Getting prepared for the Homebirth

Last night we got out our binder of information from Charlotte; as our "homework" this month we're supposed to be accumulating items needed to birth at home.

As you'd expect, we don't have a lot of birthing supplies just lying around. You really need surprisingly little, though. I ordered Charlotte's birth kit online, which was only $45 with shipping, and includes all the little medical things we'll need - cord clamps, gloves, chux pads, a birth certificate, etc... It even came with a teeny tiny newborn knit cap like you see at the hospital! So adorable, and SO SMALL.

There are also some funny things on the list - a small fish net for the water birth, to collect "debris" from the birth tub (I'll let you figure that out), and the largest sanitary napkins I've ever seen. At first I thought they'd given us baby diapers. BIG baby diapers. I also had to explain to T.J. what a peri bottle was for (I had to ask friends, too - it's so you don't have to wipe after birth, ouch!).

We also have a list of supplies to gather for ourselves - things like sheets, towels, alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, juice and gatorade, etc... Plus we'll need to "feed the freezer" before we get too close. We'll need food for the birth team, as well as things on hand for after the birth so we don't have to fool with cooking for a few days.

Charlotte will, of course, bring the big gun medical supplies - oxygen, pitocin, other drugs and tinctures, a scale to weigh the baby, a doppler and fetoscope, etc. And she has the birthing pool, which we'll get closer to our due date.

I feel so much more prepared, even though nothing has changed since yesterday. Now we have a list and a plan - and just two months to go!