I had a home birth for my 2nd child (Sara). My husband and I had our game plan in place for when I actually went into labor. I was going to get Aaron ready to leave to go with my parents, clean up a bit before the midwives came over, and labor beautifully like I did 2 years prior. Our plan went off without a hitch. Labor started, I fed the toddler and got him ready to leave, and I also finished up some busy bag activities I was doing for a busy bag swap. After an hour of not seeing or hearing from my husband, he comes out of the bedroom with a focused, determined look on his face. I asked him where he’s been; “nesting” he says. Sure enough, he cleaned the bedroom and bathroom and got all the supplies we needed.
He also brought out my IKEA chair that was still in its box. It was always his plan to put together my “nursing chair” once I went into labor. He worked hard on that chair and did an excellent job putting it together! It's still our favorite chair!
My midwives came over and shortly after that. Before Aaron left with my mom, we took our last picture as a family of 3.
I don’t like feeling like a watched pot and I felt like the midwives and my husband (and even myself) were just twiddling their thumbs and waiting for something to happen, so we turned on the TV. To go along with our TV watching tradition we seemed to be having for our labors, we turned on Man vs. Food. Have you ever seen it? It’s a pretty fun show if you’re not about to hit transition. This massive amount of greasy, fried food is showing up on a big TV and you hit 8cm, you feel like you want to vomit. Once I hit that point, I suggested we turn off the delightful show and focus on me getting another baby out. Fifteen minutes after we turned it off, Sara made her entrance!
I’ve heard music helps you focus, or affirmation cards, or visuals, but apparently, for me, it’s TV. I’m curious to know what helps you focus during labor?