LO #1 and Labor and Delivery

BennyL

Hi ladies,

All our family members are overseas or out of state. My mom will be coming to stay with us two week prior to my due date, but I am wondering what to do if LO #2 comes before then.

We have friends in the area, but it might be a lot to ask to have them pick up our DS and keep him for a day or two.

My question : do you know if it's possible to take LO to labor and delivery? If yes, how would you keep him comfortable and entertained?

Thanks so much for any advice you may have!!

ashley0616

We would have been screwed if my parents didn't live nearby. Our hospital wasn't allowing kids under 2 in at all, let alone in L&D, when Ellie was born. Liv had to stay with my parents for 3 days, which was SO hard for both of us.

If your hospital will allow you to bring DS to the hospital, just try to make it like home. Bring some of his favorite toys, snacks, movies, jammies, etc. I can't imagine it would be easy and I think it might be hard for you and DH to focus on laboring with your LO there, but if it's the only option then you will make it work. You can also check if your hospital has a sibling waiting room or child care available.

That said, you could also have someone watch him during the day and have DH be with him at night (or vice versa). I know that is the suckiest option beacuse then DH will be gone, but at least DS will be cared for. Could you meet in the middle with a friend, have DH there to do things like put DS to bed/get him up in the morning but not actually have to stay overnight?

la79al

We're looking at this option as well because of logistics.  I talked to my aunt who is a nurse in maternity and she said the hospital would not allow it, that DD would have to be in the waiting room.  Then she said that the only possible way would be if I talked to the nurse manager ahead of time.  I'm still not sure exactly what they would do if I showed up by myself with DD.  A 2 year old in the waiting room by herself?  I would think they would take their chances with letting her in the room with me...

thomas&lynn

At one of my appointments while pg, I was venting to my MW about how hard it was trying to arrange DD's care for when I went into labor and she made a point to let me know that the hospital could not be expected to watch her!!

lol I was a bit offended that she thought I was beating around the bush to "get" the hospital to watch my daughter!

In the end we had SIL come out and stay for almost 3wks for the time surrounding my EDD. He came a week after she arrived so I had her help for 10 days after that, too. It was awesome!

BriAndSean

We had someone watch DD # 1 during the day and then DH went home to put her to bed and stay the night with her. The next morning, they both came to the hospital to pick me and DS up and take us home.

We had several different plans and people on call but it all depended on what time of day I went into labor. I ended up deciding to be induced 5 days after my due date and it was SO much easier to plan for # 1 to be looked after.