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D.C. Area Babies
Those with 2+ and no local family
I'm a SAHM and have a 2 year old. I'm starting to panic about what to do with DD at delivery for DS. We have a good sitter but she's a senior in high school so she can't watch her should anything happen in the middle of the night. I'm starting to panic. Most neighbors work full time and I'm not really close with any other SAHM-most of the ones I was close to have returned to work. Any ideas about where to search for a middle of the night/on call person? Is there a nanny service I might be able to work with on something like this?
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Re: Those with 2+ and no local family
Where do you live? I have a good solution in Arlington.
Edit: I should mention, though, that my solution is to where you would drop your DD off at her house - she doesn't do housecalls that I know of.
Look into a temporary nanny service like White House Nannies. I think they might offer this kind of help. Or you could post on DC Urban Mom or any neighborhood listserve you might have asking for personal recommendations.
ETA: I assume family can't come in for the birth right? Lots of friends have had someone come stay with them for a couple of weeks. That has its pluses and minuses though.
That is a tough one for sure. My friend is going through this right now - she and her mom do not get along well at all, so she can't imagine her mom coming to stay with her for weeks waiting for kid #2 arrive so that the mom can watch kid #1 when my friend goes into labor. Her mom would drive her bananas.
I wouldn't suggest a plan of dropping a kid off anywhere as a Plan A - my second and third births were FAST. It was an eternity waiting for my mom to arrive to my house when I went into labor with #2 and #3, and she lives 8 minutes away.
I would suggest finding a babysitter - a neighbor, a friend, coworker, someone on SitterCity, etc. who will be "on call" (at least in town and local) for a few weeks - and who is willing to come in the middle of the night if necessary. In a way, middle of the night is easier because kid #1 in theory will already be in bed, so all this person would have to do is fall asleep on your couch for when kid #1 wakes up. If you line someone up, have them come a few times to meet kid #1 so they can meet and bond a little before it all goes down.
I prepped DDs #1 and #2 by saying that if they woke up one morning and found grandma in my bed rather than mommy and daddy, they would know that meant their baby brother was on his way. We made it kind of like an adventure as in, "don't be frightened if grandma is here instead of me" - but "how cool is it that grandma will be here instead of me - that means you're a big sister - woohoo!"
Both my #2 and #3 were born after bedtime, so it was actually pretty convenient - the older kid(s) didn't know what was happening until they woke up and the baby had been born... and DH got home to them fairly quickly.
I don't have local family so I was in a similar situation. Two local friends who live within a few miles offered to come in the middle of the night should we need assistance. I went into labor at 10:30 on a Sat night, I called one friend, no answer, and then the other. She came over within a half hour and we were off to the hospital. She stayed with DD most of Sunday until my parents arrived (they live about 4.5 hours away). I imagine if I didn't have good local friends, I would have asked one of my neighbors (some did offer) or used a nanny service. Folks are very helpful in my experience. I hope you can find someone you trust.
Ditto Artslvr on the second time being faster. If I wasn't GBS+ and didn't have to wait 4 hours for the antibiotics, I would have started pushing within an hour of arriving at the hospital.
I don't have any specific suggestions for where to find someone to have on call, but I do suggest having a couple of back up options if you can. I also suggest just being flexible about things and being prepared for a delivery day that may be little more hectic than your first one.
We had local friends lined up to take DS, but because DD came at 36 weeks and on the day before Thanksgiving, our friends weren't yet "on call" and didn't have their phones on them that morning. We ended up taking DS with us to the hospital with us because I reached the point where I said "We need to go!" before our friends returned our calls. DH did end up getting ahold of our friends, however, and they came to the hospital to pick up DS about an hour after we got there.
The situation wasn't ideal, but everything worked out OK. DS was actually in the L&D room for a while after I was moved from triage (when DS and DH were waiting in the lobby), but DH kept him entertained. (Having DS in there without someone other than DH to watch him probably violated hospital policy, but the nurses and my doctor didn't say anything.) That meant, however, that DH wasn't as available for me as he wanted to be. My nurse was great about it, though, and helped me through some contractions when DH couldn't be with me. Things were much easier, though, once our friends arrived and took DS
INOVA allows siblings in L&D. Many hospitals do.
They do, but the policy is that you're supposed to have a caregiver for the child other than the father (or whoever is serving as the labor coach).