Preparing for my “homebirth” via my dreams.

Posted on Apr 21 in 2008 pregnancy, home birth advocacyby TalinaPrint

The clock is ticking, each day that passes brings N and I that much closer to parenthood. We are still working to get everything we’ll need together for Tater’s arrival. All the physical stuff is important but we’ve also started to delve in to the emotional stuff that is preparation for Tater’s arrival.

Unmedicated, natural childbirth in a homebirth setting is our ultimate goal as many of you already know. We will not be at a hospital to deliver Tater, we’ve opted to hire a trusted and very capable midwife to attend our delivery. Our midwife is knowledgeable in birth complications, remedies, norms and knows when hospital transport is necessary, that is what we hired her for.

We aren’t delusional and we aren’t swearing off modern medicine, we just want a chance to labor and birth the way nature intended. This is why we are having a birth professional at the delivery (some opt to birth unassisted), if hospital transport is necessary we’ll do it in a heartbeat via the recommendation of our midwife.

I am a firm believer in a woman’s innate ability to procreate and deliver her child naturally as this is what her body was designed to do. When a low risk woman is able to trust her body, tap in to her instincts, eliminate her fears and allow the natural birth process to unfold with confidence she can have her natural childbirth.

This is where the emotional and mental preparation comes in to play for us. Now is our time to work through any birth fears or concerns we may have and to ensure we are 100% at peace with the natural birth process. I am focusing on the powers of positive energy and am feeling great about my body’s capabilities.

Last night I even got a little homebirth suggestion via a dream… Either my subconscious is helping me brainstorm and prepare or Tater is helping me via my dreams but I awoke with such a sense of peace and even a touch of anticipation for labor to begin.

My dreams have always been my source of enlightenment. I’ve developed dance combinations in dreams, awoke with solutions to problems and now am being prepared for my birth via them.

The revelation was Tibetan singing bowls. Tibetan singing bowls are music to my ears. They make me super relaxed, we learned this one night by mistake when a John Tesh radio broadcast was on and a singing bowls album was featured. It was the most relaxing and centering music I have ever heard. You can listen to samples here…

Last night in my dream I was reminded of the impact this music has on me and I was urged to obtain this music to play during the birth. I also own my own mini Tibetan singing bowl (thanks to N’s mom) so I plan to bring it along for playing during labor.

I also was particularly interested in trying the guided Hypnobirthing meditation CDs during labor (and have registered for it via amazon) but since they are so expensive I am thinking they might not happen. Anyway, the singing bowl music is another great idea and I am looking for some tracks I like and can download to my iPod right now.

I am thinking singing bowl music, low lights and N will get me through labor just fine. I am not scared at all. I know it’s not going to be all roses and sunshine, labor is hard work but it’s nothing I can’t handle with the help of my support system.

Now I want to know: What did you use to relax or focus you during your labor? I know some women bring a picture or statue to focus on. Others pick an animal to intimidate, some like upbeat music, dancing, others like candle light, etc. So what floats your boat?

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11 Comments

• Janelle says:

  April 21, 2009 at 12:49 pm

  I so want to do a homebirth. Since this is our first and we are still remodeling our home, we are using a midwifery water birth center (located inside the hospital instead). I plan on doing our next one at home.

  I often hear people say, “ah, you’d be so brave to do a home birth!” My response is usually, “I think women are brave to go to the hospital! I rather stay home!”

  Janelles last blog post..I think I found Mr. Right
• Talina says:

  April 21, 2009 at 1:05 pm

  Janelle »

  We can’t birth in our home since midwifery is illegal in Indiana (and finding a midwife to fit our needs was impossible) so we are traveling to Tennessee to birth at a birthing center “homebirth style”. We are renting a birthing cabin at The Farm.

  Whether you birth at home or not it’s the idea of the birth style that is important. I am more scared to birth in a hospital and to have to fight for what I want. Shoot I dread just going to my OBGYN appointments. Can’t imagine what it would be like to be in labor and having to defend my beliefs.
• Krystal McCarthy says:

  April 21, 2009 at 1:22 pm

  Um I picked drugs and slept through most my labor! The nurse had to wake me up when it was time to push. Although on TV I have seen women birth watching a movie, reading a book or just talking it through with her partner!

  I think you;re going to be fine. You have been preparing for this since you found out about tater. You guys know the risks involved and have a trusted midwife there for assistance.

  The unknown is what will scare you and you have been reading and researching and talking about it very openly.

  You’re going to do great!

  Krystal McCarthys last blog post..This and That
• Heidi Simpson says:

  April 21, 2009 at 1:32 pm

  Sooo….With Shawn I had an epidural and it hurt so flippin bad because the dr that put it in put it in wrong. I demanded that they remove it from my back and from then on I went o’natural with Shawn. To be perfectly honest I didnt need anything to “focus” on. I cannot even explain the feeling other than to say that all I could feel was ever part of his body moving through me and I knew what I needed to do. I felt when I tore, I felt when his nose and sholders came thru…ya….all of it. But, to me that “focus” on something—looking back it seems like one of those romantic ideas of labor that dont really make sense to me because I was totally just focused on getting him out.

  Heidi Simpsons last blog post..Port-a-Potty Fun
• Talina says:

  April 21, 2009 at 1:42 pm

  Heidi,
  So you were focused on him and his progress. I think that will be a focus of mine too… Did he move much during birth like kicking wise?

  The whole idea of focus is to have some sort of forward motion to the whole thing rather than dwelling on the impending pain or the next contraction. Everyone who has done it homebirth style says that relaxing through the process and the pain makes it lots less painful. When you are all tense and frantic I guess it hurts more from what I understand. I won’t know for sure until she comes out from there and I’ve tried it for myself but that is the theory I’ve got based on all the birth stories and info I’ve read.
• maiden53 says:

  April 21, 2009 at 3:09 pm

  My deliveries were too fast to do anything but hang on!

  You go, Talina! Your dreams are good to you

  maiden53s last blog post..
• Sara says:

  April 21, 2009 at 6:29 pm

  So while I have never given birth…I have completed a marathon and I can tell you its ALL mental! I picture the finish line and the tears of joy I know I will have when its all over…so I guess thats what I would focus on is holding my baby and the feeling of knowing you created something so beautiful!! Good luck I really admire your approach and when its my turn I will ssooo be picking your brain!! xo
• Tanya says:

  April 22, 2009 at 6:47 am

  wow…all I dreamt about last night was fruit buns…toasted fruit buns and they were delicious. Good old pregnancy dreams!

  I am going to the hospital and have decided to try for as long as possible without any drugs…and see how I go. I would really like to say I will have no drugs, but I think once the pain hits hard the laughing gas will look very tempting.
• Karen says:

  April 23, 2009 at 10:32 pm

  My kids are all over 30. My two girls were born in US hospitals at a time when you really didn’t get a choice–you went to the hospital, did what they told you to do, and that was it. They wouldn’t even let you keep your baby in your room with you at that time, in the United States.

  My first was born in Germany because my (ex) husband was in the Army and we were stationed over there. My son was delivered by natural childbirth, no drugs were ever offered. (as in I had no choice, that was how they did it in Germany at the time). I had no idea what was going on, I had no childbirth classes, nothing. and I was 18 years old. He was the easiest birth, I recuperated faster. He roomed with me in my room the whole time we were there. I fed him, and changed him, and did everything for him.

  Just from experience, I think that the pain is over-exagerated. Movies show women screaming and hollering, but it is really not like that. There is some pain, some discomfort, but it is not so bad that you can’t tolerate it. Heck, my son weighed 10 lbs, 8.5 oz, and he was born with not drugs.

  Our bodies were made to do this, and modern medicine has made us think that we need to be hospitalized to give birth. If that is the case, humans wouldn’t have survived for the thousands of years that we have.

  Yes, there are a few women who are at high risk who may need to be monitored and therefore in a hospital setting, but most women could give birth at home and free hospitals to to tend to the sick and injured. Pregnancy is not an illness, it is a natural function of the human body.

  Talina, more women should be more demanding about how and where their children are born. The only reason childbirth costs as much as it does is because big medicine has taken it over. Yes, I do rant on occasion.

  Karens last blog post..Time To Confess: 55 Days Since The Last Big Shopping Trip
• Talina says:

  April 23, 2009 at 10:43 pm

  Karen »

  You could not have picked a more perfect place to rant! Love hearing other’s opinions and stories plus you took the words right out of my mouth ;-P
  Thanks for sharing about your 10 Germany born son. I had no idea and way to go you!
• tiff says:

  April 25, 2009 at 6:17 am

  I used hypnobirthing techniques with William. I focused on my cervix opening. I imagined a huge blue ‘donut’ getting thinner. It worked. That and hot baths got me through without drugs.

  Also, I used alot of the techniques used by Ina may, especailly thinking of the contractions as an ‘interesting sensation that brings me one step closer to meeting my baby’.

  It was pretty cool knowing I did it all by myself.

  tiffs last blog post..The circus.

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