For those working up until the end...

novelblessings

What is your plan if you go in to labor at work? STM+ mom's, who went in to labor at work, what did you do?

I work about an hour from home and I plan to work until I go in to labor. I don't have any set plans right now for what I would do if I go in to labor while at work. A co-worker has offered to drive me home if it does happen that way, but she doesn't always work in our office.

theluckiest9

I live less than 10 mins from work and plan on driving myself home if I can manage. If not, a coworker will drive me or my mom can come pick me up and take me. (We have one car so H isn't an option). I'll be interested to hear STMs advice.

CruiseGirl28

My boss said she would drive me if needed and DH can meet me there. I have no idea how he will get my car. I'm assuming he can drive there with my brother or someone, but it will be days later.

I do have a change of clothes and a trash bag to sit on packed in my car in case my water breaks and she is driving me. But my hospital bags are in DH's car. His car will be at the hospital no matter what.

saisongbird

DH and my mom both work near me, so they would come and get me.  Work is about an hour from my hospital, with several good ones on the way JIC.

I plan on working until a week before my EDD.

novelblessings

I do plan to put my bag in my car each day; right now it's too cold to leave it in there. My hospital is actually 30 minutes from where I work and on my way home. I'd like to labor at home as long as possible. I have thought that if I am able to make it, I can meet DH at the hospital (he works there) and he could then drive us home until I was ready to be admitted.

ETA: I just don't know if that is realistic or not since I'm a FTM and don't know what to expect

myfriendscallmemeg

Yeah, my 15 minute commute isn't too terrible. It might be a pain in the butt to have to drive home, grab the hospital bag & then back into town... But I'm sure I'll wuss out and end up staying home for a week before giving actual birth. Surprisingly enough, this pregnancy hasn't been all rainbows and puppies...and I'm a wuss. So I'd much rather sit at home in my sweats waiting for a baby, than sit at work & wait.

kaking78

I work 15 minutes from home.  The plan is for my husband to come get me.  The closer it gets to my due date, the more I'm trying to work from home so it isn't an issue.

nickied143

I have the easiest plan ever. Which is ride the elevator 2 floors down I work at my hospital. So convenient!

Hays0770

I teach... So the plan is to call my husband so he can leave and get our stuff, and someone from the school or my parents if they're still at their home 2 miles away will take me to the hospital.
My awesome teaching team or school counselor will cover my class.
All of my kindergarteners are super excited about the baby so if it does go down this way I am sure they won't be anything but happy!

bumpuser9058414

I work with about 10 cops and live only 15 minutes away. I'd probably have one of them drive me and another drive my car and have DH meet me at home. I had a 34 hour labor with DD so even if it's half the time I've got plenty of time. My OB even joked that I could drive to DC and back. I live in MA.

rockopera

Hmm...I haven't even thought about it.  I guess my plan will be to have my bag in the car.  Home is the opposite direction from work.  But my office is between H's office and the hospital.  So I guess that I would call him to come get me and then go to the hospital, rather than try to meet at home depending on how it happens.  

I don't want to think about my water breaking at work.  I don't want them to have to deal with that.  

aLsMay24

With DS I worked up until the end. I was induced though. I worked with mostly men and had preterm issues with him too. The two times I went to L&D early while working in the home office (2 hours away) my coworker who was a good friend (male) drove me in and the second time my male boss took me. If I'd gone into labor while working at my office one of the 2 guys I worked with would have driven me the 30 mins in a heartbeat. I loved all the guys I worked with though and all had 2+ kids so they were cool and willing to help me get there.

WoodShopGirl

MH and I work together and have said that the last week before my EDD we will only carpool and not drive 2 cars. We usually only carpool 2-3 days a week due to varying schedules.

SomersIsles

Hmmm haven't really thought about it.  I think I'll have to wing it and just have many options...

I work 10 minutes away from the hospital, I work 15 minutes away from home (other direction), and I live 15 minutes from the hospital.  That being said I have some options ...

- Leave car at work and have a coworker drop me off while DH meets me there
- Drive home, wait for DH, head to hospital
- Drive myself to hospital and have DH meet me there
- Have DH pick me up from work and leave my car at work

Not really sure... the scary part is not knowing how fast things may progress.  DH works about 40 minutes away, i'm sure he'll be nervous he'll be too late.  We've decided to leave the hospital bag at home and my friend can bring it to me when we need it. 

fish8412

My husband would pick me up from work.  He either works from home or goes to customer's offices that are local.

matitice

DH works about 5 minutes away (thank goodness) so if or when I go into labor at work he can swing on over to get me. Then we'll head home because I plan to labor at home as long as possible.

KariB509

My work, home and hospital are all very close to one another. If contractions begin when I'm at work, I think I'll leave right away so I can go home and relax during early labor. First time I had stopped working so contractions began at home. 4 hours in they were still light enough that I was about to take a nap. I'd like to do that again if possible

htn1763

Ha, haven't even thought about this. I am about 40 minutes from my hospital. I guess I assumed I would have signs of labor and time to get there??

talitha712

If I'm at work my principal will drive me to the hospital. DH and my mom will coordinate getting my car home later. DD will stay at daycare until our friend can pick her up.

DTNZ4Ever

I would probably just go straight to the hospital. DH would pick up DS or drop off his car seat at our house for my parents to pick up DS. I luckily had my water break at home last time. I never planned on going into labor at home.

lb1117

I'm about 10 minutes from home and 10 minutes from my DH's work. Most likely, DH will just come pick me up at work. If he can't for some reason, I would have a manager drive me home. 

Honestly, I hadn't really thought of this. 

ufsandra85

i work at my hospital so i will walk or be wheeled upstairs

ChexicanMom

I plan on working until the very end as well and I also work an hour from home and hospital. But I found the closest hospital to where I work, just in case. I called my insurance and asked if I would be covered at that hospital. They said if I go to the emergency room at that hospital, I would be covered.

But just remember that the first stage of labor takes 8-12hours, so I plan on just driving home the moment I start to feel contractions. And I plan on not going to the hospital until at least the second stage of labor.

novelblessings

ChexicanMom said:

But just remember that the first stage of labor takes 8-12hours, so I plan on just driving home the moment I start to feel contractions. And I plan on not going to the hospital until at least the second stage of labor.

I was thinking that once I start having regular contractions and happen to be at work, that I'll just head home. I do plan to labor at home as long as possible.

mbhalla33

I'm a school counselor and if I got into labor at school one of the other counselors will drive me to the hospital. My husbands work is 10 mins from the hospital and he would be back tracking if he had to come get me at school which is about 25 mins from hospital so I'm thankful that a co-worker is willing to take me and have my husband meet us at hospital.

stephcrosby09

I plan on driving myself the 40 minutes to home from work if possible. I am assuming with the way labor usually progresses, then hang out for a while, relax, take a bath before i head there. My doctor said to give it 2 hours anyways before calling to make sure.

karacakes98

I went to work while in labor and later drove myself to the hospital. Plenty of people offered me a ride, but I wasn't in any pain at all yet, so I turned them all down.

lucylove619

With DD I was taking finals on campus, about an hour away from the hospital. My contractions were about 7 minutes apart when I drove home and it wasn't pleasant but doable. And I didn't end up going to the hospital until the next day. DH and i actually went out for one last dinner and then had to run by Walgreens while I was having contractions. It was all much slower than I anticipated. Which is good because I had no plan in place at all! This time we need a plan in place for DD but I'm not worried about not being near home or the hospital when labor starts, I think I will have plenty of time to get where I need to go, especially since I won't be more than 20-30 mins from either place this time.

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mamamia866

I haven't thought about this either. I guess it depends on what happens. If my water breaks at work, it's about a 10 min drive to my hospital, so I'll probably have a coworker take me. If it's only contractions, I'll probably go home first and wait for H to come home if he isn't already, which is about 20 mins one way.

I guess I should keep my bag in my car from now on.

benevolentforce

I walk to and from work. So, if I'm able I'll
walk home, and DH and I will go from there to the hospital together. If things go sideways quicker than that I'll have DH pick me up. If things are really bad, I'll take a taxi to the hospital from work and have DH meet me there. In all cases he's in charge of grabbing the bag which will be in the baby's room until the big day. I have a dark towel stashed at work just in case my water breaks there.

Stephout

I think a lot of the responses assume that you will be in labor enough to go to the hospital?  Based on nothing but my birth classes since this is my first, I kind of thought I would have to go home and hang out for a while because my contractions wouldn't be close enough together to be admitted for a while.  I also don't think I'm enough of a trooper to wait that out at work. Though I am just crazy enough that I could see myself making all sorts of lists and trying to finish last minute things at work so my co-workers aren't just handed a mess.  I also have mentioned to them that once we turn in our annual report, I would like to try and work more from home if he isn't here yet.

But work has informed me if I am having any contractions they will drive me home or to the hospital. Problem is, I have the newer car, so we were going to set up the car seat and have the overnight bag in mine.  So hubby will have to get someone to drop him off at my work and hope that security will let him into the garage (they were nice and gave me a garage spot until I deliver).  Or I will have to try and remember to move my car out to the normal lot that he can actually access... 

Oh geeze now I have to start thinking about this.  I haven't even packed my hospital bag yet!  I figured, as long as I have my kindle, I can make it through delivery without my stuff. 

clo1982

Last time my water broke with no contractions. I was told to come to the hospital but no need to rush. So if that happened again I plan to call dh and have him meet me at home ( he works 5 min from me and depending on time of day we are between 25 min to 1 hour from home) then drive together to the hospital. If it goes differently and I start having contractions at work my hope is that it's still gradual enough that I can get home first.im honestly more worried about it happening while I'm home with dd than at work. If I'm at work that means she is already with my parents who watch her during the day and will while I'm in the hospital. So I only have to worry about me at that point. If I'm home I have yo round up dh from work and my parents to come get her...then wait for everyone to get here.

Sanibel21

I'm pretty sure a coworker will drive me in if needed. We've had people in similar situations and have needed a coworker to drive them somewhere and it's not been a problem luckily.

NoelleZako

I am hoping that if I go into labor at work they will let me go home until I am ready to actually go to the hospital. I work with a bunch of men so their first reaction with my friend was to send her to the hospital right away. I would hate to drive all the way there (20mins from work but 45mins- an hour from my house) just to have them send me home until I'm further along in the process. I really want to do as much of it at home so that I can have freedom of movement and I'm not a show for all their residents and interns. I know people have to learn but I let them learn on my teeth/face already can I have one experience to myself please!? I'm not sure if I should keep my bag in my car or not as I intend to come home first but if I don't DH or our good friends will gladly go home and get it at some point. Sometimes being military sucks because I have no family here but you do get lucky and create your own family. Oh and a side note being active duty I have to go to the military hospital all the way across town even though there is a beautiful one less than 10 mins from my house. Maybe if I can hang in there until it's really really close I won't have a choice but to go there. It's not like the nurse practioner I've been seeing on base will be at my delivery. She works at the smaller hospital that has no er or maternity ward.

ProudMommy030614

I work in the same hospital but have been put on leave. I was planning of just hopping in the elevator. However since I am on leave and now have to travel 45 minutes and hope that it's not rush hour traffic time. I have no idea...

Kewii

Ugh.  I feel like this is just one more thing for me to stress about.

Way too many what ifs to plan around. I'm just going to assume that if I go into labour at work I'd have hours until I'm far enough to go to the hospital and I'll either drive home or get a coworker who lives close by to drive me home.

Though my school is closer to my hospital than my house.  So it'll suck to have to go all the way back later on that night.

sebullows

My work is about 35 mins from hospital. I play to drive if I can, otherwise I have lots of coworkers willing to drive me. I'm even considering DH picking me up and taking me (it'd take about an hour tho). Our school nurse is an ex L&D nurse so I know I'm in good hands if anything happens very quickly. And our school sheriff has also been trained to deliver babies but I think we'd both rather pass that one up