Home Birthers & Hopefuls!

[jenny82]

Hi :wave:

New to this thread! Am going to see a consultant tomorrow about having a (very) last minute homebirth. Was in my head for months but I realised at the weekend that I really did NOT want to go to the hospital. GP was surprisingly very helpful and made the appointment for me. I'm still not sure whether they'll say yes but thought I'd gather my thoughts together this evening so I'm prepared.

So, I have some questions!

Any recommendations for pools? Was looking at pools on ebay but are kits better or will just a pool suffice?

Shower curtains, towels, old sheets, duvets etc I have or can get no probs!

My initial thought was I'd set up the pool in the living room but tbh, I think I'd prefer it upstairs. Would this be ok? We have a very old, strong, sturdy house, so I don't see why the floors wouldn't hold the weight of the pool. Its also closer to the bathroom, more snug and the curtains are nice & dark to make us more cosy. Also, I can lock the dog safely in the kitchen and he won't bother anyone at all which is a mega mega bonus.

OH & I were debating on what to do with LO. I was thinking that when I am in labour, I can get my mum to come straight over and get him, no matter what time it is - he should sleep in the car and at her house no probs. But OH isn't comfortable with LO coming home the next day and this new person being in *his* house. We won't be doing the whole 'coming home from the hospital' together. But I just don't know another way around it...

Woah that was long! Apologies if you got through it all!

 

[chuck]

welcome Jenny!

 

[cranberry987]

Id think it would be fine to have it upstairs, I mean you have a bath upstairs and I know theres more water but it cant be like bath=maximum weight, there must be some leeway. Only thing Id think about is getting down the stairs if you need to transfer (*touch wood you wont*) but im sure theres a way round it.

 

[jenny82]

Hmmm good points.

I think our room upstairs will def be fine then. Theres loads of space. The stairs could pose a problem but its something I can ask the midwife when and if I get the ok

What about neighbours? Did you pre-warn your neighbours? I was quite loud last time - not for that long, just through the pushing stage (an hour at most), but I wouldn't want them to call the police!

 

[cranberry987]

Our neighbours are so nosy theyll see the mw turning up im sure. I might tell the vicar next door and im sure theyll spread the word. we're in a detatched house tho so i wouldnt worry about the noise, just ppl can get a bit shitty about strange cars parking in the road. wouldnt want them to get the mw's car towed!

I think people would probably put two and two together if they heard you screeching - they must know youre quite far along so would just assume thats whats going on.

 

[lesleyann]

Well we picked up the keys to our new house tonight!! Got post-it notes stuck everywhere for my parents to get in and get painted! We are aiming to be in by the 11th! Birthpool has been dispatched today so should be here soon

 

[cranberry987]

Excellent I love moving house, things are always so clean and tidy for about a week then they turn into my usual mess hehe

 

[jenny82]

Thank you for your help cranberry!

I have a list of questions to ask tomorrow so we'll see how it goes!

 

[Blah11]

oh jenny hope theyre supportive remember they cant really say you're not allowed.

Im not letting my neighbours know, they obv know im pregnant so hopefully theyre not so stupid as to think im being murdered when im actually giving birth (although I was pretty much silent during labour last time!).

 

[fides]

Someone I know is being induced. She had a sweep last week at 39w and has had niggling rubbish BH/ctx since then. Waters have gone and no labour. Im not going to say anything to her obviously, but am I right to be suspicious of the sweep? Just thinking of myself really for if I do decide to have one (wouldnt have one that early at all ofc, maybe at 41+w).

Just curious, but does she have other health complications to require a sweep at 39 weeks? I obviously don't know much about them, but my m/w told me that they don't work unless your cervix is already ready...

lesleyann, congrats on the new house!!


afm, EDD is today, so now we have 14 days left in which we can have a home birth - hope baby comes during term!

 

[cranberry987]

Nop. No issues at all. She was quite eager to have the baby this week tho and her dr did a sweep without even telling her. I'd have gone mad tbh but she didn't mind. It's the right thing for her, what she wanted etc, just wondering about the sweep issue rly.

 

[fides]

wow. sorry i can't answer your Q, though - i honestly thought they did sweeps later...

 

[KiwiMOM]

Hey Jenny,

I was 7 when my Mom had my little sister at home my little brother was 3 and my older brother who is not good with blood, babies or pain was 10, she kept all the signs of labour from us so we didn't get over excited or impatient. I didn't know she was in labour til I was woken up at about 4am by my father saying "Olivia, the babies here" and I went and cut the cord. My brothers woke up the next morning and had no idea. I've watched the birth video and my Mom was very loud, so does he have to go? If you end up giving birth during the day maybe just have him go out for a while and come back after all the excitement? He can still stay at your mothers if you want some time but at least that way he gets to see the "intruder" me and my siblings all stayed home from school that day because my Mom wanted us around. My brothers weren't really interested but I stayed with my sister when my mom needed to get up and shower and stuff. It was very exciting for me to be involved.

Hopefully that is helpful for you in some way

 

[lesleyann]

The people I live next door to currently know that im planning a homebirth here or at new house lol But the people next door to the new house will not be told as im not close to them because we will of only just moved in where as we have lived here for over 2 years and 1 of my next door is a good friend who is on call to watch kyle during the birth anyway if I need her...

Just picked my new sofa suite so got to order it..

New house
New baby
New sofa

ahh life if going well Now we just need the new car lol

 

[jenny82]

Hey Jenny,

I was 7 when my Mom had my little sister at home my little brother was 3 and my older brother who is not good with blood, babies or pain was 10, she kept all the signs of labour from us so we didn't get over excited or impatient. I didn't know she was in labour til I was woken up at about 4am by my father saying "Olivia, the babies here" and I went and cut the cord. My brothers woke up the next morning and had no idea. I've watched the birth video and my Mom was very loud, so does he have to go? If you end up giving birth during the day maybe just have him go out for a while and come back after all the excitement? He can still stay at your mothers if you want some time but at least that way he gets to see the "intruder" me and my siblings all stayed home from school that day because my Mom wanted us around. My brothers weren't really interested but I stayed with my sister when my mom needed to get up and shower and stuff. It was very exciting for me to be involved.

Hopefully that is helpful for you in some way

Awww wow that sounds so amazing! I would've loved to have had a family like yours when I was a kid!

Ideally I would love LO here, but I just don't think its possible. If he woke up, I wouldn't like him to see me in discomfort, as it could upset him, which could upset me and I would lose my focus. I also have no one to sit with him as my OH will be with me and my mum or brother wouldn't want to sit in the house with him and listen to me - especially my brother, it would freak him out!

I don't know - I'll see what the consultant says today as I can't make any firm plans until then..!

 

[lesleyann]

Birthpool has been delivered to Oh's work today Just need to buy a hose.. Ive got to ring my midwife by the 11th if we are in the new house as they will need to do another home assesment purely for finding the house..

Packing up this house seems like a huge task in which will never be complete lol going to take some cleaning supplys to the new one to get the kitchen cleaned and then I can start moving the kitchen in.. My parents should be stripping the wall paper/painting up stairs today.. All downstairs needs is a few curtain rails putting up and cleaning.. So once upstairs is done we can move in

 

[jenny82]

Wow you're amazing moving at this stage.
I would be whimpering amongst the boxes by now!!

How long did your pool take to arrive? I don't have much time...

 

[lesleyann]

I got it on nextday.. But I won it secondhand on ebay with brand new liner etc and we arraged our own collection Oh works in warehousing so he deals with collections/deliverys all day every day. We had it picked up tuesday afternoon and it was delivered to his work this morning.

I moved when I was pregnant with Kyle into this house although was not as far along Im more doing the pointing and telling people what to do and the easy stuff, considering everyone I have spoken to thinks im going to have this baby early we dont want to tempt an even earlyer delivery by me over doing it.


What pool are you getting? La Bassine im sure do next day delivery included in there £119? price and the pool comes with the whole kit

 

[cranberry987]

Ive tried the pointing and ordering with my DH. last night i asked him to put away the loo rolls from costco as i couldnt reach the top shelf. even that tiny task sent him into a frenzy of grump!

 

[jenny82]

Yea my OH doesnt react well to the point either lol. He needs to buck up!

I seen a good secondhand one on eBay too but worrie about delivery. I might just pay the extra and get the la bassine just for peace of mind