Mama's of 2+: Who watched your LO when you were in labor?

chillycoo · August 2009

Meaning, you're pregnant and about to deliver..... who watched (or do you plan on having) your LO?

I am having anxieties now about what we're going to do, who's going to watch Oona, etc. when I go in labor. Ahhh?

Also, how many hours were you in labor before you checked in the hospital (from 1st contraction to when your hospital said it is okay for you to come in, or when your water broke)? With Oona I had my 1st contraction at 2am and finally was ready to leave for the hospital at around 8am, so that was like 6 hours.... I'm asking b/c I'm thinking 6 hrs is plenty of time for my sister to come meet me at the house (she has to cross the Bay Bridge) and watch Oona while we take off to the hospital. My mom lives closer (like 10 mins away) but Oona is not a huge fan of her as she is with my sister

Who knows, I'm not even sure if #2 will give me 6 hrs!! yikes!?

Oh, and when did you bring LO to the hospital to meet new sibling?

Lexi & Orion's Mommy · August 2009

my inlaws had Lexi and i had a planned CS so there wasnt any hours of labor.

KellyMRocks · August 2009

Could your mom stay with Oona until your sister got there?

My sister will probably take G because she has no interest in being in the delivery room with me. But she lives with me so, no commute or bridge crossing

MrsEmm · August 2009

We had Plan A, B & C - haha.

Plan A was a cousin that we lived close to, Plan B was my mom who lived a little further, and Plan C was DD's biological dad.

She ended up at the hospital with us because it progressed so quickly and our cousin showed up just in time for her to get out of there before I started dropping 'f-bombs'

?

ETA: My first labor was 4.5 hours. This time i waited until i had been having contractions for an hour and half to call & check in. They told me to come right away. I had already called my mom only a half hour after feeling contractions so she was getting ready and almost on her way & we called the cousin on the way to the hospital since she only lived a few minutes away. It all?happened?SO fast. Im glad my DD was older - I cant imagine how it wouldve been with a toddler. I think I wouldve been birthing by myself!!

kittylove · August 2009

I thought I would chime in since I watched my sisters oldest when she gave birth. I believe she had a back up of one of her friends too. Hope it was okay that I answered even though the post wasn't directed at me.

jbrooke81 · August 2009

My water broke at 12:30 AM, and I was told to come in after taking a shower. I wasn't having many contractions at all, so I packed a bag for myself and Chase and took a shower. We left to drop Chase off at my in-laws house around 1:30 AM (20 min drive). We arrived at the hospital at 2:30 AM. Parker wasn't born for 23 hours. I don't think this is the norm for a second child. However, I was attempting a VBAC, so things took longer.

chillycoo · August 2009

KellyMRocks:
Could your mom stay with Oona until your sister got there?
My sister will probably take G because she has no interest in being in the delivery room with me. But she lives with me so, no commute or bridge crossing

Yea, I'll probably call both my mom and sister... This is assuming i go in labor in the early morning. It'd be perfect if I go into labor *after* DH drops her off to school at 7:30/8:00 am in the morning. That way, we have her at school and my sister can pick her up later in the afternoon when school is closed.

chillycoo · August 2009

MrsEmm:
We had Plan A, B & C - haha.
Plan A was a cousin that we lived close to, Plan B was my mom who lived a little further, and Plan C was DD's biological dad.
She ended up at the hospital with us because it progressed so quickly and our cousin showed up just in time for her to get out of there before I started dropping 'f-bombs'

ETA: My first labor was 4.5 hours. This time i waited until i had been having contractions for an hour and half to call & check in. They told me to come right away. I had already called my mom only a half hour after feeling contractions so she was getting ready and almost on her way & we called the cousin on the way to the hospital since she only lived a few minutes away. It all happened SO fast. Im glad my DD was older - I cant imagine how it wouldve been with a toddler. I think I wouldve been birthing by myself!!

Ummm, okay you're freaking me out now!

that's another thing, I wonder if i can keep myself from dropping f-bombs with Oona being nearby! LOL!

Kellina71 · August 2009

My parents. For us it was easier to plan for, since I had a scheduled c/s.

We did NOT bring C to the hospital. He hates going to the MD, so we thought he would freak out being there just b/c ofthat. AND then he wouldn't be able to jump on me. And then he would have to leave me there. My SIL said they had to carry their older daughter out screaming and kicking b/c she didn't want to leave Mama at the hospital. BUT-many others have great hospital visit stories... I think it really depends on how you think Oona will do! GL!

Celyn · August 2009

My mom watched Ryan. I labored at home for 12 hours and we left for the hospital a little earlier than I would have otherwise, except that I wanted to leave before morning rush hour got heavy and I didn't want to hit transition in the car

We were at the hospital for 5 hours before Aaron was born.

MrsEmm · August 2009

I was really good about trying to keep it together while K was still in there but once I got to transition or maybe it was crowing?! I couldnt help it - I didnt even know who was in the room. I was SOOO glad that my cousin showed up in time because all that blood wouldve freaked K out?tremendously.?She cried when they gave me an IV.

Have several options, just in case. And dont wait to call like I did!!! haha. I shouldve known better but it was the middle of the nite and I had no idea it would be so fast (3-3.5 hours total)

We had a plan for every scenario due to how fast my first labor was - we had a "if im at work plan", "if its just me & DD at home plan", "if its the middle of the nite plan" - and im such a nerd that I printed out copies for all parties involved. LOL! ?

bubbs147 · August 2009

Our family is all out of town, so my mom is planning to come stay with us from the week or so before my due date until after the baby arrives.

But I just wanted to share - on our way back into town yesterday we saw that the Bay Bridge will be CLOSED the weekend of Labor Day!

bunch · August 2009

My mom keeps saying she's going to stay with us, but I don't know if we want that. My mom is def watching her while I'm at the hospital- 'cause I don't want her there! So Plan A is my mom, Plan B is a neighbor until Mom gets to my house, Plan C is bring her to the hospital and let my mom pick her up. I only labored for 4 hours with her, so we're imagining it going quickly again...

amyfelice · August 2009

This is such an interesting post! My mom just asked me about this I guess because she didn't realize DH's stay with new mamas in the hospital these days.

roxy_jj · August 2009

My family is all out of town, so my Dad (lives about an hour away) came to stay with us starting a little over a week before my due date. He's retired, so it wasn't an issue for him to stay over for a couple of weeks.

My water broke at night and I had not been having many contractions before then. I went to the hospital pretty shortly after my water broke and about an hour after arriving at the hospital, contractions were in full force. Baby was born the next morning - about 9 hours after my water broke.

DH brought A to the hospital about 5 hours after C was born. She was a little freaked out by the hospital and not acting like her usual self, so we only had her come to the hospital the one time.

m&m&a7217 · August 2009

Great post - I have similar anxieties! Our plan is to have A stay with his godparents (DH's brother and his family). We plan on having a bag packed for him so that the transfer will be easy. I was in early labor with A for 7 hours before having to go to the hospital so I too, assume I will have time to call and have them meet us at our home before we go in. Though I hear that the 2nd time around labor goes much faster. In the event that we have to rush to the hospital - they have agreed to meet us there.

We want our LO to be brought to the hospital a couple hours after baby is born and DH wants to bring him. He has a thing about wanting to bring LO to meet his new sibling and not anyone else.?

chillycoo · August 2009

Kellina71:
My parents. For us it was easier to plan for, since I had a scheduled c/s.
We did NOT bring C to the hospital. He hates going to the MD, so we thought he would freak out being there just b/c ofthat. AND then he wouldn't be able to jump on me. And then he would have to leave me there. My SIL said they had to carry their older daughter out screaming and kicking b/c she didn't want to leave Mama at the hospital. BUT-many others have great hospital visit stories... I think it really depends on how you think Oona will do! GL!

I *think* Oona will be fine about going to the hospital b/c we took her to this "Toddler hospital tour" at the hospital where I will be delivering and she had a great time. She saw the nursury (at the time there were 3 girls born that day) and I told her "Look! those are somebody's Moi-moi (baby sister in Chinese)!" and I think she got it b/c she smiled and repeated what I said.

I think if this 2nd one is coming out fast and furious, we'll have to bring Oona with us and have my sister and mom meet us there at the hospital. Hopefully they'll arrive quick enough so DH can be in the room with me when I start pushing!

titantsmama · August 2009

Tyson had to come to the hospital with us. Despite the urging of my husband and mom I didn't think I was in labor labor at the time, so I had my DH stay at work and told my mom to be ready in the next couple days. Ha. After about an hour I knew the baby was on the way. Called my mom and she started to head down: it took her about three hours. I packed a bag for Ty knowing he'd be at the hospital for awhile.

Ty sat in the BOB while I got checked in and situated. My hubs then took him down to the cafeteria as I didn't want Ty watching me labor (hardest part for me). Once my in-laws got here they took Ty to a waiting room. My mom then took him home once she got here.

In our case, we didn't have six hours ; )

shnelly · August 2009

Obviously no real life experience here, but I wanted to share a story. I was looking through the snapshots of my friend who was induced. One picture had her toddler son sleeping on the couch, the next one had the new baby girl.

He slept through it!! They did have a plan, the gparents were going to take him, but they decided not to move him since he was out.

danandkelly · August 2009

Good Post.

Since it's still early I haven't thought much about this, but I know that I'll want my mom there again so she's out for watching N. And I'm sure that the ILs will want to be in the waiting room again as will my sis. So I think I'll enlist the help of one of my BFFs. I had a fast labor with N so I think we may need a couple plans in case labor is fast again.

I know my next door neighbor really well so I'll probably use her as a back up plan.

tri-reader · August 2009

My IL's live an hour away and they watched Emmy. If there was a worse case scenario where I needed to go to the hospital immediately, our neighbor agreed to take her (Emmy knows them very well and is good friends with their child). We also had friends that would watch her until IL's came.

I was in labor 12 hours before we called them to come. But I kept them posted all day what was going on with me.

I delivered at 6:30 am, we waited till Emmy woke up and had breakfast before she came to the hospital. She arrived at 9:30am.

If it was during the day we'd have her come immediately after the birth.