http://morebabiespreferhomebirth.com/

Gisele Bundchen & Patriots' Tom Brady Chose Home Birth

Wed, 03 Feb 2010 13:59:43 -0600

Gisele Bundchen & Patriots' Tom Brady Chose Home Birth:

Two months after giving birth to her son Benjamin the supermodel, who had a home birth in a bathtub says giving birth “didn’t hurt in the slightest.”

The model gave birth in her home in Boston with her husband Tom Brady, her mom, and a midwife by her side. “My delivery was in a bath tub, in water,” said the 29-year-old. “I wanted to have a home birth. I wanted to be very aware and present during the birth… I didn’t want to be drugged up.”

Home Birth Story: July Baby

Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:17:47 -0600

My due date was July 12th or 14th, and both Michael and I thought the baby would be born on July 8th. I was preparing for the birth with HypnoBabies, but not very religiously and was just taking what I liked and leaving what I didn’t. At most of my late 3rd trimester appointments, the baby was persistently posterior (or ‘sunny side up’). I did lots of exercises, visualizations, etc to encourage turning to a more favorable position, but nothing really changed.

My 38 week appointment was on July 1st and baby had moved to my right side a bit. While that was better, I was hoping to move the baby over some more to the anterior position. I saw a chiropractor for an adjustment after my appointment, and again the following day. The baby was still pretty content over on the left, but the adjustments made my hips and pelvis feel so much better and less sore.

At the visit with my midwife on July 1st, she mentioned that she always ends up attending a birth on the 4th of July. I wasn’t convinced it could be me this year but on Friday night I started having a lot of Braxton Hicks contractions coming in a bit of a pattern. I had a few other nights like that during the last few weeks, so I didn’t think much of it, but made sure everything was ready for the birth just in case. I went to bed around 10pm.

I awoke the next morning at the usual time (around 7am) and wondered if the contractions in my dreams had been real. A few minutes later another came, but it still felt just like a Braxton Hicks. They came about every 15-20 minutes. We had already decided to celebrate the 4th at home this year, so we didn’t really have any plans for the day.

At this point, I thought there was a good likelihood that I’d be having the baby some time the weekend. I thought probably late that night or sometime on Sunday since the contractions were so far apart and barely noticeable. We called our mothers to give them the early heads up (both were at 4th parties about 1 ½ hours away).

I had Michael attach the TENS to my back to try it out – I was curious what it would feel like and wanted to know if I liked the feeling before I really needed to use it. The ‘burst’ mode (what you use between contractions) felt like little tingly pokes on my back, and the ‘boost’ mode (for during contractions) felt like one of those massage chairs had been attached to my lower back. It was good, but I wasn’t sure how much it would help when the contractions got serious.

Around 10am we all went grocery shopping. I had 2 or 3 of the contractions while shopping, but they were still nothing to get excited about. At noon my sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and their baby came by for a visit. They were headed up to a family party in New Hampshire. I didn’t have any contractions at all during the visit (and started to think we wouldn’t be meeting the baby this weekend after all), but one came just as they were leaving. That was about 2pm. They started up at 15 minutes apart again, and a little more intense than earlier, but still nothing like I remembered contractions feeling.

We were hungry so Michael went outside to start the grill going and cook us some burgers. After a bit, Nathan wanted to play outside, so we went out too. The landlady was tending to one of the horses, so I chatted with her a bit and then we went inside to eat. The contractions picked up in intensity during lunch, but they just felt like a lot of pressure and another sensation I can’t describe. I wondered what was going on and where I was in labor since it felt nothing like my previous labor.

At 3:45pm they were coming about every 10-11 minutes. We called our moms and told them they should probably head to our place since it seemed I’d probably have the baby that night. I also called the midwife to see what she thought and she said to call again when they were 7 minutes apart.

I still felt great and was doing things to prepare for the birth (cleaning, re-arranging furniture, double checking supplies) and just paused during contractions and used the TENS and my HypnoBabies ‘peace’ cue for relaxation.

We went on like that until 5pm, when the contractions suddenly jumped to 3-4 minutes apart (I’d had one at 7 minutes apart, and was waiting for a couple more to be sure it was time to call the midwife again). I called her and told her about the sudden change. I also remember saying I had no idea what was going on since even though they were so close they didn’t hurt and I felt completely normal between them. She said she’d come over right away anyway. I asked Michael to start blowing up and filling the pool.

Just after that I went to pee and noticed bloody show. I had a contraction on the toilet and at the peak of it, felt my body give a little involuntary push. That’s when reality hit me and I realized this baby was coming very soon. I checked myself and felt a tiny bit of cervix and a very bulging bag of waters.

I hurried to get the bed set up just in case I wanted/needed to birth there instead of the pool. I also asked Michael to call the moms again and tell them to start speeding. They were both still a bit away and it was a good possibility the wouldn’t make it in time. That had me a bit nervous, since we were counting on them to care for Nathan and make sure he was ok during the birth. Nathan, by the way, was pretty oblivious to everything and was just playing independently while Michael and I hurried around getting things ready.

The midwives arrived about 5:35pm and began setting up their supplies. I turned on the video camera and started it recording since I knew our moms were really looking forward to witnessing the birth, and now it was pretty apparent they’d miss it. I felt my body pushing by itself with each contraction. The pool was still filling, but I really wanted to get in. The water was too hot, so they had to pump in some cool water before I could get in.

I still had my clothes on so I took those off while waiting for the pool. Nathan had decided to add some bath toys to the pool, so I fished those out (during a contraction). I was still using the TENS and HypnoBabies ‘peace’ cue (but hadn’t actually done any hypnosis). When I got the go-ahead to get in the pool I ripped off the TENS pads as fast as I could and got into the water before another contraction came. I used to think it was funny that printed on the pool was a ‘No Diving’ sign, but in that moment I understood and would have dove in head first if it would have gotten me in quicker.

The water was great and my contractions instantly dropped down in intensity…but then my body started pushing even more strongly and I realized I was going to have a baby any minute. Michael was still walking around doing things and he knelt by me with Nathan ad they (Nathan too) gave me hypnosis cues to help me relax. The contractions got even more intense and I could feel the baby’s head moving into the birth canal. It was at that moment that it started to hurt and not just feel like pressure.

I still wasn’t pushing voluntarily and just let my body do the work. I blew and panted and vocalized (and yelled) through the contractions. It felt like it was taking FOREVER for the baby to come out, but from the time I started feeling pain to the birth was about 8 minutes. I didn’t have any pains during labor, but the pain now was worse than I had imagined it would be. I felt the ‘ring of fire’ and really, really, really wanted to give a big push to get it over with, but someone managed to just keep breathing through it, then the head came out, and I felt so much better.

Nathan had been wandering around, somewhat paying attention and somewhat playing around during all this (he tried to put more toys in the pool, played with the flashlight, and imitated the midwives by donning on of their gloves). When the baby’s head came out, he went around to the back of the pool and Michael showed him the baby. I was oblivious, but Michael said he looked a bit and then kept on playing.

Then I had to get the rest of the baby out, which actually hurt a bit more than the head. I felt a sharp pain with the shoulders and thought someone was pulling on him, but no one was touching him. I gave a push and the baby was out. Michael guided the baby under me and towards my front and I reached down and pulled him up onto my chest. It was an amazing moment and I couldn’t believe everything had just happened, especially so fast. After a few seconds I remembered to check and see if we had a boy or girl – BOY!

We got out of the water right after that since it was a little too cold. I had just a minor tear (probably from that darn push I gave with the shoulders – the only voluntary push, silly me) and got 3 stitches. He looked so tiny to me, Michael and I both thought he probably barely weighed 7lbs. Once he was weighed we were completely shocked to hear he was 8lbs!

Home Birth Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:44:00 -0600

Home Birth Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com:

Little boy helps mom during surprise home birth VBAC last Friday.

(via kungfudad)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:03:51 -0600

(via kungfudad)

(via Yessornoh) This is the beautiful birth of my grandaughter,...

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 12:03:19 -0600

(via Yessornoh)

This is the beautiful birth of my grandaughter, Fabienne. My daughter described the birth as follows, “My surges became close together around 6:00 pm. I stayed relaxed and practiced my HypnoBirthing breathing techniques. Got in the pool around 7:30 pm. The water was wonderful and really helped…Fabienne was born at 11:45 pm. This was my first child and an amazing experience. The combination of being at home, the water, and Hypnobirthing helped me stay relaxed enough so that my body could do what it was meant to do comfortably. I hope that all women can have a similiar experience and in the words of Ina May Gaskin know that their, “body is NOT a lemon!!” Birth need not be terrifying, excruciating, or manipulated by drugs and technology. It can be joyful, ecstatic, and a beautiful initiation into motherhood.”

(via slapithigh)

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:14:00 -0600

(via slapithigh)

Home Birth Story: Welcome Maia

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 00:14:00 -0600

My first two children were born in hospitals, with conventional care, and since I had gestational diabetes with both, I had a lot of interventions. When my husband and I decided to have a third baby, I wanted to do things differently. I Wanted the information I needed to take great care of myself. I wanted to make decisions for myself based on my own good reasoning. So before we tried to get pregnant, we sought out a friend and lay midwife in our area, who puts women fully in charge of their prenatal care, labor, births, and aftercare.

I had a great pregnancy, and managed gestational diabetes at home, without shots and without putting my body through the GD test, which is more sugar than I would ever pour down my throat for any other purpose. Through monitoring with a glucose meter, good diet and exercise, I birthed a healthy, normal sized baby. Maia was born on April 5 of 2005, very early in the morning. I had been having pre-labor contractions every night after dinner for nearly two weeks, but each evening around bed time, the contractions would ease up and I was starting to get really irritable. I wasn’t overdue, but the off and on contractions were wearing on my spirit. I wanted so badly to be one of those patient, it will happen when it happens kind of expectant moms, but it just wasn’t so. Every night contractions would get close to five minutes apart and then slowly taper off. My hopes would get high and then crash.

I have a lot of fear surrounding exams, and I really didn’t want to have even my midwife, whom I trusted and loved, check my cervix. But, my hands are too small to do it myself and finally in desperation I called her to come check me out. I was making good progress. All those pre-labor contractions were doing a lot of work. That helped me relax for a while, but then a few days later, my blood pressure started to rise.

I asked my midwife about natural induction methods, not including breaking my water and she agreed to come sit with me while I tried some herbs, castor oil and bad Chinese food. I have mixed feelings about the effectiveness of herbs and potions for inducement, but it felt good to be proactive. Contractions came and went, but my blood pressure was steadily rising. After about eight hours of slow, mild contractions that just weren’t progressing, my blood pressure was high enough to concern me. However, my birth pool was warm and ready, and being in the water immediately brought me down to reasonable levels, so I spent a couple hours in the pool waiting for things to pick up.

Finally I asked my midwife to break my water, something I was fearful about, but I knew that if I had to head to the hospital because of my blood pressure, breaking my water would be the first thing they would do. It took me almost forty five minutes to work up the bravery to allow my water to be broken, but just a moment later labor was well under way. In fact, I was working so hard that I started to panic. I knew that I couldn’t maintain that level of effort for hours on end. But the midwife reassured me that I wouldn’t have to. She said that I was in transition already, which was hard for me to believe, since I had only been in “serious” labor for about a half hour.

My midwife had respected my need for space and stayed in another room while my husband held my hand through the contractions, but after another fifteen minutes of intense work, I called for her to come in and talk to me through it. Just a few minutes later I felt the urge to push at the end of a contraction. I felt confused because it seemed labor had just begun, but she reassured me that I needed to trust myself. So during the next contraction, I pushed when it felt right and my baby’s head was born, just short of an hour after breaking my water. On the next contraction, her body came and my husband gently pulled her to the surface of the water.

She seemed so small, and perfectly formed. I stayed in the water to birth the placenta, which was much more painful than I had experienced before and it didn’t help that the water was starting to cool off. Thankfully I had a healthy little baby to distract me.

We woke my older daughter and son to come meet their sister, and my son cut the umbilical cord. We got dried off just in time for friends to arrive with snacks and congratulations. Baby started nursing right away, and we decided to forgo most of the normal interventions after birth, like vitamin k, eye drops, and the pku.

At one point an hour or so after the baby was born, I felt that I was bleeding more than I should be and I started to get worried. My midwife checked the bleeding and agreed that it was a bit heavy. Her apprentice administered a dropperful of cinnamon tincture and the bleeding slowed withing a minute or so.

Then an amazing thing happened. I laid down with my baby and fell asleep. We slept for hours, warm and comfortable in our own bed, with no interruptions. To me, that was the most valuable gift of birthing at home!

(via philippasdoula) Trista’s birth is at home in the...

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:37:50 -0600

(via philippasdoula)

Trista’s birth is at home in the water. She is my 4th daughter and my third VBAC. 13 people were present for the birth including my other children. We had a male midwife and it was just beautiful.

(via Berbeln) The waterbirth of Finnley Hayden PikkaartMonday 2...

Thu, 12 Nov 2009 19:04:25 -0600

(via Berbeln)

The waterbirth of
Finnley Hayden Pikkaart

Monday 2 februari 2009 at 09.10 hour Our son Finnley Hayden Pikkaart was born

At 06.30 my water broke and the contractions started.
Meanwhile Michel was filling up the rented birthing bath. Around 9 I could go into the not yet completely filled bath.

As I was expecting it to take some time I went to the toilet first. But there I had my first pushcontraction. So I walked quikly, while undressing, to the bath where I was checked to see how far I was.

With the next contraction Finnley’s head was born. I held his head my self and with another contraction helped him in to the word.
That was something very special. I held him onder the water for about a minute

Because everything went so quickly the birth it self wasn’t filmed. Only when he was above the water the camera was turned on.
Luckily there were pictures taken. in this clip you are seeing a compilation of these 2.

Berbel Nijsse 2009

Home Birth Stories: A Journey Through Three Births

Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:07:27 -0600

ds1
born 02/02/95
6lbs 6 oz.
19 in. 37 weeks
no complications

I was 14 when I met my first husband and decided I was going to marry him. I’m a pretty strong-willed person and tend to draw things into my life when I’ve decided I really want them. In this case I wanted him and after a year he proposed to me. We were engaged for a year and married shortly after my 16th birthday. I was determined to start my life. I knew I was ready and that I could do anything. I was going to prove everyone wrong and I was going to be in control of my life. :-)

I got pregnant shortly after the wedding and initially was thrilled. Then I started getting depressed. I was feeling more and more negative and suffering pretty bad morning sickness when my husband did something I will forever be grateful for. He asked me why I was so upset. Being forced to try to explain it to him I realized that what was building in me was fear and horror over going to the hospital to give birth. As my pregnancy progressed I felt more and more trapped and terrified. When I thought about hospital birth I felt violated. A specific scenario would enter my mind that filled me with dread (I later found out from my mother that the images were actually a rendition of my own birth).

So when I told my husband this he said “so why don’t you do something about it? Go to the bookstore and get a book about it or something.” I realized I could be proactive about it. I could empower myself. I got on a public transportation bus the next day (for the first time alone) and went to an alternative book store.

At the bookstore I bought a couple of books about pregnancy. I don’t recall their names but I’m sure today I see them as fairly mainstream but back then they were an eye-opener. The most important kernel of information in them was that midwives existed and that people gave birth at home. As soon as I read it I wondered why it hadn’t occurred to me in the first place! Societal messages are so insidious you don’t even realize you are following them until you are ready to reject them.

I immediately knew I would birth at home and I started reading all I could about pregnancy and birth. I became educated very fast and without the threat of the hospital looming over me, and no longer fearing the unknown, my mood improved vastly and my morning sickness abated.

When I was about 5 months along (at the insistence of my mother) I finally got up the courage to call some midwives. I met with a woman in a nearby city who practiced with an intern and started prenatal care. My pregnancy was uncomplicated and easy.

My biggest fear about the birth was that I would tear. Sex had been painful for me and I didn’t have much confidence in my body’s ability to stretch. I was also painfully modest and inhibited about my body and managed to go the whole pregnancy without an internal exam. I had a secret fear there was something wrong with me that would cause me to tear but I couldn’t confess it to the midwives.

About a month before my birth we moved to a city an hour away (driving fast) from my midwives so that my husband could get a better job and we could be in a real apartment. We had been living in a 20 ft. camping trailer. I really had no real concept of when I could be giving birth (the books said that most first time moms go over their due dates) and at 37 weeks when I went into labor I had made nearly no preparations. We had no baby clothes, no diapers and no receiving blankets (I guess my midwife realized how immature I was and brought stuff along with her). I was making very confident and mature decisions on one hand and not handling life at all on the other.

I was at my mothers house for dinner when my water broke. I had just eaten a meal of fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn. My lower back had been aching unbearably for days. Suddenly I felt like I had to pee real bad and as I jumped up to run to the bathroom liquid came pouring out all over everything. It continued to gush copiously after I got to the bathroom. I had my mother drive me home (I didn’t have a car or license) and made her leave me there alone (my husband was at work). I was afraid if I let her come inside she wouldn’t leave and the last thing I wanted was my mother there.

I immediately called my midwife and let her know that my water had broken. She advised me to call her back in an hour and let her know how things were going. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I paced a bit and couldn’t settle for being so excited and apprehensive. A few minutes after talking with the midwife my first contraction hit. Within half an hour they were 5 minutes part and lasting a full minute. I knew that was an important benchmark and called my midwife back. She said she would leave right away and suggested I call my husband home from work. I had originally assumed it would take a while for a first labor and that my husband could finish his shift before coming home. But I decided to call him right away and he was able to get a bus home and be there within half an hour. By the time he got there I was ensconced on my knees in front of the couch with my head in my pillow screaming with contractions coming every couple minutes. The screams were therapeutic and helped release the tension in my body. They were the only way I could handle the incredible forces inside me. There wasn’t much for him to do but sit and watch me with a worried expression on his face. I didn’t know what he could do to help me and he hadn’t prepared at all. My entire focus was on what was happening within me and I was not interacting with the outside world.

By the time my midwife got there I had no break between contractions. I remember clearly the intern midwife laying her hands on my lower back and how cool and sweet they felt. But I was in sheer agony. As soon as one would start to ease off the next would start building. She asked to check my dilation and checked with a couple of fingers without asking me to change position (the dilation check was faster and less intrusive than I feared). She said I was at 9 and that I could try pushing anytime I wanted to. Being in agony I wanted it over and so decided to give a little push. As soon as I started pushing the pain ceased entirely. As long as my muscles were engaged the pin was non-existant. It was like flipping a light switch. You can bet I pushed for all I was worth. I felt strong and powerful. Pushing was actually pleasurable and wonderful. The only time I stopped pushing was to take a breath and in that instant the agony came flooding back unbearably. I pushed non-stop without regard for my contractions, breathing as swiftly as I could between pushing.

Within just a few minutes he had moved down and started crowning. That’s when the pain came back. Not the same pain I was having before but also excruciating and horrible. I felt like my clitoris was being crushed between two rocks and that I was breaking apart. If I stopped pushing the contraction pain tore into me, and if I pushed the pain in my vulva was unbearable.

In that moment I felt I couldn’t take it anymore. I started saying “I can’t” “I can’t.” The midwives said “yes you can, you can do it!” and I made the decision that it didn’t matter if I ripped my whole body in half I had to get the baby out and end the pain, I’d deal with the consequences later; and if I died, so be it.

My son was born just 3 hours after my water breaking. He was alert and screaming and healthy. I was limp and exhausted and in an altered state of mind. The midwives had my husband cut the cord, applied gentle traction to the umbilical cord and the placenta came out (which also hurt). Then they gave him a newborn exam. I was frankly a little uninterested in holding him. I was aware he was there and I wasn’t rejecting him, I was just too altered to be fully present. The midwives suggested I take a bath and got me settled and then handed him to me in the water.

After a while the midwives packed up and left and we were on our own. I was very bruised and unable to sit-up straight for about 3 weeks. I didn’t tear but did have skid marks. Other than that I recovered well and had no lasting issues. I felt good about my birth. I felt confident that I could do it again and much more relaxed about it knowing what to expect.

ds2
Born 04/09/96
6lbs 3 oz.
19 in. 37 weeks
no complications

When my first son was about 5 months old I was so on fire about midwifery that I packed him up and attended a midwifery conference. I came back excited about babies and conceived my second son that night. This pregnancy I had no fears or worries. I felt great about giving birth again and hired a new set of midwives for another home-birth. The pregnancy was uncomplicated except that when I was nearing the end of my pregnancy my husband left me for a co-worker. We actually separated at 36 weeks pregnant. I was about to turn 18, I didn’t have money, a job, a home (we had been evicted because my husband stopped paying the bills) a drivers license or a car. I was lucky enough to have wonderful friends who gave me a car and asked me to move in with them while I got on my feet.

A week after I moved in I went into labor. This labor started with very gentle and pleasurable contractions felt vaguely in my sleep early in the morning. After I got up I didn’t feel them anymore. I was nervous that I would go into another fast labor and dithered about wether or not to go to my pre-natal appointment schedule for that day. Eventually I decided to go ahead and go but I had my sister-in-law drive me just in case. We drove all the way there (about 40 minutes) had a quick visit in which I refused a dilation check (didn’t have an internal exam with this pregnancy either) and went home. It was a complete waste of time in hindsight. On the way home I suddenly became obsessed with needing to buy myself a new wallet/purse before we got home. I HAD to get it done. We stopped at K-Mart and I tried to find something I liked but I couldn’t make a decision. Finally I picked one out and gave it to my sister-in-law to pay for since my lower back was hurting real bad from standing and I was starting to worry my water would break in the store. I went out to the car but it was locked so I sat down in the grass near the car and had a few peaceful moments watching people go by. I felt a fun sense of unreality and secret glee that I was sitting there about to have a baby and no-one else knew. I imagined what kind of panic could ensue if they did know.

We went home and as soon as we walked in the door my contractions hit me like a ton of bricks. Fast and furious they started out close together. I called the midwives and they flew out the door knowing my history. This time my SIL was there and my husband was not. she was more intrusive and took it upon herself to direct my breathing. I was feeling a bit adrift and went along with it. She breathed me into a lack of oxygen with my hands turning into claws and feeling like I couldn’t move. Thankfully the midwives got there and instructed me to breath more slowly and my body unclenched. My midwife had an intern, an apprentice and another tag-along who came to “help watch my son.” They all ended up in the room with me which was WAY too many people for me. Because I didn’t feel assertive enough to send out the midwives I sent out my SIL. Within a few minutes I felt like I had to have a bowel movement. I insisted I did and the midwives were dubious but I walked down the hall to the bathroom, was unsuccessful and came back.

The head midwife wanted to check my dilation and asked me to lie down on my back for her to do it (I had been on my knees in front of a rocking chair). It was very uncomfortable for me to lie down but again I wasn’t assertive enough to ask her to check me in my current position. When she checked me she caused me sharp shooting pain in my vagina and it startled me and I had my first moment of fear wondering if something was wrong. I tried to express my fears but she wasn’t really listening (or I wasn’t communicating, I still don’t know which). I got back into my position and as I was at 9 I decided to give a push. This time I did not get the relief from pushing I had received last time. I don’t remember it being particularly bad, but it wasn’t as relieving as it had been before. Pushing was very swift though and crowning was not the issue it had been before. Right before he crowned my water broke. I pushed him out easily and immediately turned over and grabbed for him. I put him to my breast and he latched on right away.

The midwives applied gentle traction to the cord to get the placenta out and put the placenta in a ziplock bag. I had decided I wanted to wait until I felt ready to cut the cord seeing as it was done earlier than I wished with my first son and I had been too out of it to remember at the time. This time we had talked about it in advance. I felt great. No bruising, no tearing, no stinging when I pee’d. The only indication I had that I’d just given birth was the baby in my arms. I got into bed and he was given a newborn exam.

After a little while the intern asked to cut the cord. I was surprised so soon and asked her why. She said it was because she wanted to get home and have dinner. That comment was super hurtful to me at the time. I felt like I wasn’t important and wondered how her dinner could possibly compare to my sons umbilical cord in importance but being non-assertive I agreed and it was done. Soon after they left and I was alone to marvel at my son all night. By the way, my friends watched my son upstairs while they had guests over for dinner. I thought it highly amusing to be giving birth in the basement while strangers had dinner upstairs and wondered what they thought about it. My labor was 1.5 hours from that first strong contraction to birth. I had strong after-contractions the next morning that were much worse than the labor but tylenol helped them ease off.

dd
05/25/02
7lbs 12oz.
20 in. 38 weeks
no complications

My daughter was a very much planned for baby a few years after marrying my second husband. I had been reading/talking about unassisted birth for a few years and didn’t plan to hire a midwife at all. I felt confident and didn’t feel the need to have anyone there. I preferred to give birth alone and my husband was about as many people as I was willing to allow to be there.

This pregnancy was a lot harder on me than the first two. I had all-day sickness until about 14 weeks (after not having any morning sickness with my second son) and the last few months I had severe issues with my hands. I developed pregnancy induced carpal tunnel syndrome (at least that’s what I diagnosed myself with) and was in great amounts of pain. I’ve always been a coper and this was no exception. Since I knew what the problem was and what would cure it, I just dealt with it. In hind-sight of course I would have sought help from a professional.

Towards the end of my pregnancy I was unable to put any pressure on my back at all without developing icy, painful numbness in my fingers and going all up my arms. The only way I could rest was to sit in a hard straight chair with my arms carefully propped up on the arm-rests and wrapped in ace-bandages. My head and spine had to be straight up and down and believe it or not I learned to sleep in this position. I would wake up several times a night and have to walk around the house shaking out my arms to stop the pain. My hands were so painful/weak I could barely pick up a glass of water and I had difficulty doing things like wiping after going to the bathroom. I was very much looking forward to labor but at the same time was hoping my pregnancy would last longer and I could grow a bigger baby.

I lasted to 38 weeks this time and my labor started in the afternoon with bloody show. I knew I would be giving birth that night and warned my husband. After a while I developed a slow but persistent leak. I sat in my rocking chair with a towel under me knowing labor would begin in earnest soon but not having any noticeable contractions. I was becoming progressively more uncomfortable and grouchy and eventually made my husband turn off the movie we were watching and set up the birth supplies I had all ready to go. He was quite grumpy about it because he didn’t believe I would actually have the baby and figured he would be putting it all away the next morning. I’m not sure why he didn’t believe me seeing as I’d done it a couple times already but I guess he just expected more indication. He went to sleep on the couch and I happily spent the rest of my labor in the bathroom by myself rocking my hips and belly-dancing.

This labor was so freeing and so relaxing. The contractions were totally manageable and not even close to unbearable. Finally I decided I was super close and better wake my husband up or he’d miss it. I went to the living room and woke him and immediately I lost my calm space and I was in transition and I could barely stand it. I was on my knees in front of the couch rocking back and forth, breathing hard and my husband went to get the camera and as he walked back into the room I said “catch your baby!” and she was being born. LOL it only took a few pushes at most and was not painful at all. He barely got there and I’m not really sure if she was born into his arms or onto the pad. I flipped over and grabbed her to my breast and she started nursing right away. her cord was a lot shorter than the others and it was hard for me to move. She was born after 2 hours of strong contractions.

Having read a lot about how cord traction isn’t really a good thing and that it could cause problems, I had decided to wait to try to birth the placenta this time instead of having it out within a minute like the first two times. I didn’t count on how efficient my body is and that it wanted the placenta out and started closing my cervix right away. By the time I tried to push my placenta out just minutes later it got stuck part-way out. No amount of pushing could dislodge it. Because her cord was so short we decided to cut it so I could move better and get out of the pool of blood I was sitting in. I moved to the bathroom to continue to try to get it out. My oldest son had a soccer tournament that morning and my husband left to take him to the game and then come back. I started out standing up, then had to sit on the toilet, then moved to the floor and finally lay down with her on the floor. She was perfectly happy and content to nurse and sleep but I wasn’t doing so well. If I’d have had a friend to call I would have had her come over and help me and if I’d hired a midwife I could have called her but I didn’t have anyone to lend a hand and I couldn’t get enough leverage on it to pull it out myself. My husband was not willing to pull on it. After about 7 hours of bleeding I gave up and said it was time to go to the hospital. My biggest concern was for my daughter as I didn’t want her to be admitted. My husband got her diapered and dressed and into her car-seat. Then he had to almost carry me to the car. On the way out my vision blacked-out and then went white. I knew I had lost too much blood but other than the weakness I felt ok.

At the hospital they got me on a gurney and covered me with the most deliciously hot blanket ever. I was taken up to the maternity ward immediately and by this time I was feeling alert again. We stated that we did not want my daughter admitted and she slept in her car-seat the whole time. An OB came in and I told him my issue and he pulled the placenta out stating it was caught on the cervix (which I already knew) He also pushed on my cervix afterward to push it back up higher. The instant it was out, my body was back into good shape. I felt fine and refused any tests at all and signed out AMA. I was there for an hour and surprisingly was only charged $100 for the hospital and $100 for the doctor. At home I felt tired and weak but healthy and was just somewhat disgusted that I had had to transfer for so simple a problem with such a simple solution. My poor bathroom looked like a slaughter house (carpeted floor) but thankfully it all came up a few days later with a shop Vac, boiling water and copious amounts of hydrogen peroxide. Within hours I was able to lay down in bed and sleep without hand pain - it was sheer bliss.

I don’t regret my lack of prenatal care as it was a wonderful experience to be so independent. But I do know that I would have saved myself some grief if I’d be able to call someone to help me out when I encountered an issue in which I needed assistance.

Home Birth Story: A Second Water Birth

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:29:50 -0600

This is the story of the birth of our third child and second water birth. All of our children were born at 37 weeks 4 days gestation though the first baby was born via c-section by the doctor’s choice because of Frank breech positioning.

In attendance at the birth were my husband, Shawn, the midwife, P, our 6 year old daughter, A, and our 3 year old son, G.

Sunday 10pm: Contractions started becoming timeable. I had had many nights of sporadic and mild contractions but these were coming every 7 minutes or so with more intensity. Contractions continued through the night getting closer together but not lasting more than 30 seconds.
Monday 4am: Contractions all but stop so I go to bed. I continue to be woken up every 10-15 minutes but they never get closer together.
Monday 10am-1pm: Contractions stop
Monday 1pm: Contractions are back. The rest of the day they vary from 3-4 minutes apart lasting 30 seconds to 7 minutes apart last 1-1.5 minutes.
Monday 10pm: I reach my emotional limit. This labor has been tied to my emotions the whole time. Contractions are stronger and closer together when the kids are sleeping but tend to space out when they are awake.
I call a friend and cry into the phone. She offers suggestions and tries to make me laugh. I decide to take a hot bath and go to bed and try to sleep through the contractions.
Tuesday 3am: I wait until I can’t possibly stay in bed any longer and start timing contractions. 3-4 minutes and lasting 30-45 seconds.
4am: They are lasting 1 minute and not spacing out. Once this has continued for an hour I am to call the midwife.
4:30am: I wake up Shawn to help me time. I’m running back and forth to the toilet and timing is hard. I hate sitting on the toilet but feel compelled to go there during contractions. I like having Shawn there. Last time I mostly labored alone.
5am: We call P and she gets ready to come over. My contractions get even closer and stronger. Shawn is finishing setting up the pool. I had worried till then about setting it up too early.
5:45ish: P arrives just after I got in the pool. I’m moaning loudly during contractions but still making conversation in between. I’m worried this means I’ve got a long way to go.
The rest of the story is supplemented with midwife’s notes from my record
6am: I’m starting to feel like the contractions are just coming too close together to handle. I feel like as soon as one starts another begins. I can’t seem to find a comfortable position to labor in unlike my previous water birth in which I stayed in the same position the entire time I was in the pool. I try to remember to make low sounds and focus on opening.
6:20: I want a cervix check because I want to know I’m dilating and that it will soon be over. I don’t get one instead she encourages me to follow my body. I really hate the feeling of my hands and face being wet so I keep asking Shawn to bring me dry towels. I’m still moving around a lot. I tried to push once or twice but it didn’t feel good so I stopped. I start worrying about pooping in the pool so I get up to use the toilet. Contractions on the toilet are even more uncomfortable so I head back to the pool. I notice blood trickling down my leg and am happy for the confirmation that things are working properly.
6:39: I wanted to sleep. I was so tired and thought maybe if I laid down I could sleep. So I get out and go lay on the couch and try to sleep. I have a few contractions in which I do not vocalize. I remember looking for Shawn and one point because I can’t see him. He comes over and holds my hand. He told me later that I had about 10 minutes of no contractions then. I don’t remember this, it remember it as non stop back to back contractions.
6:52: G wakes up. Shawn carries him over to the pool and I’m having a contraction. He said, “Mommy is making noises.” And Shawn reassured him then he asked for fruit leather. He continues to ask for fruit leather on and off during the labor. He sits in a chair and watches me seemingly undisturbed by the labor.
7am: My water breaks on my couch (again! It happened there during G’s labor too). I am relieved. I’d wanted my water to break since active labor started. It felt like if I could just get my water to break I’d have a relief from some of the pressure and I did. Contractions were much better after that. I got back in the pool at that point as I anticipated pushing.
7:02: I can feel the top of her head and so call out A’s name to let Shawn know to wake her up. She wanted to watch the birth and I remember when my brother was born that my mom told me I could be there for the birth but I didn’t end up being able to go. I was really upset for a long time and didn’t want A to feel the same way.
7:05: She’s crowning! It didn’t burn or hurt nearly so much this time as it did when G crowned. Crowning really encouraged me to push hard. Her head was nearly out for so long! I felt like she’d never come out. I was really worried about tearing up because I felt a lot of pressure there. I tried to apply counter pressure to protect the area.
7:11: She is born! I felt instantly better! I went from feeling crazy and out of control to perfectly sane and happy.
A and G stripped down and joined me in the pool. A tried to hold Ivy but her cord was quite short. I had to hold myself off the bottom of the pool to keep her face out of the water. She was covered in a thick layer of vernix (but so were the other kids). She apgars were 10 and 10. She didn’t cry immediately, not until I moved her around a bit (she still doesn’t like being jostled much).
I opted to have her cord cut after 15 or so minutes because it was so short I was having trouble holding her out of the water, she was so slippery with the vernix. Shawn cut the cord and then held her while I got out of the pool to deliver the placenta. I sat on the birth stool which was really uncomfortable, I have no idea how anyone could sit there for labor! The placenta came out about 20 minutes after birth. I didn’t even really see it this time. I did notice I had a much smaller blood loss than last time and the placenta came out a lot easier.
We got nursing going easily right after the placenta came out. She latched on well and nursed for about 30 minutes. The afterpains were intense so I took some crampbark. P made me some toast and cleaned up, prepped the placenta for drying, and got me into bed.
Shawn took the big kids for donuts and to get a couple of things at the grocery store. After he got home I took a nap and P headed home.

We didn’t measure her length or head (we will at the 2 week) but she was 8lbs 5oz which I found shocking as its more than a pound bigger than her brother and one and a half pounds bigger than A.

{If you’d like to share your own home birth story, please use the form at right to submit it.}

(via womaninthemoonfilms)

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:29:48 -0600

(via womaninthemoonfilms)

River's Home Birth Story

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:29:48 -0600

by Lennon

On Sunday morning (early hours), January 25, 2004, I was in my normal routine of waking up every 2-3 hours to pee. During one of these trips to the bathroom, I felt what I described at the time as gas pains, as it felt like the sensations were coming from my intestines, not my uterus. They weren’t that bad, just uncomfortable, and while I was able to sleep, I couldn’t sleep very deeply or comfortably. I actually woke up at 7 am and was going to just stay up because I was getting so uncomfortable in bed, but I was so exhausted that I decided to try to sleep a little more, got an extra two hours of sleep, waking at 9 am (looking back I was so glad I did this, as I wasn’t going to sleep at all the following night!!).

I should mention that Friday, January 23, had been my last day at work and I was 36 1/2 weeks pregnant. On Saturday I had been really irritated about how dirty the house was, but I forced myself not to clean and to enjoy a day or two of doing nothing as I was fully prepared to spend the next 4 weeks cleaning and scrubbing the house in preparation for my baby’s arrival. Little did I know that he would be here weeks before planned!

Anyway, on Sunday we decided to go to Michael’s to buy the supplies for a belly cast (which we never got a chance to make!!) and we also stopped at Wal-Mart next door for some extra supplies. While in the store, every time I felt a “gas pain”, I had to stand still and relax, and yet the thought that these “gas pains” were contractions was so far from my head still!! By the time we got home, I was feeling more and more uncomfortable, and at dinner couldn’t stand to eat more than two bites of food. I called my mom and when she heard what I was feeling, she *knew* it was labor but I still wouldn’t believe it. I kept telling my self I had 3+ weeks left, at least!! Walter called his parents in Peru and happened to mention to his mom what I was feeling. She too said that she bet I was in labor. She said that if it was just gas pains, chewing some anise seeds would help. I had thought of this too, and I had some anise in the cupboard, but the mere thought of having to move and go to the kitchen was too overwhelming (how obvious was it that I was in labor??). I called my mom again and during our phone call I had to stop talking every time I had a “gas pain”. At this point I realized that yes, I probably was in labor!!! This was around 6 p.m. Sunday.

Walter asked if I wanted him to take Jr. (his 14 year old son) to our friend’s house, and I said yes, as he kept knocking on our door, bothering my concentration, and I couldn’t be naked and comfortable in the house with him there. He also picked us up some Indian food, as I felt hungry suddenly and that was all I wanted to eat! By this point I was in deep labor and every time I had a contraction, I had to completely stop what I was doing and relax and go within.

I only ended up eating a few bites of food. The contractions were quite frequent ( we never timed them) and I was having intense back pain by now. I had suspected that my baby might be posterior, and now I felt pretty certain about it! I finally decided to settle in on the toilet where I felt very comfortable. The next 12 hours are all mixed up in my head and I’m not sure of the order of things, but I ended up throwing up 3 times, and must have taken 5 or 6 hot baths in the tub to relieve some of the back pain. I wasn’t able to sleep at all although Walter kept insisting that I should. As soon as I would lay down, a contraction would come on and I had to jump into hands and knees position to deal with it! I would estimate the contractions at this point about every 3-5 minutes. I continued to drink LOTS of water, but food didn’t appeal to me at all. Walter tried to catch an hour of sleep here and there during the night. At one point he took some sheets and laid them down in the bathroom and curled up on the floor (our bathroom is small), as I wanted him close to me and I didn’t want to move from the toilet. At some point in the night, I decided to check myself, as the curiosity was killing me, and I would say I was around 5-6 cm dilated, with a very thin cervix. Later on, probably around 6 or 7 am on Monday, 1/26/04, I decided to check myself again and I felt something interesting. I could feel the bag of waters (they hadn’t broken yet) and what I realized very soon was an anterior cervical lip and it wasn’t even all that big. Sometime later, probably around 10 am, my mucous plug came out as one whole blob. This was exciting to see!! After this, I started having bloody show. I knew it had to be soon…but when??? I was ready at this point for labor to be over and to have my baby in my arms and to take a nap!! I checked myself again a little later…cervical lip still there, but totally dilated otherwise. I knew that this was all that was left, once the lip was gone, my baby would be here soon. I got out Heart and Hands to read about what I could do for a cervical lip. The procedure for pushing the lip over the presenting part was described and sounded simple enough but cautioned that if done incorrectly, cervical swelling or tearing could result. Well, I decided halfheartedly to try it out. I sat on the toilet, and tried it, but I didn’t use to much effort, as I was a little worried about making my cervix swollen as I knew this would just make my labor longer. I decided to see if the lip would resolve itself though more contractions.

The contractions were getting more and more intense and frequent and I started to verbalize outloud that I could not take another day of this (I was worried I would still be labor on Tuesday with another sleepless night!). I was SSOO tired and my back labor was SSOO intense!! I talked to my mom at some point, probably around 1 pm and she insisted that we call a midwife/friend that I know in Salem, to ask her what she thought I could do. Walter called and left a message for her. When she called back, she gave me some position ideas to try and turn my baby to an anterior position, and she said it sounded like I was doing great and that the fact that the waters weren’t broken yet meant that there was a higher chance of the baby getting into a better position. I tried the position changes, but it didn’t feel as if he had turned yet.

My mom called again around this time and I was just so tired that I told her that I wanted to go to the hospital for an epidural just so that I could get some sleep!! I had no fear for the baby, as I knew intuitively that he was fine, I just wanted a break! She told Walter that maybe we should set a time limit and go the hospital after a certain time. Walter was hesitant because he knew how badly I wanted a home birth and how disappointed I would have been.

About an hour later I called the midwife again to see what she thought I could do about the lip. I don’t really remember what she said, but I told her I was going to try to manually resolve it again. She told me that if I felt like I wanted her there with me at any point, to call her and she would come by.

After I hung up the phone, I decided to stop complaining and get real. If I was truly considering transferring then I should try everything I could at home first. I was going to resolve this cervical lip, even if it means that my cervix tears a little!!! So I squatted over a chux pad, with the book describing the procedure in front of me, and just did it! I reached in my yoni, pushed the lip up over the presenting part (at this point it was just the bag of water), and when the next contraction came, I pushed like mad to move the presenting part over the lip and keep it that way. POP!!! My water bag broke (very clear fluid) ! and my cervical lip was gone too!!! YEAH!!!! Almost immediately my contractions seemed to be one on top of the other!! There wasn’t even a full minute in between them. It was around 4 p.m. by now. Around 5 pm I told Walter to call the midwife and to tell her to please come!! I felt the need for her to be there for some reason. I was experiencing intense, overwhelming pushing contraction by now,and the only way they were bearable was if I pushed with them and vocalized these deep moaning sounds that just arose within me. Walter kept telling me not to moan, and to focus my energy on the pushing, but I couldn’t help it at the time. I pushed and pushed!! When I checked to see if I could feel the baby, I couldn’t tell what part I was feeling. It definitely didn’t feel like the butt, but it didn’t really feel like a head either. Oh well, I thought, I am at the point of no return…no point in analyzing it! My body was pushing my baby out and I was doing all I could do to help it along.

In spite of the overwhelming pushing contractions, an hour later, i was still pushing, although my baby was definitely descending. Finally I could feel him right on my perineum and I suddenly realized how close to holding my baby I was!!! A few more pushs and I could feel hair!!! So, it must be the head!! (I wished I had a mirror, but this was something I hadn’t got around to buying yet!!). His head was partly crowning when the midwife arrived. She offered me the use of her birthing stool which I gratefully accepted, as my legs and ankles were SO shaky from squatting most of the day that I kept falling over as my ankles would give out!! The birthing stool was perfect! My legs could rest but I was still upright. His head took a full 5-10 minutes to fully crown. At the time, I wanted it to go quick, but I am now grateful for my body taking it’s time as my muscles and skin were able to stretch slowly and I didn’t tear at all! The midwife asked if I wanted her to provide perineal support and I said yes. My own hands were naturally drawn to the top of my yoni, supporting my upper labial tissues and clitoris. The midwife kept calmly telling me how perfect my body was stretching, which was great to hear. Finally his head was out! And I will never forget the feeling of his body rotating inside of me before I pushed his body out. Amazing!!!!!! After his head was born, the midwife got out of the way and told Walter to come and catch his baby (he was behind me giving me counter-pressure on my lower back as I had asked him (more like TOLD him!!) to. As soon as he was there, I pushed my baby into the world in one more push. He was covered in vernix and according to Walter, before his body was out he had already opened his eyes. He breathed within seconds of his birth. The cord was wrapped around his neck once but this didn’t make any difference. I just unwound it when he was born. His hands and feet didn’t pink up right away, as the rest of his body had, but with some massaging they were just fine.

The placenta came about 5 minutes after my darling boy. It was whole and healthy. The midwife stayed long enough to make sure I had some juice and food and to do the dishes and clean up the bathroom. It was all so perfect. Later, she said that she felt so honored to have been invited to our birth, and she felt almost as if it were too intimate to have her there. She said that when she saw the cord around his neck, she had to check her instincts to check his heart tones and make sure all was well. She said being present for his birth reminded her of the sacredness of birth and that our bodies know how to do this so perfectly! She asked us if we wanted her to do anything else for us, and I asked her to weigh him if she had her scale with her. 6lb, 6oz. Not bad for being nearly a month early!

And that is my amazing son’s entry into the world. We were going to do a full lotus birth, but after about 36 hours we decided to cut the cord as it had become very brittle and we were worried it would pull on his naval as his cord wasn’t very long. We did save the cord and have it in a jar that I plan on giving to him when he is older. Next time, I would really like to allow the cord to naturally fall off, but I feel like we at least were able to give him a full day and a half with his placenta…

Anyway, that is my son’s birth story. I love being a mom, and can’t wait to do it again!!!!!

{If you’d like to share your own home birth story, please use the form at right to submit it.}

(via chrystalschronicles)

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 23:29:50 -0600

(via chrystalschronicles)

Homebirth Research: Outcomes after planned home births [Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2008] - PubMed result

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:29:50 -0600

Homebirth Research: Outcomes after planned home births [Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2008] - PubMed result:

A review was performed of literature retrieved from searches in MEDLINE, PubMed, Embase, Cinahl and The Cochrane Library and relevant references found in the articles. The searches were limited to studies published in 1985 and later.

[…]

INTERPRETATION: There is no sound basis for discouraging low-risk women from planning a home birth.

For the complete review, please visit pubmed.gov

Breach Water Birth at Home (via breachbirthbaby)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:05:58 -0600

Breach Water Birth at Home (via breachbirthbaby)

My Twin Homebirth VBAC (HBAC) (via hpnvideo)

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:04:52 -0600

My Twin Homebirth VBAC (HBAC) (via hpnvideo)

Thalea's Home Birth Story (My Perfect VBAC):

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 10:04:00 -0600

Thalea's Home Birth Story (My Perfect VBAC)::

If you are not familiar with our history we had a few obstacles to overcome before this birth became possible. 1993 - My first baby was born via induced vaginal delivery at 9 days past my due date. A week of prodomal labor, 12 hours active/hard labor and 30 minutes of pushing. She was posterior, but born vaginally. 1997 - Second baby was born via c-section for posterior brow presentation after induced labor (18 hours of hard labor, at least of an hour of pushing and the sOB trying to turn her head during contractions) at 6 days past my due date. I had not gone into labor on my own, but had been leaking amnio fluid for 2-3 days and had a low-grade fever. 2000 - Third baby was born via scheduled repeat c-section (4 days before my due date) for breech position that turned transverse upon the opening of my uterus which required an Inverted T incision by the doctor because the baby got stuck.

[…]

I read Natural Birth After Cesarean by Karis Crawford, PhD and Johanne C. Walters, BSN, RN. Karis herself had an inverted T incision and went on to have 2 VBACs. In the midst of this research I decided to find a homebirth midwife or at least a midwife that was not working for a hospital/OB group.

To read the rest of Thalea’s Birth Story, please visit A New Baby

{If you’d like to share your own home birth story, please use the form at right to submit it.}

Wonderful Homebirth (via JulieFilter)

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 22:01:24 -0600

Wonderful Homebirth (via JulieFilter)

A Father's Perspective of Birth

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:00:00 -0600

Soft glowing candles and gentle music and the same downy pillows that you always use are just a few reasons why my wife and I are in favor of home birth. Our first experience with hospital birth had my wife strapped down and hooked up to little gray machines that chirp and beep and go ping, with nurses in colorful uniforms buzzing around telling us to just take some drugs so we could stay in time with the busy doctor’s schedule. And through their standard procedures, my wife came down with a infection that subdued our joy of our firstborn son. When it came time for our second child my wife started looking around for alternatives to the hospital experience. We found a midwife who found out how we wanted our birth to go and did everything she could to help us experience it. When our second baby we were able to have a relaxing environment were my wife was able to walk around, take a hot shower, lean against the wall and have her back rubbed, then we were able to move to a small inflatable pool that we heated with a few waterbed heaters and had our baby girl. We’ve been able to have all types of births; we had one in the hospital, then one water birth. The next one had a tighter fit at over 10 pounds and we transported to the hospital. Our fourth was an unassisted birth which I caught myself, while the next two were both attended by a midwife. We’ve experienced a lot of different kinds and they are always very special.

Our families’, I think, were the first ones to think that we were crazy, then followed by the people I worked with. They would ask why we wouldn’t go to the hospital or even see a OB/GYN. Most people also think that we are weird because we have six kids. Every time we would get pregnant and start telling our friends and family, we always get the eye roll and then they’ll say something like,“Don’t you know how to use a condom,” or, “Don’t you know what causes that?”

As a result it makes us feel as though we don’t know what we’re doing and that our family isn’t something to be celebrated, but to be hidden. We usually don’t mention anything about a new pregnancy and just let the older kids spill the beans after we tell them. But we always make sure that each child feels special and loved. And its always fun after the birth to wake up all the big brothers and sister so they can all come and greet the newest sibling right from the start. After the first couple of home births our families’ have come to terms with the idea of having a baby at home. My wife’s sister even did it with two of her kids. I do still get weird looks from the people I work with though. It’s still the number of children that we have that gets the most negative response.