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 . . .

BellaBalloon, DC 1 due 12 January, TODAY! planned home waterbirth, London
MamaLazarou, DC#1 due 24th Jan, planned home birth, Kent
Bettymum, DC#2 due 7 April, planned home birth, Berkshire
Boobz, DC#2 due June 9th, planned home waterbirth, South London

Just got back in and the DDDOH has inflated the pool - pump arrived. Am excited

not in labour yet (just in case that caused confusion!)

Good luck Bella!!

Thank you Bettymum []
Back to back is my biggest fear. well after a full on end to end tear...

Would also like to join this! DC1 for me and am planning a home birth.

Bella good luck - hope you don't have too longer to meet your LO .

I'll catch up on the thread properly later (rather inconveniently am quite busy at work today!) but have added myself to the list

BellaBalloon, DC 1 due 12 January, TODAY! planned home waterbirth, London
MamaLazarou, DC#1 due 24th Jan, planned home birth, Kent
Caitni, DC1 due 2 March, planned home waterbirth, North London
Bettymum, DC#2 due 7 April, planned home birth, Berkshire
Boobz, DC#2 due June 9th, planned home waterbirth, South London

BellaBalloon, DC 1 due 12 January, TODAY! planned home waterbirth, London
MamaLazarou, DC#1 due 24th Jan, planned home birth, Kent
Raindroprhyme, DC#3 due 2nd February, planned HB, South West Scotland
Bettymum, DC#2 due 7 April, planned home birth, Berkshire
Boobz, DC#2 due June 9th, planned home waterbirth, South London

Good luck for a safe delivery, BellaBalloon!

Oooh, good luck all of you! I had a homebirth on 20 Nov and he's snoozing contentedly on my lap as I type. It was an amazing experience. DD was in the room next door, woke up the next morning and came in to find her baby brother. I was so glad we made the decision to have him at home.

Its nice to see this thread revived, good luck to all those who are hoping for a homebirth, especially Boobz-hope you have an easier time this time! My childbearing is done however.

Bellaballoon-If you scroll up to my birthstory on this thread you can see I had a very very positive homebirth with DS who was back to back. DD was actually born posterior and her labour was fine, only traumatic because of the hospital staff.

Lots of people already - and so excited to see Bella is due today - we're expecting live labour updates...

Betty - latent labour is exhausting isn't it? I too started my labour on Wednesday night and didn't give birth to Penny until 6am on Sunday morning (thankfully at home - I almost went into hospital as I too was exhausted and in agony by the time I got to the magic 4cm and was allowed g&a), but the lovely girls on this thread, and my DH helped me push on through. Updating all the way through the labour on here was a great distraction to the slooooooow-ness of my dilation. Pushing stage was much quicker though, thankfully!

Thanks Ding - I too am hoping for a warp speed labour this time around... I would be happy with just 2 days and night this time - or less!

Still 4 more months of work before mat leave kicks in - groan. So can't be bothered with work these days.

oooh, only just crossed my mind to look at the 'childbirth' topics. We are expecting DC3 any day now - I am so fuzzy I can't really remember when - I had a show this morning, but I want to go to bed now, maybe tomorrow, eh?

We are having a hb because I am totally freaked out by hospitals. Survived one VBAC in hospital which was an utterly amazing and healing experience after the nightmare of an iol ending in emcs with DD1.

MW this time (we've moved house) didn't seem quite so willing to play the sleight of hand game required to have a very non-interventionist VBAC, so we are praying our boiler doesn't break this winter and employing an independent MW and going for the hb - which I couldn't be bothered to argue about under NHS protocol.

Just read about taping down the shower curtain - great tip, I'll put some gaffer tape in the bedroom this evening.

DH doing some very male-style nesting involving drawing a million plans of how our new kitchen could look.

Well, that's the story so far - the waiting is almost over (I hope)

Hello can I join, having a home birth due 17th April, although 27th April according to me! First two were emergency sections, third was a fairly traumatic VBAC2 (because I went into hospital) so have decided that HOME is the best place for me, hopefully will have a serene and peaceful birth this time

BellaBalloon, DC 1 due 12 January, TODAY! planned home waterbirth, London
MamaLazarou, DC#1 due 24th Jan, planned home birth, Kent
Raindroprhyme, DC#3 due 2nd February, planned HB, South West Scotland
Bettymum, DC#2 due 7 April, planned home birth, Berkshire
Toady, DC#4 due 17th April, home birth, Torquay
Boobz, DC#2 due June 9th, planned home waterbirth, South London

Hi!

I would like to add myself to this list - such a great idea to have it!

Am pregnant with DC1 and am booked for a homebirth - and hoping and praying it all works out well Good luck to everyone, I look forward to learning all the updates!

BellaBalloon, DC 1 due 12 January, TODAY! planned home waterbirth, London

Happyfaces, DC1 due 20 January, planned home birth, Cambridgeshire

MamaLazarou, DC#1 due 24th Jan, planned home birth, Kent

Raindroprhyme, DC#3 due 2nd February, planned HB, South West Scotland

Bettymum, DC#2 due 7 April, planned home birth, Berkshire

Toady, DC#4 due 17th April, home birth, Torquay

Boobz, DC#2 due June 9th, planned home waterbirth, South London

Hello! Adding myself here...

Today we had our midwife come round and go through all the practicalities. All helps make it seem a bit more 'real' and am even starting to look forward to it. What an adventure! And just got a call from the community office that we can now pick up the birth pool, next stop B&Q to buy the hose!

Good luck BellaBaloon hope it all goes well when things kick off!

BellaBalloon, DC 1 due 12 January, TODAY! planned home waterbirth, London

Happyfaces, DC1 due 20 January, planned home birth, Cambridgeshire

MamaLazarou, DC#1 due 24th Jan, planned home birth, Kent

Raindroprhyme, DC#3 due 2nd February, planned HB, South West Scotland

Comeonbishbosh, DC#1 due 7th Feb, planned home waterbirth, Sheffield.

Bettymum, DC#2 due 7 April, planned home birth, Berkshire

Toady, DC#4 due 17th April, home birth, Torquay

Boobz, DC#2 due June 9th, planned home waterbirth, South London

Comeonbishbosh - I used to be called Bish Bosh at school!

Quite the merry band we have already. Any news Bella?

Am still the last on the list and I thought I was reasonably far along this time in pregnancy (last time I was the last to pop as well as found my Streatham Mums group when I was just 9 weeks gone, so felt like I was pregnant for years as all the babies came along before mine eventually turned up!)

Hart - I hope things are the same for me and our little DD - she will be all of 14 months old when this new one comes along - although I mooo-ed the house down when I gave birth to her, so I'm not sure she'll be able to sleep through the commotion (it's not a very big house!)

No news at all from me. It all seems a bit anti climactic. I was terribly disorganised before christmas - late finishing work etc. Had all this anticipation. What if i'm not ready etc

Anyway now due date has come and gone have practically forgotten I am still actually having a baby!

Have a midwife's appointment tomorrow but am going to turn down the offer of a sweep.

Am now debating the whole third stage thing. I definitely would like the cord to stop pulsating before it's cut. I understand that there are good reasons to wait such as the baby gets more iron and stuff but somehow it just feels like that's the way it should be too, don't you think?

It's so annoying no knowing how one will react to these things in advance. I don't want a PPH obviously but then I don't want to have more painful contractions than are absolutely necessary. hmmm....

Anyway I will keep you posted.
Thanks very much for the good luck wishes

Hi BellaBalloon,

Hope you don't feel anti climatic for long... of course due dates are very seldom delivery dates and we've a bit cheeky for wishing you luck, just hold it in reserve for when you need it! I'm quite glad to see that the winter olympics are on for the fortnight immediately after my due date, so hopefully that will be a good distraction if I (most likely) go over!

I was a bit unsure about the pros and cons of 3rd stage options, and discussed with my MW this morning. I guess it may depend on policy in your area and your MW, but she said that generally with home births everything has proceeded fairly naturally all along so the general approach would be to manage it naturally. But, if there is any good reason to get it out more quickly (i.e. you're completely exhausted or bleeding a lot) then you can make that decision at the time, they will have the jab ready to go. So I'm going to try not to worry about it too much in advance.

Do keep us posted as and when!

Hi Bella - contrary to what most home birthers do, I had the injection. I kind of looked at the pros and cons of having it or not, and for me (especially having had an 80 hour labour), getting it over and done with was my priority. One jab, one push and the placenta was out. It was slightly different for me as my cord split with DD so they had to cut it straight away and clamp, so there wasn't any "good" stuff going through at that point anyway.

I will have the injection again. I didn't have any adverse reactions (no puking etc), and it was so nice to be able to just get on with breastfeeding and lying in bed (after a quick bath!) rather than another hour of pushing and sitting on the floor (I know it can be quicker or other people...)

Just what I did...

80-HOUR LABOUR?

That's got to be some kind of record! Was Norris McWhirter there?

Boobz I read about your labour (it's about all I've managed on catching up on the thread so far!) - 80 hours . Although P sounds pretty marvellous so you had a good reward . I thought it was so lovely how you appreciated your DH. My MW has mentioned that in her experience dads prefer home births, as they feel more useful/supportive rather than being in the way of hospital staff...

Bella hope the anti climax feelings pass. I think I'd be with you on refusing a sweep at just over 40 weeks - still plenty of time for baby to show up . Though the snow must be annoying (tis bad enough for me at 33 weeks!).

I also just want to say that it's great to have somewhere positive/supportive for first-timers (and any others wanting HBs). I've had a fair few reactions from people in RL, to the point where I don't mention the HB plans any more. So it's great to have found this thread

Just re-adding myself to the list as seem to have dropped off!

BellaBalloon, DC 1 due 12 January, TODAY! planned home waterbirth, London
Happyfaces, DC1 due 20 January, planned home birth, Cambridgeshire
MamaLazarou, DC#1 due 24th Jan, planned home birth, Kent
Raindroprhyme, DC#3 due 2nd February, planned HB, South West Scotland
Comeonbishbosh, DC#1 due 7th Feb, planned home waterbirth, Sheffield.
Caitni, DC #1 due 2 March, planned home waterbirth, North London
Bettymum, DC#2 due 7 April, planned home birth, Berkshire
Toady, DC#4 due 17th April, home birth, Torquay
Boobz, DC#2 due June 9th, planned home waterbirth, South London

Also just to add I'm planning to go with the flow on the third stage. If going natural feels right then that's what I'll do. I figure they can administer the injection at any point so I can have it whenever I want/feel I need it. I think it's one of the things I like about the home environment - much less pressure to do things one particular way so no stress about "having" to do things in a set way...

Have you really had lots of negative reactions when you tell people you're having a home birth, Caitni? I've just had 'At YOUR age? Is that allowed?' from my grandma. Oh, and the GP who referred me to the midwife team laughed openly at me and said 'Well, that's not my decision to make' (too bloody right it's not - it's mine!) and 'What if something goes wrong?' (er - well, that's why midwives train for up to 5 years, you dork).

Most people have been very supportive, or just say that I am 'brave' (nothing brave about it: I'm scared shitless of hospitals!).

MamaL I'm Irish, though live in London, and things are v medicalised over there (eg midwife led care isn't the norm)...so it's mainly my Irish side that have had reactions. One sister is being very supportive (which is great) but my other sister, my brothers and SILS and my mum think I'm borderline insane and very irresponsible...my mum actually saved me a newspaper article about a baby dying after a home birth (er, thanks mum!) and my older sister just kept saying things like "well, everyone needs stitches/ventouse/epidural with their first so I just don't think you'll be able to do it" (can you tell that she had stitches/ventouse/epidural with her first?). And then tells me about her SIL who "nearly died" from a PPH after her home birth . So I've just stopped mentioning it...so now they probably think I'm in denial about the birth

To be fair to them, they've had the same reaction to us planning on using washable nappies no matter how much I try and explain that something a bumgenius is nothing like the washable terries of my 70s babyhood (I am patently a lunatic in their eyes ).

But my DH was born at home in the 70s (he's American and his mum had three HBs in the 70s - his SIL then gave birth to his two nephews in the same house in the 90s) so we've plenty of support and trust in our plans from that side...they just think HBs are normal!

Mamalazarou - I have to say that it was the latent stage of latent labour that took so long - 72 hours of it! That's how long it took me to get to 4cm dilated, and "established labour" which then took 8 hours in total (4cm - 10cm and delivery). The first couple of days and nights were ok, as the contractions were copable with, with breathing, tens, hypo-birthing nonsense and massage; it was when I got to day 3 and the third night of no sleep and when the contractions ramped up both in intensity and frequency that I started to flag. I know that if I had been in hospital I would have had an epidural, nay, begged for one! Anything to let me sleeeeep... so I'm glad I had decided to have a HB as you really do just have to buck up and get on with it - no drugs (apart from the lovely g&a at home!), and I so wanted to avoid pain relief that would probably lead to more interventions (have deep fear of episiotomies / forceps etc).

Caitni Penny is just a doll, so I am very lucky, yes. I don't care whether the next one is a boy or a girl, but to have one half as laid back as Penpots would be fab.

And yes DH was amazing, and I think he really really enjoyed the whole thing. I sold the idea of a homebirth to him 8 months prior with "just imagine, you can sit on the sofa with the dog and a beer in your hand and watch the rugby, all at home, and then catch the baby!".... this is exactly what happened! He watched 3 matches on the Saturday before I gave birth on the Sunday - I have no recollection, I was leaning over a ball and moo-ing in the kitchen...

I've also had the "brave" comments... but when people hear about how fab my birth was (natural, no stitches, snuggled in bed half an hour later, breast feeding straight away, DH in bed with us too, not sent home for the first night of his child's life etc)... and then they soon come round.

Anyone got any names picked out....?

Hi everyone, wow what a list already.

Midwives just phoned they are going to drop off my box of goodies this morning exciting stuff!

Spent all day shopping with DH yesterday getting all my last minute bits etc. It was so nice both older boys back at school finally after all the snow so was lovely to have a whole day to ourselves. Had a romantic lunch and everything. MIL picked them up from school and took them swimmining and didn't bring them back till bedtime.
Woke up to 2 inches of snow this morning tho and it is still falling steadily. School had better stay open i need to paint the kitchen today.

Caitni - i have my terry squares washed and ready! Used real nappies with DS2 and was shocked at how many different kinds i have (was a bit of an addicit). Still mostly terry squares tho they remained my staple nappy the whole time.

Boobz - funny that i sold HB to DH in similar way. Now he keeps leaving the fixture list lying around for the club he plays with as if to say you can't have it that day cos i will be in Edinburgh.
Coach phones every couple of days to ask after my health am sure he is just trying to keep me on side . I am milking it in the hope i end up with a good present.
Part of me hopes snow continues and the next few away games get cancelled.

We have a few names. Older 2 have biblical names so we have loads to choose from for a boy but am struggling on the girl front.

Sending birthing vibes to bella. hope something happens soon.