37 weeks |
Speaking of food, since I've been spending a lot of time in the kitchen I've noticed that my belly is making it a bit harder to wash dishes and chop veggies since it sticks right into the top of our counter tops! Kind of funny! Let's just say that I've adapted a new "sideways stance" you can see below when I'm cooking, chopping, and washing dishes in the kitchen now. ( :
Kind of hard to wash dishes now! |
Rockin' the "Sideways Stance" |
So let me run through the list of things my midwife suggested for us to get in order to have our home/waterbirth. I'm sure this is not a complete list by any means, as most things would already be present in our home such as snacks, trash bags, blankets, etc. Also, since this my first home/waterbirth, I'm sure there will be things I'm forgetting or that we left out, but for now this list has been a great place to get us started. So here we go...
1. Tub for Waterbirth. This probably a pretty obvious must-have item since I would like to labor and possibly give birth in the water, so after comparing some of the waterbirth tubs, I found this one that I liked on Yourwaterbirth.com. It's called a, "La Bassine Eco Birthing Pool" and I chose this one for a number of reasons: it's green (made from eco-friendly vinyl with no phthalates, lead or cadmium), and it's easy on the "green" (only costing about $125...some on the website were over $200!). Also, if you browse around on the website, you'll see that they have a variety of liners for the birth tubs, but if you are the only person that is going to be using the birth tub (as I am), you don't need a liner!
My waterbirth tub |
Time to pump it up. |
After pumping it up, we got ready to do a trial run with it and fill it up with water, which leads me to some more supplies you need (that are not included in the purchase of the tub!)...a hose and faucet adapter to connect the hose to your water source. I think the hose Brandon got from the local hardware store was something like this, and the key things we looked for were: for "hot water", "drinking water", and "lead-free". You can see the hose in pics below. As for the faucet adapter, we got something like this one to the right, that connects to our water source: a shower head down the hall. (On a side note, we also have a digital thermometer that we will be using to monitor the temperature of the water throughout the birth so that we can make sure the water is not too hot or too cold for Baby Avery and I!)
Hose adapter |
The trial run |
Fill it up! |
Once the trail run was over...bummer...we tried draining it. This took a little bit more experimenting, but eventually we figured out a "siphon-method" where the water can drain from our upstairs down and out of the house. There are fancy pumps that drain the water out of the tub, but since we were able to get the water out with our "free" method, we're sticking to it!
The nice, soft floor of the tub. |
Let's move on to the other supplies I got to help prepare us for our homebirth:
2- Lots of towels! This was actually kind of fun to do, because how often do you get to buy new towels? I don't know about you, but as long as it still dries me off after a shower, then I'm happy with it...never mind that I've had it for 2-3 years! But I saw this as a chance to upgrade and get some fun, new, soft towels and boy did I have some luck at Bed, Bath & Beyond! I got about 6 or so new towels to help us get ready for the birth and although we probably already had plenty of towels to use, it was a nice excuse to go out and get some new ones...they rock! I can't believe I've waited so long to get new ones!
3. Extra Wash Cloths- Got a few of these standard wash cloths from Bed, Bath & Beyond while I was stocking up on towels, but the other stack of wash cloths is actually bamboo wipes my aunt got me for Avery's Baby Shower off my Etsy Favorite list. These bamboo wipes are amazing and super soft. I will definitely use them any day over traditional wash cloths when it comes to giving Avery a bath. Here is a link to the exact product on Etsy where you can purchase your own (there are 6 stitch colors to choose from) and to read up on the benefits of using bamboo! I can't wait to use these on Baby Avery and maybe for myself! Thanks again Aunt Cathy! ( :
4. Sports bra/Nightgown for labor and birth. Just like many aspects of my birth, there are many things that I am unsure of...will I want lots of natural light or very dark with just a few candles? Will I want relaxing music or will I be rocking out to Eminem? Will I be snacking the whole time or will the thought of food make me want to throw up? I have no idea! The same question comes up about what I will want to wear during the labor and birth? My go-to outfit around the house right now is my favorite pair black yoga pants and one of my maternity tank tops. But since I may want something with a bit more room to move around and have access to a baby potentially coming out, I thought it was time to get a new night gown of some sort.
My vision was basically like a really long tank top that's kind of form fitting (ask anyone that knows me well, I do not like baggy clothing one bit...especially now that I'm pregnant!). I'm happy to say I found it at Target, here's a link to it! It's even called a tank dress...love it! Granted, I wasn't feeling the "ankle-length" cut, so my awesome seamstress grandma helped me hem it up to a nice length right above my knee. As to whether I'll actually wear it (or the other two back sports bras/swim suit tops that I have pictured here) I have no idea, but at least I have some options to choose from!
My vision was basically like a really long tank top that's kind of form fitting (ask anyone that knows me well, I do not like baggy clothing one bit...especially now that I'm pregnant!). I'm happy to say I found it at Target, here's a link to it! It's even called a tank dress...love it! Granted, I wasn't feeling the "ankle-length" cut, so my awesome seamstress grandma helped me hem it up to a nice length right above my knee. As to whether I'll actually wear it (or the other two back sports bras/swim suit tops that I have pictured here) I have no idea, but at least I have some options to choose from!
5. 2 large vinyl tablecloths with thick white backing. Kind of a boring item on the list, but very important nonetheless, as these will be going under the water tub in Avery's room to protect the carpet from getting wet. Since they smelled "very plasticy" I've been "off-gassing" them in my garage for the last week or so that way they don't reek of plastic when it's time to use them.
6. Extra set of sheets for our bed. This is kind of like the towels I mentioned above in how, I can't believe we've gone so long without a second set of sheets for our bed? Granted we've never had kids before so there hasn't really been any reason to need a back up set of sheets immediately. I mean if they get dirty or it's time to wash them, I simply wash them in the morning and put them back on before bedtime, simple enough right?! But now that Avery's coming along, it feels good to know we have a back up sheet just in case.
7. Epsom salt for postpartum bath- I personally have never taken an epsom salt bath, but after my midwife suggested it for after the birth, I've been researching it and it seems like a pretty beneficial thing to do, not only after the birth, but for other general health reasons. Click here to read up on it more. I'll post back after I try it. Anyone else every take epsom salt baths before? If so, share below!
8. Package of maxi pads for postpartum- If this is TMI for you skip ahead to the next section, but for those of you that are interested let me tell you about an alternative to traditional maxi pads that I will be trying. I'm not really a fan of plastic traditional maxi pads, and so I chatted with my midwife about a "green alternative" and she suggested these cloth pads. They come from this awesome company called, "Mommy and Me Creations" that creates something called, "Heavenly Cloth Menstural Pads" which are made from organic hemp fleece. They have a very detailed and thorough description of their product on their website that I encourage you to read if you're interested. The colored portion is a panty liner with the snap, and the white portion is the part that touches you. You can see what one of the inserts (that are inside of all the pads) looks like at the bottom of the pic. We'll see how they work out for after the birth!
9. Obvious baby items...diapers, clothes, receiving blankets. As you can imagine we are pretty good on all those things at this point!
So that's about it, and as I mentioned above, I'm sure there may be things I'm forgetting or leaving out, but I'll do a follow up after the birth and let you know then! Has anyone else had a home or waterbirth that you prepared for on your own? Please share below...
Oh my goodness! I can't believe Avery could be here in 3 weeks, OR LESS! You should shoot for March 30th :) That's Avery's Aunt Meghann's bday lol.
ReplyDeleteI know right Meg?! We'll see about March 30th for her b-day...it sure sounds a lot better than sharing a b-day with Livi and Caleb on April 20th! ( :
ReplyDelete(TMI) but useful things to have for a home birth
ReplyDeletea strainer (like you use in the kitchen) to scoop out any "chunky" bits left in the pool before you drain it.
also, if you can find a peri-spray bottle (a sport top water bottle might work too), it's what they give you at the hospital to clean yourself with after using the bathroom before you can wipe. Having it sterilized and ready to go is one less stress.
A tip if you end up on the bed is to make your bed, lay out a shower curtain then make it again over top so after the birth you can just pull off the soiled sheets and your bed is ready for you.
Hope that helps.
LC,
ReplyDeleteNo worries about the TMI...I appreciate your tips!
For the strainer, I actually got a fish net (like you would use to scoop a fish from the tank), hopefully it will scoop up the "chunks"-lol!
Good tip on the peri-spray bottle as well, I'll have to look into that. Also, a backup shower curtain would be a great thing to have for the bed just in case we end up there.
Thanks again for your tips, hopefully I'll be putting them to use in the next week or two or three! ( :
Ashley
hi ashley this is olivia and although its not very realistic it would be pretty awesome if avery shared a birthday with her cousin livi
ReplyDeleteHi Olivia!
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'd love for Avery to share your birthday, it might be a little bit of a stretch. But I guess you never know right?! ( :
By the way, I saw these and thought of you and the SodaStream maker:
http://www.flavrzdrinkmix.com/
They are like the drink mixes that they sell with SodaStream, but healthier and made with Agave and no preservatives, additives, etc. I'd like to get some of the On-the-Go pouches for Brandon because he likes that kind of stuff. I'll let you know if they are any good!
Wonder if the soda mixes would be any good with the SodaStream?
Talk to you soon,
Ashley