Roadtrip with newborn?

emh81

My firstborn niece, also my Goddaughter, makes her first communion a few days after my EDD. I still have an inside baby at this point so I am not committing solidly to anything but I'm wondering to any of you with outside babes, how long after having your baby would you have felt comfortable making a 2 hour road trip for church and a reception? I'm sure its different for everyone and depending on whether babe arrives via vaginal delivery or c-section, I'm just looking for some general feedback. I would have plenty of help on the ride as DH and I would likely just ride with my parents who are also going to make the trip. 

I desperately want to be there for my special little girl's big day but I don't want to have unrealistic expectations of myself immediately after giving birth (assuming I have him by my EDD). I've ordered a beautiful, personalized rosary for her and worst case scenario I'll Facetime with her before or after the service but of course it wont be quite the same. 

Andrewsgal

I would have ben fine doing that several days after birth. Give yourself time to stop and nurse if you are BFing. Really it depends in how you feel and if you can sit for those 2 hours the baby should be pretty easy.

pineconey

If I were you I would take the "wait and see" approach. There are just too many unanswered questions right now. I'm well past my EDD with no end in sight, but I don't make commitments except for day-of and even is I make sure to say "unless I'm not feeling up to it."
That's really the best you can do at this point.

Rrrrrachel

It's definitely doable if it's important to you. You might have to stop a lot so plan extra time.

strawberrytree

If it's just a few days after your EDD it might have to be a game time decision. I had an easy recovery with DS1 and would have been fine, but you never know. I would also tack at least an hour on to the travel time in case you have to stop and BF baby at the side of the road or change a blowout, etc. If you still have an inside baby at that point I would check with your doctor ahead of time and have them give you the all clear. 

Beezerbop

Ugh! I am in the same dilemma! My niece is having her communion may 3rd...7 hours away. I haven't committed yet because baby has not arrived EDD 4/23. If I have her early I am planning to go if I feel up to it....I just can't committ yet...

Rrrrrachel

I would absolutely not drive that far that soon (7 hours). I have a friend having a big bday party on the third I'm skipping (due 4/18) because it's 8 hours away.

Teresa1896

I wouldn't be worried at all about a 2 hr drive, as pp have said. But I'm opting out of Easter church service with a brand-new baby. I'm not a germaphobe, but it'll be so crowded and so many germs....

AggieFroggie

2 hours sound doable as long as you feel up to it. We are going on a 4.5- 5 hour drive for Easter. Baby boy is going to be 3 weeks old.

EmmaD312

I just took my one week old on a 300-mile road trip to my grandfather's funeral. We stopped to nurse and diaper a lot but we made it there and back 4 days later! He barely fussed. I didn't take him inside any public places. A newborn on the highway is nervewracking, though.

MissWhis

I'm over two weeks pp and there is no freaking way I would do that. Granted I did have a c-section, complications, and a preterm baby, so that factors into it a lot, but I'm very tired from surgery recovery and the usual newborn lack of sleep - traveling anywhere sounds terrible. Also, my daughter is so tiny in her carseat that it stresses me out having her buckled in it for long. I know it's safe, but it just looks crazy.

I think you should just take a wait and see approach. There is no way of knowing how you are going to feel (physically, mentally, emotionally) once baby is here - don't put any extra pressure on yourself!

In addition, is this an overnight trip? We haven't managed to figure out the best sleeping situation for ourselves and the baby and we've had her home for 12 days - it changes all the time! I don't think I'd want to tackle a night away from home just yet.

PoppySeedWindsor

Two hours seems pretty easy but I agree that 'wait and see' is the best approach.

(Side note: I'm hoping to make a wedding that's a 10 hour drive away on May 11th. Baby is currently delayed so s/he will only be three+ weeks old. We plan on stopping a butt load and driving about 5 hours a day, if we're all feeling good.)

Good luck and I hope you can make it!

ar87kb04

Two hours should be fine! The hospital I'm delivering at is an hour and a half away from our house! So we will be making that drive home a couple days pp

AcaAwkward

So long as you feel well enough to sit for 2 hours, the baby will be a piece of cake in the car for that long!

MadBloom

2 hours isn't too bad (as others have said). I'll have a 45 min to an hours drive home from the hospital depending on traffic!
Fingers crossed you can make it!

Mustardseed2007

Things that you actually want to do and are important to you are much more doable than things that are a 2 hour drive away that you don't actually want to do that much in the first place. I agree with the wait and see approach, I think you will know the day of whether or not you can actually do it based on how you feel and how you are doing with your little one.

emh81

Thanks all for your input!

We shall continue to wait and see... wait and see when he arrives, wait and see how we feel, wait and see if I'm too much of a nervous nelly to take him in public that soon, I'm sure by now we're all tired of wait and see but it seems to be the only thing to do! With all of the positive feedback I feel much more optimistic that we will be able to make it work if he's here by then  

sking72

At 6 days old we drove 1.5 hours to visit SOs family, piece of cake. She slept the whole way there and stayed asleep when we got there, and then we just had to stop at a rest stop to change and feed her because our departure wasn't very well planned out. Totally do-able, give yourself extra time for stops, and maybe a pillow to sit on. It's also nice because I know I have a hard time sleeping during the day no matter how tired I am, so the car ride helped me get some extra z's!

katiedidthat

We drove 1.5 hours from the hospital when DS2 was discharged from the NICU, so 2 hours would be no issue for me.  We took DS1 on a 10 hour car trip when he was a month old, personally babies are so much easier to take places now than they will be for quite a few years.