Recovery post-homebirth

[twotrunks]

Hi everyone,
Just a couple of questions for those of you who have had homebirths, particularly those with other children.
How did you cope (physically, emotionally) in the days following the birth?
How did your other children cope?
And most importantly (to me) - did you get to rest?!
Thanks.
TT

[AM]

How did you cope (physically, emotionally) in the days following the birth?

After my first birth (homebirth transfer to vaginal birth) I thought I recovered pretty well, ( I was home 3 hours after the birth) but my partner has said to me that I was so much better after the second birth (at home) and I also had a toddler to look after. I bounced back a lot faster the second time around.


How did your other children cope?

My son was 23 months old when his lil bro was born, and he was great! He had his own support person, and they just hung out, reading books, playing, eating, wandering in and out of the birthing room etc, he was cool as a cucumber, I think simply because everyone was so relaxed, he just took his cues from us, and we had spoken about birth a lot in the previous weeks, and watched a LOT of homebirth dvds, read kids books about hb etc.

This time around we are planning to have both children here for the birth, and DP will be their support person, I feel quite fine not having his undivided attention, I will have my own support, and it also minimises the number of people in the house.



And most importantly (to me) - did you get to rest?!


Yes, I got to rest, as my partner had 3 weeks off work, so he took over everything really, I mean I still had to attend to my toddler, but as the two of us were home, it was pretty relaxed.

[Tam-I-Am]

Oooh, sorry, I've only just seen this - and couldn't have answered before anyway :p

DD is 3 in 2 weeks, and DS was born 2 weeks ago now.

I've been coping really well, probably not getting enough sleep (but then show me a woman with a newborn and a toddler who does!), but have been emotionally so much better off at home than I ever was or could have been in hospital!

DD coped really well - we didn't have her present at the birth, my MIL lives next door to us, so DD slept in her own bed right up until about 45 minutes before DS was born (it was my vocalisations during transition that woke her up!). My DH then ran her up to MIL's house, and she returned about 2 hours after the birth. She's been coping so much better for us having had a homebirth, I think - she wasn't sent away for any great period of time, she was somewhere familiar with her very-much loved Nanna while she WAS away. More to the point, she's not been expected to traipse up to an unfamiliar hospital environment for a couple of hours at a time, and expected to behave...she's been at home, able to wander off and play with her own toys at will etc. It took her about a week to become interested in her little brother - and now we can't keep her away from him! :D

And like AP, I also have a partner who has just done EVERYTHING over the past 2 weeks - he cooks, he cleans, he looks after our toddler. Of course, I've been trying to chip in, but my main job ATM is breastfeeding our newborn.

HTH :)

[mamajess]

Hi there
I had my two at home as planned...my eldest was 15mth when her brother was born.

I found it so wonderful to be at home, just to walk down the hall from the pool to my own bed and snuggle up with my baby and partner. After a time, the mids left, to return the next morning, and thereafter whenever we called or needed them to visit.

Being at home, I felt able to relax and comfortably enjoy getting to know my new bubba. I am lucky to have an amazing dp who took around four weeks off each time. We also had a network of friends who organised a fresh dinner each night for a couple of weeks.

The only drawback the first time around was when I didn't feel confident enough to accept food without also inviting people in for a cuppa, cuddle, birth story, etc. Which was exhausting! Second time round I was a bit more assertive and honest about whether we were up for a visit or not.

We did have an extra support person come over in case my dd needed her during the birth, but she somehow slept through the whole thing! When she woke at 6am ds was only a couple of hours old and she was very sweet and offered him her lovey toy. She's been gorgeous with him.

Both times really were idyllic and very peaceful...
(except that four days after ds was born our rental house was open for inspection...:eek: and then after four weeks of insp auctioned off!!:crying: so that was a major pain in the bum...)

[Mum2Bella]

How did you cope (physically, emotionally) in the days following the birth? - i felt fantastic

How did your other children cope?- my older 4 thought it was great that i was home n got to see me when ever they wanted

And most importantly (to me) - did you get to rest?!-i got heaps of rest,i rested when i needed n i didnt have nurses probing me or asking questions when i was trying to rest