Belly & Birthroom

As requested, here is my rather large belly (although I am smaller with this pregnancy than either Gracie or Faith).  I'm totally excited about the birth.  Right after I had Faith, I said - any future babies - if God allows, I will definitely have them at home in a birth tub!  I am at 39 weeks and after these last year(s) of being pregnant, losing the two babies and now at the end of this pregnancy - I am soooo ready to be holding this baby in my arms!

So getting ready for a home birth is definitely more involved than just packing a bag for the hospital.  It's interesting that I'm preparing for the birth, the rest time and the actual care of the baby all at the same time!

I have been gathering items for a couple of months.  Some are things that are specific to my midwife, others are things that I noticed I'd like to have from Faith's birth (like books and a TV in the laying in room).  I won't bore you with the details, but I found a list on a random midwife website that has quite a list - peruse it - you'll get the general gist of what I'm talking about.

And here is a snapshot of the room I'll be birthing in and sharing with this little one for it's first three weeks outside my womb.  The birth tub is fairly large (I'll snag a shot of it once we set it up) so we won't bring any more items into the room until after baby is born and the tub is taken down.  I have a co-sleeper that we really love.  Pete will bring it down and set it up soon after birth.  The baby and I will be sleeping in the bed together for the most part, but I love having a place I can reach him or her and still have the bed to myself on occasion.

One more comment on the bed.  This is a mainstream futon mattress so the first thing in preparing the room was wrapping the mattress.  After that, lots of soft cotton bedding, and then a painters drop cloth.  On top of the drop cloth some older (but clean of course) bedding for immediately after the birth.  It is a water birth so I'm pretty likely to be wet and there are some other elements that might soil the bedding LOL.  So after I get dry and situated, Debbie or Pete will take off the top layer of bedding and the drop cloth and the baby and I will be all snugly down in the fresh, clean bed for a good long rest!

Love, Carra