Homebirth general discussion #8

[Cricket]

Beautiful pics Cassius! My DD loved them too. She especially loved the "Hello Baby" caption, since we've been reading that book together lately. (great book, btw. Excellent opportunity to discuss pregnancy/labour/birth etc. with all the girls!)

Bella - looking forward to seeing yours too!

[BellyBelly]

Gorgeous Cassius *sniff* - loved those huge smiles.

[Jennifer13]

Okay, I've only managed to add one due to size restrictions and I've made it private but added most of you as contacts. Let me know if you can't see it and want to.

[*Ash*]

This is going to sound mooshy, but because HotI, Bella and I all shared our pgs and then HBed within a couple of weeks of each other, I drew a huge amount of strength from knowing both of you were 'there'. I feel incredibly lucky to have had such great HB sisters! .

Not mooshy at all- it makes perfect sense. I will probably think of the three of you 'HB sisters' at some point to give me strength too.

Oh Cassius, I had to watch your montage again So beautiful, and it made me teary again.

Bella- I live in the Far North Coast of NSW. We live on a hill so we are safe, but there are a lot of road closures.

My back-up MW was flooded in today! She said if I went in to labour, she could hike across a couple of paddocks and wait on the road for someone (like my mum) to pick her up. I am not worrying about it. I am not expecting our bub to turn up for another couple of weeks, and I doubt that we will still be having flooding issues at that point. We will probably be back to our usual heat wave weather! If I went in to labour while my MW's were flooded in, I could still get to the hospital. All roads to the local hospital are clear but I really don't want to entertain that thought.

[*Ash*]

Oooh, just saw your post Jen - I'd love to see it. How do I access it?

[Bella29]

This is going to sound mooshy, but because Hot1, Bella and I all shared our pgs and then HBed within a couple of weeks of each other, I drew a huge amount of strength from knowing both of you were 'there'. I feel incredibly lucky to have had such great HB sisters!

I was inspired by those who'd gone before and comforted by you two. Thanks for being there! Mwah.

Nawwwww. Jen your lovely!!! You know I feel the same you know. It was really nice especially in the due date groups to not feel like the only hb mamma. Knowing you had go e before me and hbac was also special. I needed to hear some positivity since two of my mates transfered from their planned hbacs and had cs, and I was with both of them when it happened.

So yeah it is a special bond. I have it irl with two girls that I know who we're both attended by my MW. They were friends before we were all pregnant tho so it was just coincidence and super lovely. Funnily enough one who birthed her little girl 9 hrs after me named her little girl madelyn. . So lots of bonds.

I don't know if I can see ur photo on my phone Jen, but I can't wait to see it!

Cas, I just went and saw ur montage. A, how gorgeous are you! And B how awesome is your photo just after birthing Marty! Just beautiful!

Hey Kelly, how u doing love? I read ur fb status the other day and it sounds like u r struggling at times. Big hugs love.... I hope you find a way to feel better.

[Cricket]

Lovely pic Jen! I remember that "super happy, I'm so glad to be done, and so thrilled to meet my baby" feeling! Looking forward to it again....

[Tegam]

Jen I can't see the photo. Loads of love in this thread. But that's the idea so not mushy at all

[Jennifer13]

Ash and Tegam, I'll add you to my list now. Ash, I used to live in Kingscliff and then Coffs. Many moons ago. I well remember being flooded in! Sounds like it should clear soon. Fx.

Thanks Bella. I grew up in Tsvlle and come up to visit my best friend every now and then. So maybe one day we can meet IRL too.

[Bella29]

I live on the sunshine coast now Jen. Had mima in t'ville whilst we were there for about 12 months.

[Jennifer13]

Ah well that's even easier then, Bella! My family all live in Brisbane so I'm up there every few months. And we holidayed last year on the Sunshine Coast (although Jan 2011 didn't turn out to be the best timing and has literally dampened our enthusiasm to do it again!).

Much better spot than Tville IMHO though!

[meow]

Ahh... finally had the chance to watch your video again Cassius. Just beautiful!!

Looking forward to seeing your beautiful birth Bella! And I'd love to see your photo too Jennifer

[Bella29]

How cool Jen!!! I am not one to mix fb and BB much, certainly not with just everyone, but perhaps we should be fb buddies so we can keep in touch a bit better. I would live to meet u irl. I know u don't like to mix BB and fb much either so if u don't want I won't be offended

Meow I just can't wait to share! But I want the link to go to my videographers site rather than to the private YouTube place where I can see it. That way she gets credit .

Mind u louloubelle, if it takes too long I will send u the link before you have your baby just so u can see it before u birth You too Ash

[*Ash*]

Beautiful photo, Jen xx It really captures the euphoria of the moment. I have a sequence of 3 photos that I love from my first homebirth that capture the moment beautifully. I might put them up, but I have to censor the bottom half first I really like Kingscliff, it's not too far from us.

Hi Tegam! How are you? I have read a couple of your posts in various threads - sounds like you are considering number 5. Very exciting! My MW asked me if this was my last baby, and I struggled to say a definitive 'yes', so I just said 'I think so'.

All is well with me. The rain has eased a bit now, so I am hoping that my MW will be able to get to our appt. on Wed. She is bringing the birth pool - we were supposed to get it from her last week. I will feel more relaxed when it is here.

Have a great day everyone!

[Jennifer13]

DD1 is the youngest HBing advocate I know. On the weekend she asks my visiting pg sister if she's having her baby at home and sister says no, she's going to the hospital. DD1 asks, "Why? Is there a problem?" lol

My sister tells her because it's her first baby she's a bit scared. I tell them there's nothing to be scared of, etc, and that actually this was my first labour and birth too (and I had the c/s thing hanging over my head), and it went just fine. I love that DD1 believes birth is a normal, natural process and not something to be scared about.

My health fund has pg members and new mothers followed up by phone by a m/w. I was called by one today who asked how the birth went and how we were going. She was delighted when I told her we'd had a great home birth. She told me she trained in the UK where HB was much more accepted. Apparently I made her day with such a great birth story and she wishes she heard more like that.

I'm quite chuffed to be flying the HB flag! I love talking about it. Ppl will be sick of me soon.

[*Ash*]

Good on you Jen! I agree, it does feel good. I love your new avi too.
Your DD is so sweet. I love how homebirth is just a normal thing to her. My poor DD, 7yrs, asked why she was born in hospital! She knows DS1 was born in the loungeroom and DS2 in the bedroom- that is normal to her. I love that the arrival of her siblings has always been part of an ordinary day. Just a natural, normal event.I am so happy that I have never had to leave my older child/ren in order to go somewhere else to give birth to their new sibling.

My MW came over today - the rain has eased. Apparently, it may ramp up again later in the week, so she thought it best to come today. She told me that she can still get here if there are road closures while I am in labour, but she would have to go via a longer route. The back-up MW (who was at all my other births) was here too. It was such a lovely appt. We lounged around on my bed while my kids played Lego in the loungeroom- for 2.5 hours! They left their birth bags, oxygen and birth pool here! Yay! It's getting exciting. I just need to pick up my synto and I will be ready to roll!

Bella, I would love to see your birth vid before I have my bub. And I would like to show it to my DD.

[Jennifer13]

I'm sending my birth footage to my sister to edit (she's a professional). We watched it all on the weekend. I think I'll ask her to use some of my photos as well, since the lighting isn't great for some of the video footage. And after watching it - I really wasn't as noisy as I thought I was. I wonder why my throat was so sore the next day!

[e_p]

Jen I'd love to see your photo if that's possible!

Cassius - what a beautiful montage!! Pure joy

*Ash* - hope that rain stays away later in the week!! Glad you finally got to see your m/w's! Sounds like everything is just about ready to go!

DH is still editing my photos but once he's done I'll post here Today was his first day back at work which was pretty tough going on me - first day alone as a mama! I haven't prepared a meal since mid October! The lovely man made his lunch last night, but made extra to leave in the fridge for me