i know where all ttc and not pregnant just yet.... but has any of you thought about actually giving birth etc, what you would like??? or is it just me who thinks too much???

with my 1st When i was 39+2 i started getting regular contractions from 11pm so i tried to nap and didnt tell OH incase it was a false alarm. i woke at 1.15am and walked around for a while not timing properly at 3.05am my waters went so i woke hubby, finally arrived at the hospital around 4.30am. i was 4 cm, i had gas and air and the epidural. my daughter was born 10.14am.

My 2nd i was 39wks exactly i woke at 7.30am with pains like i needed to go the toilet for a bowel movement (tmi) so iwent and couldnt go so i took 2 paracetamol and lay on the couch, i kept trying to go the toilet and nothing, at 8.15am i phoned the hospitial as the pains wouldnt stop and it didnt feel like i was in labour like the 1st time, and the dr said come in for a check up, half way to the hospital i got the urge to push, ran in to the hospital they popped my waters and after 3 pushed he was here 9.44am. No pain relief.

so the next time round im contemplating a home birth.

what about all you other lovely ladies.???

I really like the idea of a home birth.

I've never stayed a hospital before so a wee bit scared. Also I think it would be really good for me to have my DH around me the whole time, I don't like the idea of being left alone in the hospital. Also I think he should be there for the first few days, it will help him to bond.

Obviously you just never know but that would be my ideal!

ive never stayed in the hospital either! it is a scary thought...

ive been thinking about this too and if possible I'd love to have a water birth. Done a bit of research into it and from what I've read, seems like it's a lot less stressful for the lo. I'd also love to do it without any pain relief, but even though I've been tattooed over 100 times... I can be a big wimp!

I do think about this.... but shove it to the back of my mind because I am absolutley PETRIFIED of the thought of labour itself!!

I'm kinda with you on this but I have briefly thought about it. I don't actually know where I'll be (as in UK or Texas) but I would like to look into a home birth or water birth if I was in the UK. If on the other hand I was in Texas then I'd probably want to just go to the hospital with it being my first labour and being in a different country.

ditto. have decided to look at options once I get my as everytime I think about it I get too nervous. Surely it can't be that bad I have to tell myself. I had a dream last week I was in labour and it was awful

i have had two quick labours with my girls one at hospital and one at home

I went into labour 2 days before due date with my eldest. I started of with a few niggly pains at 5 am then had to get up out of bed due to a bout of diarhea and vomiting. I got to hospital at 6.20 am bouncing off the walls in agony, as the pains had come one so quick and fast.

The midwife told me i could be here for a long time and then went to examine me and realised i was fully dilated. My daughter was born an hour later.

My next girl was born at home although this was planned. I woke up at 3.30 am and needed the loo. I had no pains but my waters broke about 10 mins later. The pain was unbearable staright away then. My husband delivered her himself at home at 4 am whilst we waited for the midwife and ambulance.

I loved after everyone had gone being in my own bed and surroundings with my family there.

i like that idea, plus i dont wanna be away from my other 2 children.

i won't be going for a home birth - I have worked in the maternity unit and at medical school (i'm a junior doctor) you get so many lectures on all the things that can wrong that I just wouldn't feel safe.
I do like the idea of the midwife led units and home from home centres though - so you are in a more natural environment and not totally medicalised, but still within easy reach of the theatres/obstetricians/paediatricians and all the equipment and expertise should something not go to plan.
On the other hand I know plenty of women who have had sucessful home deliveries with no complications.

Nxt time round i would defo b going for the hospital birth ( not in pool ) ...
The reasons for this are - when giving birth to my daughter i was really sick after taking diamorphine for pain relief - i filled 15 sick buckets. There was pleanty of staff on hand to help clean me up - strip the bed while i was in it, make sure i was ok. They also got me gaviscon for heart burn and finally... an epidural. I don't think the care i received would have been as good if i was in my own home. And also if i was in a bithing pool - i would have had to get out of it. I think a hospital birth is the most practical in my eyes