Homebirth General Discussion #17

[TeniBear]

Can I ask where you got the flags from? I want to do them for this baby's Blessingway.

Made them myself! I just grabbed some cheap white fabric from spotlight, hemmed along the edges (very badly, if we're being honest ) and put little loops on the tops so I can hang them. I can send you a few if you like? I made far too many As I said though, they're badly made I'd send you the neater looking ones, of course.

ETA: If I can find the link again, I also considered buying specially-made ones from a blessingway shop I found online...

[Smoke Jaguar]

I organised two sets of flags for separate friends, and just ordered some calico from eBay, cut them into rectangles and at one blessingway we painted them on the day, many with ribbon borders (we had some other crafts and glue, as well as fabric textas) and I glued them to a thicker piece of ribbon to give to our friend. I had intended to sew them on but ran out of time to find my sewing machine and get it all sewn, but the flags weren't that heavy, so they glued on nicely
Sounds, increasingly, like I'm in a minority of hand-made, unprofessionally finished things, though

[HotI]

I hand make heaps of stuff, but try to finish them off. I tend to get creative ideas late though, so end up doibg early mornings or late nights to get them done.

will have to post a photo of the knitted mama that my friend made for my dd. she has breasts and a pregnant tummy and baby comes out her vagina. she is awesome.

[Cricket]

And I'm thankful again I live in a place where homebirth and midwifery care is completely covered by provincial health insurance.... .

About the pain and pressure - I got a support tank to wear and it made a BIG difference in how I felt. It was comfortable to wear and wasn't lumpy and awkward under clothing, and helped my back and lower belly out a lot. Mine was called a Blanqi, but I'm sure you could find others that would suit as well. I also found that when I wore a skirt without pantyhose, I felt more sore than when I wore snug fitting jeans - they seemed to add some support too. Finally, baby #3 was when I started getting a vaginal varicose vein. OUCH! Those really hurt, especially when they first start (didn't bother me in my last pregnancy, other than a bit of a swollen feeling.) You can get special supports to wear to help those too. (I haven't tried them myself - good underwear generally were enough for me.)
Oh, and don't DTD in the morning! Leaves everything too swollen and you'll be sore. Hope that helps!