Karsticles
Member
At 3:54AM, my son, Roman, was born.
8 pounds, 4 ounces in weight.
14.5 inch head circumference.
21.75 inches long.
My wife and I chose to have a home birth instead of a hospital birth. After a great deal of research, we became uncomfortable with the "factory birth" model most hospitals follow, the use of epidurals, and the general unfamiliarity of a hospital environment for the birthing process. We hired a professional midwife, as well.
As my wife was able to be in the comfort of her own home, her contractions began at a much closer spread than is typical: about 2 minutes apart. Hospital births typically result in 4-5 minute intervals due to the woman being in a foreign environment. After 3 hours of contractions, the midwife had set up a warm tub for my wife and I to be in. The warm water helped reduce her contraction pain (significantly), and moistened her vaginal canal to aid in pushing. After an hour.5 of contractions in the pool with my wife, it was time to push.
Thirty minutes of contractions and pushing later, Roman was born. Since my wife did not take any pain medication, he was awake and alert - immediately looking around him. He did not cry at all. My wife, upon inspection, did not suffer from any vaginal tearing. She was fully aware and awake, and was able to hold our son in the water while I cut the umbilical cord. Here is what the pool looked like by the time we got out:
For a while, we just hung out in the pool. My wife was exhausted - she had been laboring since 11PM. The total labor time was about 5 hours; average is 8 hours, so we are very happy with that result. After we had this time, the midwife helped my wife to the bedroom and set up our bed so she could lay with Roman and breastfeed. Roman latched immediate - "a natural breast man", to quote the midwife. He still didn't cry at this point - he was just interested and observant of the world around him. Here is a picture:
We plan on encapsulating the placenta; the midwife is going to save a "jerky slice" for me to try. You only live once, you know? The placenta (spoiler tagged since it bothers some):
We were very happy with the overall experience. No travel stress, hospital stress, unfamiliar environment, drugs, and the bill is about $8,000 cheaper (yay!). Zero regrets from us on the experience, and we have a healthy baby boy.
While I'm excited to have my son, I also thought that this might be a good opportunity for interested posters to ask questions about home births. It's not a popular decision in the United States, but I would like to see that change. Home births are a very intimate affair compared to the typical alternative.
UPDATE:
Eating the placenta:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_lX8inxPGs
8 pounds, 4 ounces in weight.
14.5 inch head circumference.
21.75 inches long.
My wife and I chose to have a home birth instead of a hospital birth. After a great deal of research, we became uncomfortable with the "factory birth" model most hospitals follow, the use of epidurals, and the general unfamiliarity of a hospital environment for the birthing process. We hired a professional midwife, as well.
As my wife was able to be in the comfort of her own home, her contractions began at a much closer spread than is typical: about 2 minutes apart. Hospital births typically result in 4-5 minute intervals due to the woman being in a foreign environment. After 3 hours of contractions, the midwife had set up a warm tub for my wife and I to be in. The warm water helped reduce her contraction pain (significantly), and moistened her vaginal canal to aid in pushing. After an hour.5 of contractions in the pool with my wife, it was time to push.
Thirty minutes of contractions and pushing later, Roman was born. Since my wife did not take any pain medication, he was awake and alert - immediately looking around him. He did not cry at all. My wife, upon inspection, did not suffer from any vaginal tearing. She was fully aware and awake, and was able to hold our son in the water while I cut the umbilical cord. Here is what the pool looked like by the time we got out:
For a while, we just hung out in the pool. My wife was exhausted - she had been laboring since 11PM. The total labor time was about 5 hours; average is 8 hours, so we are very happy with that result. After we had this time, the midwife helped my wife to the bedroom and set up our bed so she could lay with Roman and breastfeed. Roman latched immediate - "a natural breast man", to quote the midwife. He still didn't cry at this point - he was just interested and observant of the world around him. Here is a picture:
We plan on encapsulating the placenta; the midwife is going to save a "jerky slice" for me to try. You only live once, you know? The placenta (spoiler tagged since it bothers some):
We were very happy with the overall experience. No travel stress, hospital stress, unfamiliar environment, drugs, and the bill is about $8,000 cheaper (yay!). Zero regrets from us on the experience, and we have a healthy baby boy.
While I'm excited to have my son, I also thought that this might be a good opportunity for interested posters to ask questions about home births. It's not a popular decision in the United States, but I would like to see that change. Home births are a very intimate affair compared to the typical alternative.
UPDATE:
Eating the placenta:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_lX8inxPGs
