I was just reading through some blogs and stumbled upon a friend of a friends birth story. After reading it I thought....hmm, I guess I should start thinking about that or preparing or something...!
Y'know instead of winging it, I could maybe start preparing myself a bit....or is it "old hat" enough that I could just wing it. Writing this I'm not actually sure what I would prepare...
-It's probably too early to pack a hospital bag. Or is it?
-I don't usually listen to music, but maybe I could try it out this time.
-I'm used to obeying doctors and lying on my back strapped to a monitor and pushing, so maybe I could familiarize myself with some better positions? Or will my midwife just help me find good ones.
-A friend just posted hundreds of birth scriptures, I'm sure some heart and soul prep is good (and probably the most important so this is most likely the best place to start).
-I could probably use some exercise/stretching/toning to help my body physically prepare.... But doesn't squatting down constantly to put on little shoes or to pick up the millions of toys throughout our house count? And I'm sure running up and down 2 flights of stairs 48 times a day could substitute as cardio....right?
-I do want to buy a little sleeper and blanket to bring home baby in. This kid has to have at least one item not hand-me-down, even though I'm sure the 36 sleepers already in the drawers would suffice...
How do you like to prepare for labor/delivery?
3 comments:
I wanted music, but by the time we got to the hospital, i was not about to be fiddling with an ipod (nor was i about to let A do that!).
i did perineal stretching, but i am not convinced of its effectiveness.
HOWEVER, i read Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth, and while it's over the top in some ways, it helped me the most in preparing for a natural birth. i knew i wanted to have a natural, vaginal birth by as much as it was in my power.
I knew I wanted to try different positions - standing, sitting on a ball, kneeling, hanging over the back of the bed with it up.
then it was really a matter of applying the things I had read in the book - visualizing a scene through each contraction (running on a beach, for me; i breathed through contractions like I was running a 30 second sprint - very precise and focused, knowing it was only 30 seconds), doing horse-lips (breathing out through totally relaxed lips and keeping my voice low.
We had girl items already, so we bought a boy outfit for the hospital, and packed a few extra outfits for any major blowouts (T had one her first day, so we figured it was a good thing to plan for), packed our bag, wrote our call list for after baby was born, made sure we had our arrangements set up for watching Taeya, AND packed sugary snacks. With our first labor being through the night, we had no sleep and it was exhausting and we wanted to help with that the second time. it was beneficial for A, but not me as I wasn't really interested in eating ;)
no idea if this was helpful, but it was fun to think about! :) But that book - loved it!
I think you recommended that book to me before, AND I think I read it but I will have to hunt it down again to jog my memory.
Usually midwives encourage you to do whatever is comfortable as far as positions and would only direct you if they for some reason wanted to get the baby out quickly or unstuck.
I always get a few new newborn outfits because I just love it. :)
I've never had much time for music but my friend put some on with Gretta and it was nice.
Post a Comment