3rd Trimester

Will you update friends/family while in labor?

What do you think about this? Will you (or DH, or another support person) update your friends/family on your progress while you're in labor? 

If so, how will you do it? Text message? Phone calls? Facebook? Twitter? 

When my cousin had baby #2 recently, I started getting text messages from someone (I think it was my aunt) that cousin was x cm dialated; she was getting her epidural; she was ready to push; and then a pic message with stats when the baby was born. Cousin and I aren't close, so I was kind of surprised to get those kind of updates. 

We won't be doing that. I personally don't feel like sharing the state of my cervix with anybody but DH and my doc! Depending on time of day, we will probably call the grandparents to let them know I'm in labor; and then they won't hear from us until she's here. My mom will be in town to take care of DD#1, so she'll know when we leave for the hospital but no additional detail. (Although I'm sure she'll still be on the phone as soon as we're out the door.)

 We did the same thing the first time; our closest relatives (BIL/SIL) are 1.5 hours away and everyone else is out of state, so it's not like people will be waiting to come visit. 

We'll do quick phone calls and a picture message with name and stats when we're settled in the recovery room.  

What about you?

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DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010

Re: Will you update friends/family while in labor?

  • Most definitely!  I love having people around so my best friend will be calling, texting, and facebooking it up!
  • I don't plan on giving the play by play of my cervix or delivery either.  I think I will just have DH call my/his family when we get into the hospital and then again after she is born.  We'll probably FB her arrival the next day.
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  • I think we will probably send out a mass text/facebook update when I go into labor & then again when he enters this world!  My best friend gave me a play by play during her labor haha.  I'm not sure with going natural being on my phone will be a concern.
  • Nope. When we're ready for the grandparents to come up and visit after birth, we'll call them to let them know that the baby is here. We're not planning any notifications before that... but =within minutes of two phone calls, our entire families will know Smile DH can text our closest friends and then he can facebook gender/name/weight stats when he gets the chance.
  • I don't think I'm even going to want to know how (freaking!!!) dialated I am, let alone anyone else.

    MIL will be here in town, so she'll have some idea about what's generally happening, and "D" H will call my parents, and our sisters, but everyone else can wait until the bebe has arrived, at which point they'll be getting basic stats, I guess. 

    We have a close friend who has an email list and will send out a quick email to let the others know that the bebe has arrived, which team we're on and if my DH and I are still speaking to each other.... (heheehhe...)

  • Nope!  We plan to only tell the person who is going to watch the dog that I'm in labor.  Everyone else can wait until she's here.  Otherwise we'd have people driving us nuts to see how it was going.
  • We will keep family updated with emails or texts but they will not include the intimate details of the state of my cervix.  My sister had long labors and I remember when my niece was born (11 years ago today!) being so worried because she went in for induction at 5am and by midnight that night we hadn't heard anything in hours so I will definitely have DH send msgs to keep people updated about when we go into labor, when we head to the hospital, etc, and of course we will send a pic/stats when DS is born.  I do think that DH and I will both be a bit busy most of the time though, to be able to send very frequent updates. 
  • Everyone is expecting me to call as soon as i go into labor. I know everyone will run to the hospital and wait until she is born, which kind of annoys me. I know my mom and sister will try to come in and watch me laborHmm
  • Yeah right. I'll be too busy trying to push a baby out. Dh and my mom will be with me, and they better be focused on me since that's what they'll be there for. Mil and fil will get a call when the baby is close to making his apprence. That should give them enough time to get to the hospital.
  • imageGaryandnicole:
    Everyone is expecting me to call as soon as i go into labor. I know everyone will run to the hospital and wait until she is born, which kind of annoys me. I know my mom and sister will try to come in and watch me laborHmm

    This is why we're waiting... my family are swarmers. The call goes out and everyone starts driving in from everywhere. We're talking from 5 hours away. My dad planted himself at the hospital the second my sister went into labor and didn't leave until she did. He also kept popping into her room while she was in labor to see how things were going.

    This wasn't even for gc #1. She's married and that was for her third kid (their 4th gc). Hmm

  • People are SO different in what they are comfortable with- with my dd, I didn't even tell my parents until 40 minutes after she was delivered because it went so fast and it was in the middle of the night and there are a couple complications that made calling the least of my worries. 

    They knew and visited me in the hospital, but I was in the first part of being induced so it was supposed to be at least 12 hours later.  I called and said "She's here!"  they were suprised, but I didn't want anyone else there anyway other than dh, so it was all good.

  • My cousin aaaaaaaaaalways updated her FB status about her contractions and how many cm dilated she was (3cm for a few weeks). I thought it was disturbing, as did the rest of our family!! They made it quite clear that they don't think I should be doing the same. 

    That stuff is private. The only people I will talk about that with is J, my mom, and my bff (who's a nurse). My brother even told me, after my cousin's FB TMI, that he does not care to know any details.

    I'm sure my mom will go bananas on the phone when she's born, calling every person in her phone list, family or not.

    I'll most likely have a witty FB status about going into labor (if I can think about something witty during the pain) and an update sometime after she's born with her name/weight/etc.  Same goes for J.

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  • imageduchessII81:

    imageGaryandnicole:
    Everyone is expecting me to call as soon as i go into labor. I know everyone will run to the hospital and wait until she is born, which kind of annoys me. I know my mom and sister will try to come in and watch me laborHmm

    This is why we're waiting... my family are swarmers. The call goes out and everyone starts driving in from everywhere. We're talking from 5 hours away. My dad planted himself at the hospital the second my sister went into labor and didn't leave until she did. He also kept popping into her room while she was in labor to see how things were going.

    This wasn't even for gc #1. She's married and that was for her third kid (their 4th gc). Hmm

    Maybe i will wait too. I know all hell will break lose if i do. my mom, mil, sil's and sister keep saying your going to let us know right as soon as it happens??? 

  • imageGaryandnicole:
    imageduchessII81:

    imageGaryandnicole:
    Everyone is expecting me to call as soon as i go into labor. I know everyone will run to the hospital and wait until she is born, which kind of annoys me. I know my mom and sister will try to come in and watch me laborHmm

    This is why we're waiting... my family are swarmers. The call goes out and everyone starts driving in from everywhere. We're talking from 5 hours away. My dad planted himself at the hospital the second my sister went into labor and didn't leave until she did. He also kept popping into her room while she was in labor to see how things were going.

    This wasn't even for gc #1. She's married and that was for her third kid (their 4th gc). Hmm

    Maybe i will wait too. I know all hell will break lose if i do. my mom, mil, sil's and sister keep saying your going to let us know right as soon as it happens??? 


    I am SOOO glad that my family doesn't care enough (or respects each other's privacy enough) to wait until they are told they are allowed to visit.  I am also glad that DH's family all live on the east coast and there is no way they could possibly show up at the hospital. 

  • I updated each step from my phone. I updated facebook and here. It was really encouraging to read everyone's comments and support. I had such a laid back delivery that I was even able to update within minutes of pushing as well as after delivery. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
  • My fiance is going to be calling my aunt and grandma when we're about to head out the door to the hospital. My aunt and grandma are letting anyone/everyone else know. Then, once LO is here and things have calmed down and I have the energy I'll be calling my mom, grandma and aunt and/or uploading the pics and stats on FB depending on what I have the energy for. Thats the plan anyway, it might turn out that we don't do any updates til we're back home and have a handle on having a LO in the house.

  • not unless i'm induced again.  last time it was a 2.5 day process so keeping people updated so they didn't bother us was way easier.  time will tell this time around
  • i dont think we need to update people every hour. I have a ton of family, so i might send mass text to some family members "in labor"... or "baby boy, xx lbs xx ounces, dd/mm"

     

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  • We'll text the immediate family and my BFF only when I go into labour. The moms will be there and hopefully the dads and the siblings will come after the baby has arrived. Afterwards DH's brother and my sister will text all our friends about the new arrival. Ok - this is the ideal situation. Let's hope it actually happens that way and that everyone doesn't completely lose the plot!!

  • I'll be texting people and they can spread the news as they see fit.  My parents are going to be driving across the state once I am admitted to the hospital for sure, so I'll text my mom who will likely call every -single- person in her phone contacts.  won't be talking about my cervix, though...just generic updates, I think.
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  • We'll call our parents and I'll be calling my sister to let them know that we're headed to the hospital, but that's the only update they'll be getting until our little lady is actually here. DH's parents can let his sisters, brother, and extended family know that I'm in labor if they want.
  • It's been strongly recommended to us by several people NOT to call/text anyone until the baby actually arrives (unless it's someone who you wish to be present during the labor).  The reason being most people be anxious to know what's going on and it can get annoying when you're in transition to have people texting/calling for updates.  Also, it would be nice to have time to nap for a bit without interruption once the baby arrives :)
  • We just called IL's and then sent a picture text of him after he was born.My mom was with us, so I didn't need to call her except to tell her that we were picking her up on the way to the hospital.  I think I'm fine with doing that again. I don't need all of FB to see the status of my cervix, etc. I might text close friends and let them know whats going on, but that is it.
  • I'm sure we will somehow. My guess is phone calls to MIL in CA and our both DH's and my siblings who aren't at the hospital waiting. Texts and facebook updates to everyone else for when we are officially staying at the hospital to labor, maybe one or two updates, and then when LO is born with stats (I'm sure we'll get pics up when things slow down).
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