthehalfshell, due 26 November, DC2;
usingapseudonym, due 2 Dec, DC2
HoneyLovesCake, due 2 Dec, DC1
redheadbedhead, due 23 Jan 2012 DC1
Boobz, due March 2012, DC3

ARRIVED
SelinaDoula, Baby boy Finn arrived 5 days overdue Aug 3, quick homebirth but transfer due to tear.
JenniL, Baby girl Elise Olivia arrived 28 Aug, crash section due to placental abruption.
KtisPG, Baby boy Edwin James arrived very overdue on 10 Sept, fab hospital waterbirth.
Nannyl, Baby girl born 14 Sept, amazing hypnobirth at home.
MissTriangle, Baby girl Eva born 19 Sept, long labour with transfer to hospital for C-section.

Due today!
Had some 2 long sessions (4hrs then 3 hrs) of progressive tightenings yesterday afternoon and this evening but both stopped hoping they kick off again today. I'll be on the birthing ball and off for a walk (on my crutches) later. Come on baby!

Happy Due Date el - come on babygoldenflower!

Kelly, thanks so much for the birth story. My DD is very close in age to yours, so all the info about how you managed to juggle her needs and yours was very interesting.

I think our current plan is that when things get moving, my mum'll come up to ours and between her and DH they can manage DD. DD's pretty intensely demanding of my attention generally, but she loves and adores her Nana beyond all reason, so even if I end up saying "can you take her out of the house for a bit" she should be okay. I hope!

Another one who is keeping DD in part time nursery while I'm on mat leave - luckily she's just moved up a room and adores it to bits, so I don't feel as guilty as I'd feared.

Good luck el!

I'm glad it helped Tortoise

I am wishing DD1 was in nursery part time. She starts in January but it would be lovely to have time on my own now with DD2. I even emailed the nursery to make sure her name was still on the waiting list.

I think your plan sounds like a good one. If my sister had been willing to be at the birth I would have liked to have her here for DD1 so I could have DH with me or perhaps have her with me. She wasn't keen though so we muddled through and it worked out.

Happy due date Elgoldenflower

DUE
LoveBeingAtHomeOnMyOwn, due 8 September
RealityVonCrapp , due 19 September, DC3
Jammyscone, due 21 September, DC1
2blackcats, due 22 September, DC2
KateeTheBump, due 16 October, DC1
Elgoldenflower, due 28 Oct, DC1
MrsArchchancellorRidcully, due 16 November, DC2
GirlWithTheMouseyHair, due 24 November, DC2
Tortoiseonthehalfshell, due 26 November, DC2;
usingapseudonym, due 2 Dec, DC2
HoneyLovesCake, due 2 Dec, DC1
redheadbedhead, due 23 Jan 2012 DC1
Boobz, due March 2012, DC3

ARRIVED
SelinaDoula, Baby boy Finn arrived 5 days overdue Aug 3, quick homebirth but transfer due to tear.
JenniL, Baby girl Elise Olivia arrived 28 Aug, crash section due to placental abruption.
KtisPG, Baby boy Edwin James arrived very overdue on 10 Sept, fab hospital waterbirth.
Nannyl, Baby girl born 14 Sept, amazing hypnobirth at home.
MissTriangle, Baby girl Eva born 19 Sept, long labour with transfer to hospital for C-section.
KellyKettle, Baby Girl born 15th October, lovely home waterbirth.

Morning! God there's a fair few of us due in the next month - let the race begin, I expect a big old flurry of live birth threads!

Mum has DS this weekend again (god love her) as DH is still in America, gets back finally next Thursday and thank god because I am feeling very heavily pregnant now....although still loving it and not ready/impatient for baby yet.

How are you today elgoldenflower?

Kelly have you a name for DD2 yet?

Hello! I had a homebirth with ds (by homebirth I mean, they wouldn't leave me to labour and put me in an ambulance where I promptly gave birth...entire labour was 4 hours-hardly a cause for concern).

Due December 1st, having another home birth (and going NOWHERE!)

Don't fancy a pool this time (refused to get in it last time!).

Hi all, been a bit of a hormonal mess the last couple of days, not handling going overdue well, especially after thinking I might be going into labour on Thursday.

Feel a bit better today as I had a bloody show (TMI?) in the night and some mild cramping since then so hoping this develops into something.

sounds like things are def on the move El - it's so frustrating going overdue though so feel free to moan and whinge and cry here - every morning I woke up when I went overdue with DS I was so upset and hormonal but your baby WILL come, and honestly it does sound like things are moving for you - fingers crossed!!

poo everyone's gone quiet! Hope silence from elgoldenflower means things have progressed.

DS's 3rd birthday today, where the hell did that time go? In the midst of it all my homebirth kit was dropped off by one of the midwives on my community team who I've not met yet but who knows several of my local mums....sitting in my bedroom now, very excited!

girl my hb pack arrives tomorrow. Feeling excited too. My DD turned 3 last month so I know what you mean.

Annoyingly, baby is now firmly engaged (which is great) but means for the first time this whole pg my ankles have swelled up. Nothing major and with my first pg I had terrible swelling from early on but it makes me worry. Blood pressure is ok (I have a home monitor) and swelling is minor compared to what it could be and I've no other symptoms of anything but still, after a very mundane pg it's annoying to have something else to worry about.

38 weeks on Wed,finish work on Thurs, so hoping baby stays put a little longer.

that is a pain in the arse MrsArch, I know how you feel a little now that heartburn has vaguely kicked in. It's not painful or particulrly annoying but another thing to whinge about.

I hope your baby does stay put a while yet so you get bit of relaxation time to yourself - is DD in childcare at all? I'm a bit gutted I'm not able to rush around doing lots of stuff like last time, on Saturday my mum and dad had DS (DH is still in America) and after doing a few chores in the morning I literally lay on my sofa and watched True Blood from 1pm til I went to bed at 11pm. Normally I'd feel guilty at the wasted day but god right now being able to do that feels sooooooooo good!

Back to reading Ina May to prepare for labour again - off to buy some RLT tablets as well in the hope that it'll mean a quick second stage like last time too.

Hope your last day at work tomorrow goes ok

:( After a month on iron tablets my Hb has gone up from 9.5 to 9.8...not that'll let them stop me having a home birth but I REALLY didn't want to have to argue about it. I have another blood test booked in a couple of weeks, hopefully that one will go better. 36 weeks on Friday...feels really close now :)

honey liquid iron is supposed to bring levels up v quickly. Spatone and floradix are very good I believe x

Hello all,

Looks like I'm not getting a homebirth

At midwife appt yesterday (40+3) my blood pressure was really high and there was a trace of protein in my urine so they sent me straight to hospital for assessment. BP remained high after 2/3 hrs of assessment so they kept me in and doctor said they'd probably induce the following day. I'd had a stretch and sweep at MW and was having regular but mild ctx.

They put me on BP meds and kindly gave me a private room (early labour room). I sent a tired and shocked DP home and hoped I'd call him back on once my labour progressed. BP stayed high for a while (no more protein inurine) but finally dropped by midnight, I got a couple of hours sleep then woke with my contractions. I was up for a couple of hours then finally went back to sleep. I was woken at 6am for my BP check and meds and ctx had stopped. BP still ok so MW suggested I'd probably be sent home.

Sure enough I was sent home with BP meds by the doctor, it's a huge relief to be in my own space and for my BP to be under control. I had another S&S before I left and I'm to go in for assessment again on Friday, I'm booked in for induction on Wed 9th if nothing happens before then.

So all plans changed, just trying to stay calm and positive about it all.

elgolden I am so sorry your plans have changed - wish I could say something to help but I can't. I hope things go OK for the rest of the week. If your bp stays OK and you go into labour naturally could you still have a HB?

And sorry to then come back with my own news, which is positive. Saw my IM today and all is just great. Baby is well engaged now and she was delighted at my night last week of constant period pain as the baby presses against the cervix. All good stuff. She was not in the slightest bit concerned at my puffy ankles and reckoned I should be pleased as it is the only thing that's gone 'wrong' for me. No protein or sugar in urine and she reckons baby is average sized. She said scans after 36 weeks are hugely inaccurate and pointless for guessing size.

She is just so on my wavelength it's great. I now have labour drugs in my fridge and a tens machine/HB pack.
Feeling very excited and very positive now.

We were talking about various famous midwives too and she let it slip that when she started her traiining over 20 yrs ago, she actually trained under Sheila Kitzinger as she lived in Oxford! I was gobsmacked and I think we've been very lucky to find her. She's got loads of experience of HWBAC, HB twins and HB breech too.
I am feeling very zen like now :)

oh elgoldenflower no wonder your BP was high, it sounds horribly stressful! Also my last mw appt had a trace of protein in my urine and she said they'd keep testing before sending me anywhere because it's quite common to get a small trace towards the end of your pregnancy. You've still got a while til 9th though - surely if your BP stays low and the last urine test showed no signs of protein you're still on for a homebirth though? Stay positive, although I guess good to also have in your head you may have to be in hospital which will make it easier to deal with IF it happens. I have faith....come on babygoldenflower

MrsArch that's great about your IM, and amazing she trained under Sheila Kitzinger!!! And she's delivered twins at home, that is awesome. Reminded me, I must get a tens machine (didn't get round to it last time, went into labour at 2am so had to wait 7hours for shops to open before DH could rush out to buy me one and by then it was too late, didn't make the blindest bit of difference).

my baby is still free, but she hasn't stopped wriggling about ALL day - are they supposed to have their backs on the left or right of your belly button?

It doesn't matter, GirlWith, as long as the head is pointing in the right direction!

Elgolden, sorry about the BP, I wondered the same thing as the others about spontaneous labour and homebirth though?

Over here, yesterday's growth scan confirms that I am not having a Gigantor Gestational Diabetes baby, so the obstetrician is happy (well, tolerant) to continue to sign off on the homebirth. Hurrah, and all that.

Just checking in to say hi and sorry I haven't been posting. I've been keeping up with everyone's progress though and have everything crossed for you all. I had my 20 week scan (nearly 2 weeks late) last Wednesday and all is well. We're moving house from Sudan to Kenya in about 5 weeks and then I am back in the UK for a few days for an interview for a midwifery degree, so all go. A safari / beach holiday in Kenya this Friday for 10 days before that though - although taking the babes out of their routine and on safari is not much of a relaxing holiday...

Thanks for the info KK I'll have a chat with the pharmacist when I'm next in town :)

Honey I take a sachet of Spatone every day and I swear by it. It is fab (and on 3 for 2 at Tesco and Boots!)