Category: Preparing for Natural Birth

Jan 11

Natural Birth Stories | Birth Center Birth | Allison S | Preparations

Almost from our arrival in South Carolina, a new friend (the natural birth, hypnobirthing, cloth diapering friend) introduced me to Hypnobabies.  It was a birthing program designed to divert fear and tension through self hypnosis and relaxation.  End result, a slower, smoother, easier birth.  She had purchased the materials typically used in a five week course and coached herself.  She lent me the materials and while I was excited about the innovative approach, the books and CDs admittedly sat untouched for well over 10 weeks.  I then came across the Hypnobirthing classes being offered at the birthing center from yet another military spouse contact.  Given my apparent inability to make progress on my own I started looking into the courses and the cost.  Unfortunately with my husband’s demanding work schedule we would never be able to make the five classes together.  With his support we inquired about the possibility of private classes and shortly before my first appointment at the birthing center I made plans for in-home classes.  Call me crazy but our classes have not only brought my husband and I closer together but they have also made us look forward to our birthing experience with excitement and pleasant, giddy anticipation.

Per the birthing center’s recommendations we’re bringing along the “essentials” but given the anticipated gentle labor and short stay at the birthing center after delivery, we have substantially less to pack than if we were planning for a 2 day hospital stay.  Aside from the standard clothes and toiletries we’re bringing food and drinks (since there is no restriction on food while laboring at the birthing center), our relaxation music and some sort of device in which to play it, my breast pump should we want to utilize nipple stimulation to encourage progression, camera and videocamera (we’re planning to record the delivery), and an absolute must, the pregnancy wedge I’ve been using to support my belly for the last few months.  I never really considered HIS birthing bag but I’d guess it’ll include about seven decks of cards and a few books as he’s an avid sleight of hand enthusiast and may need to do a little self-entertaining here and there!

I’ve been fortunate to remain active throughout the pregnancy.  I was able to run (usually about 3 miles at a time) up until about 7.5 months when I switched to the elliptical.  All things considered, I haven’t noticed much difference in my ability to run aside from some ligament pain that resolved itself after switching to the elliptical.  I’d had high hopes for prenatal yoga but my school schedule just wouldn’t allow and not having any previous yoga experience, found it a little intimidating.  I’d also had high hopes for swimming (in anticipation of not being able to run as long as I have) but unfortunately, I can’t swim!  I’ve tried walking but 99% of my walks turn into runs because I get bored and restless but running has been my primary source of physical activity throughout pregnancy.

Between a full-time school schedule, my husband’s insane work schedule, hypnobirthing, and trying to keep a clean house I regrettably have not done much reading in preparation of birth or parenting.  I am the neurotic component of my marriage so I’m a bit concerned at the lack of preparation in that department but have had endless conversations with friends who have children and I’d be lying if I wasn’t taking mental notes when I watch them nurse, change, carry, and play with their children.  I’ve been fortunate and at times overwhelmed to have friends so willing to share parenting advice.  My husband is hands down the calm and collective component of our marriage so he has, as with most things, taken the “We’ll figure it out.” approach.  It makes me crazy but truth is, I believe we cannot anticipate every need or every emergency so we’ll welcome the friendly input we can get, find our way when the time comes, and keep the pediatrician on speed dial!

Our birthing plan is fairly simple since we have a much greater confidence in the birthing center to let us dictate how things progress than we would were we planning for a hospital birth.  Perhaps the most important note about the birthing plan is that due to the use of self hypnosis, I am not to be disturbed or spoken to while my eyes are closed.  My husband is to be my primary coach unless there is immediate medical danger, we want as much skin-to-skin time as possible, as soon as possible, and wish to keep the room dim and quiet so I can focus on my breathing and relaxation.  We have written a sort of addendum should, for whatever reason, we need to be transferred to a hospital.  In that event, my husband will play the role of liaison to the medical staff so I can maintain focus on my relaxation, my body and the baby!

You can read more of Allison’s Birth Journey by…


…turning back to read more about the where she is finding encouragement… Birth Encouragement

…reading the next page, how she feels about her growing belly… Growing Anticipation 

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Posted in Preparing for Natural Birth

Dec 20

Natural Birth Stories | Birth Center Birth | Ashley B | Preparations

As things get closer, I’ve been nesting like crazy. Everything is getting washed and set up as my body lets me do things. Its hard to focus exclusively on getting the baby’s things ready when I have a toddler getting into whatever he can, but the main stuff is done. Our birth bags are mostly packed with just a few final things to go in before we leave for the birth center. We both packed pretty light because we won’t be staying there long. Typically moms and babies get to go home about 6 hrs after the baby is born, so we just have a bathing suit for each of us since we’ll be having a water birth, a few changes of clothes, toiletries, a tennis ball to help my husband massage my back without wearing out his hands, a rice sock to apply heat, the camera and we’ll be bringing the laptop so I can have my playlist on youtube playing while I’m in labor. I’m sure there’s other things we’ll add as we think of them. I think the baby’s bag has more in it than ours. We had to have boy and girl outfits and cloth diapers ready since we don’t know the gender, so half the stuff we packed for the baby we won’t even need. lol.
We’ve been more concerned about getting Toby and the pets ready for a newborn in the house. I know Toby doesn’t understand, but we’re trying to get him at least saying “baby”. He pats my belly all the time and its too cute. I only hope that he will have an easy transition and the pets will do as well as they did with Toby when the new baby gets here.
I’m trying to stay as active as possible to keep my body in shape for the delivery, but with a baby pinching nerves in my legs it makes it hard to stay active. My husband and I try to go for a walk around our neighborhood when I’m feeling up to it, but here lately, my exercise ball has gotten more use than my walking shoes.
My husband is so excited to be my support person again, especially since we don’t have to worry about the midwives doing something that’s against our birth plan. At the hospital, he had to be like a guard dog protecting me from all the things I didn’t want them doing to me or the baby. The stress really got to him, so he didn’t get to enjoy the birth like I wanted him to. He’s so relieved that the routine for the midwives is exactly what we wanted in our birth plan, like immediate skin to skin contact, waiting for the cord to stop pulsating and waiting until after the baby has had at least one good feed before the measurements and testing. Because this delivery is going to be one that he can focus on me and partipate in more, he actually wants to catch the baby, announce the gender and cut the cord (after it stops pulsating of course). With our last delivery, the doctor completely disrespected our birth plan and we were both too tired to pay attention and fight to stop him. When we went to orientation and chose the birth center, we made sure that they would accept our birth plan. To sum our plan up, unless there’s an emergency, we wanted as little intervention as possible, few cervical checks, letting the placenta come on its own, and as much time with the baby immediately after delivery as possible. They completely honored that and actually encourage it. Its wonderful to be anticipating the birth we wanted to have with Toby.

You can read more of Ashley’s Birth Journey by…


…turning back to read more about the where she is finding encouragement… Birth Encouragement

…reading the next page, how she feels about her growing belly… Growing Anticipation 

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Posted in Preparing for Natural Birth

Dec 18

Natural Birth Stories | Birth Center Birth | Bitty Mama | Preparations

We haven’t made a lot of preparations for this baby. For that, I’m feeling pretty guilty and a little bit under-prepared.  With pregnancy number one, we took 2 or 3 birth classes, we set up Baby Registries at a few different stores, and we painted the nursery, preparing it a few months ahead of time. I read every pregnancy, birth, and baby book I could get my hands on (I still have a full library). We wrote out a birth plan for our birth center and we had two or three baby showers! During our 3rd Trimester, we even had an ultrasound “party” at one of those non-medical 3D ultrasound places where our family got to come and see baby’s sweet unborn face on a big screen TV! I was diligent about keeping a pregnancy journal of thoughts, dreams, weight, dates, times, contractions, kicks, ultrasound pictures, and anything that had anything to do with the baby. I even wrote a few letters to our unborn baby to put in her baby scrapbook! I focused all my free time on baby baby baby.

I have to apologize to baby numero dos right now.

Dear Baby,

I’m so sorry. You’re catching the second-child-syndrome already! Mommy bought two pregnancy journals, but I haven’t written in them but once or twice. We have decided on the birth center we’re going to deliver at, but we haven’t written a birth plan yet or taken any classes or read any new baby books. I haven’t been doing my kegels or pelvic tilts like I should to prepare for labor and delivery. I also haven’t been working out (unless you count constant house chores, grocery shopping while pushing the heavy cart with the red & yellow car on the front, and chasing, lifting, and playing with your sister). Oh yea, and Mommy hasn’t reviewed any of our hypno-birthing techniques yet. I’m so sorry!

Your nursery is currently full of shipping supplies and storage boxes and our old music room gear. We’ve not done the first thing to turn it into a nursery – but I promise to start on it soon. We’re 32 weeks along this week. Though we don’t have any yet, we’ll get you some furniture when we can. And we hope to paint your walls a pretty lilac color. We registered for a few things at Babies R Us and Pottery Barn Kids, but we didn’t ask for much. Our one baby shower is happening next weekend and hopefully we’ll come home feeling a little more prepared for your arrival!

Shortly after that, Nana is coming to visit! So hopefully we’ll do some baby preparations while she’s here. She’s great at helping Mommy get things done!

I’m sorry life is a little loud and chaotic already. It’s not a reflection of our love for you. We love you so so much and can’t wait to meet you!

Lots of bitty kisses,

Mommy

There are so many “things” you need when you first become a mother. A boppy, a bumbo, diapers, a breast pump, bottles, pacis, blankets, clothes, socks, shoes, an infant bathtub, a baby swing, a pack n play, a stroller, a car seat, and so much more. We feel blessed that we have most of those things already and will be able to use them again with baby girl number two!

I just feel guilty already because baby number one, who I’m home with every day, gets most of mommy’s time and attention. There’s also the business we run out of our home that takes up a lot of time. Once upon a time I was able to come home from work, do Prenatal Yoga for exercise and to de-stress, read baby books, and focus on pregnancy and baby for the rest of the night. These days, I’m lucky if I get to use the restroom by myself… so there’s a long list of baby preparations I need to work on still.

Our birth bag is not planned or packed yet. I’m hoping that one of the handouts the birth center gave us has a list of what to bring on it. I haven’t had time to read the most recent handouts they gave me, but I’ll get to it soon! When our water broke with baby number one, our bags weren’t packed and our laundry wasn’t finished… but we had a 20 hour labor, so hubby was a great help getting everything together at the last minute! Even if we have a 10 hour labor this time, hopefully our bags will be sitting by the door.

Our first born doesn’t really know that baby is coming. She knows that mommy’s belly “button” has gotten bigger over the past few months. She knows she can no longer bounce off of mommy’s belly. But since we’re still working on anatomy, she doesn’t really understand that there’s a baby in there. Since she’s younger than 2 years old, I haven’t really tried to make her understand. On the plus side, she is already very nurturing and loving with her baby doll, who she feeds and holds and pats on the back. She loves pushing her around in the baby doll stroller. I think she’ll be a great big sister! She’s ready…. now Mommy just needs to be!

 

You can read more of Bitty Mama’s Birth Journey by…


…turning back to read more about the where she is finding encouragement… Birth Encouragement

…reading the next page, how she feels about her growing belly… Growing Anticipation

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Posted in Preparing for Natural Birth

Oct 16

Natural Birth Stories | Birth Center Birth | Michelle F | Preparations

All of my midwife appointments followed the regular schedule, every 4 weeks, then every 2 weeks, and then weekly; we alternated between my main midwife and her apprentice, and the backup midwife & her apprentice, so we got to know all four people really well.  Every time I came in, the receptionist always asked if I wanted any water or tea, they were so kind!

The appointments ran between 30 min and an hour, depending on what we were doing.  They always measured my belly, felt the baby, listened to the heart beat, weighed me, checked vital signs and gave a urine sample. And, we talked and talked and talked!  Any fears that I had, we discussed; they gave me tips for the terrible morning sickness; they encouraged me to take “me” time and put my feet up even though I was working full time and chasing my 2 yr old.  When I brought up my fears about postpartum depression, since I had it after my first daughter, they wrote down several herbs and supplements that I could start taking before and after the pregnancy, and they also educated me on placental encapsulation and referred me to a few people that did it locally (which I ended up doing, too).

There were actually a couple of times I had some white blood cells in my urine, so they took a sample for a UTI, but it was negative and I had no other symptoms.  The midwives were really big on informed consent.  Before everything they did, they wanted to make sure I knew the risks/benefits and why they were doing it.  They even gave us handouts on everything with recent research that had been done on everything from the newborn eyedrops, Vitamin K shot, getting screened for gestational diabetes, etc.

I ended up doing pretty much everything, I got my iron levels checked (and ended up being anemic & started taking iron supplements), all the initial bloodwork they order, Strep B test, etc.  I really appreciated how they made me such an important part of the decision making process.
I also took a 6 week birthing class at the center with my husband, so I got to meet another midwife, and several other couples.  One of the best things I learned from her is that “screaming” and “crying” during labor are also comfort measures, just like breathing, visualizations, etc.

Instead of feeling inadequate that I wasn’t able to birth my first daughter “peacefully,” this knowledge that it’s OK to scream and cry and swear made me feel like I was ready to rock this birth!

 

You can read more of Michelle F’s Birth Journey by…
…turning back to read about choosing a birth support team…Decisions, Decisions.
…reading the next page, her daughter’s beautiful birth at the birth center…Birth Story.

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Posted in Birth Stories, Preparing for Natural Birth

Oct 15

Natural Birth Stories | Birth Center Birth | Sabrina S | Preparations

I haven’t done much to prepare for this birth. This is most likely due to the fact that this is my third child. Between the other two births and my doula training, I’ve read a lot of childbirth books and know more-or-less what to expect. I haven’t over planned for the baby either. I think I am just more relaxed about it at this point.

One thing I have done a lot of preparing for is breastfeeding. I have not had positive experiences up to this point in that area and really want this time to be better.

My birth bag has clothes to labor in, clothes for the short time in the birth center after labor and something to wear home, a swimsuit top and baby clothes and blankets plus the things required by the birth center and toiletries. I have a couple CDs in there (I know I’m behind the times lol) and hubby has his swimsuit and a change of clothes. I think that’s it. I also have a list of food to take with us. I have a bag packed for my kids with a couple changes of clothes each, PJs and diapers for the little one. I’m keeping things as simple as possible.

As far as mentally preparing my other children, we talk about the baby, they talk to the baby. My oldest is six so she really understands what’s going on (plus she remembers when we brought her sister home). My younger one is only two so I’m not sure how much she ”gets” yet.

I probably should have exercised more throughout my pregnancy but I didn’t. I’m doing simple things like sitting on my birth ball, stretches and pelvic tilts.

I didn’t do a full birth plan this time. I probably should have but I don’t have many “special” requests as long as I don’t get transferred to the hospital. If I do get transferred for some reason, my birth plan would be more or less out the window anyway. My husband knows well what would be really important to me (newborn procedures for example) and will advocate for that if necessary. Also, while I don’t have a doula lined up to come to the birth center, I do have one willing to step in if I have to go to the hospital so that I will have an extra support person there.

You can read more of Sabrina’s Birth Journey by…


…turning back to read more about the where she is finding encouragement…Birth Encouragement

…reading the next page, how she feels about her growing belly…Growing Anticipation 

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Posted in Birth Center Births, Preparing for Natural Birth