No Place Like Home

(Tommy's super cute new onesie that is, unfortunately, too big for him right now but that I had to buy because of the bird!)

In the dizzying few hours after Tommy's birth, someone asked if we would consider a home birth for the next child. Since then, it's something I've flipped back and forth in my mind. We considered a (planned) home birth with Thomas, but in the end, Shane's discomfort with home birth and my comfort with my midwife made us decide to stick with a hospital birth. Truthfully, I had a beautiful birth experience with Luke. I spent most of my labor in the water, I ate and drank to my comfort, I walked, I chose my pushing position, and so on, so my thoughts on home birth did not stem from a bad hospital experience. Rather they stemmed from the thoughts that while the hospital birth was wonderful, it still wasn't home. I remember lying in a hospital bed at 8cm, trying to rest in between contractions and thinking, I wish I was in my own bed.

Ironically, Shane's issue with home birth is not concerns over safety like many people have, but rather the mess. Although I assured him that home birth isn't messy, he still could not be convinced. The irony in this is, of course, that if you have an unplanned home birth on your (light colored) carpeted stairs, it's MESSY. And then there's my midwife, who I absolutely love, yet in another stroke of irony, who was not on call the night I went into labor. Even if I had made it to the hospital in time, she would not have been the one present at Tommy's birth. While the on call midwife is absolutely fabulous herself, she wasn't my midwife who I saw for nine months.

And then there's the factor of me having an almost precipitous labor with Tommy. If I do have another hospital birth, when do I leave for the hospital? Do I leave at the first contraction and risk being put on a clock if my labor should stall? Or do I labor at home as long as possible and end up with another, "Oops, I swear that's just spilled KoolAid" spot on the carpet?

So the short answer to this weighty question is, yes, I think we will plan a (midwife-assisted) home birth with the next baby. It still won't be easy for me to divorce my midwife because I still adore her, but ultimately, I keep thinking about my labor with Tommy. It was so relaxed and peaceful. I spent it in our bed or in the bathtub, emailing and reading books. I caught him with my bare hands, and I cannot imagine a better birth than that, unless it was followed by me getting to STAY in the bathtub or our bed. And when the hospital bills came in the mail and Shane realized we were charged $600 for a nursery that Tommy was never even in, he looked at me and said, Home birth.

Maybe our plans will change between now and then, maybe in the end, Shane still won't be comfortable with home birth. But for right now, to answer that loaded question: Yes, and I can't wait.