Driving to the hospital

Shortstack06 · August 2014

My husband is self employed and does Plumbing & HVAC. We live in a small town where cell phone service may be spotty. My biggest fear is I go in to Labor and can't reach him. I asked my sister if she would be my alternate, although she has a set of 8 year old twins that may complicate that for her. I would ask my mom but we call her driving Miss Daisy and I would probably be able to drive fastwr myself. Do you have an alternate or how do you plan to get to the hospital/birth center?

[Deleted User] · August 2014

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JaymeeLH · August 2014

My H is a municipal employee in a town about 15 minutes away from our apartment, and in the winter gets called in to salt/plow a lot, so since the preliminary reports are that it's going to be an early and rough winter we asked his best friend who also has a pickup truck to be on standby if he's home during a storm (he's an iron worker in Manhattan, so they don't go in if the weather is bad). He readily agreed and the plan is that I'll call H's boss so he can radio H to go back to base, then our friend will drive me down to H's work and then we'll continue down the line to the hospital.

Jessie333 · August 2014

DH will drive me. If I am stuck, my SIL and mil both live close so I know they would help.

love2travel2014 · August 2014

My H only works 1 1/2 miles from our house and our birth center is only 11 minutes (in traffic lol) from our house. So, I don't think I need an alternative which is a good thing because I have no family here

emp156 · August 2014

We have no car, so regardless of whether DH is home to accompany me, we'll either take a cab or (gulp) the subway. if it's snowy, we'll likely have to take the subway. either way, hospital is about 5 miles away so not bad at all.

hollycn · August 2014

SO works 30 minutes from home (but only about 10 min from birthing hospital). If he's at work should I have someone else drive me and let him meet me there?

BLH2014 · August 2014

To be honest, I haven't thought about it! My husband does travel occasionally for work, but baby's due date is during a slower time for them, so it should be no issue for them to make a point to avoid scheduling anything for him for the last two weeks of December and first two weeks of January. My grandma lives fairly close and is retired, so she would likely be my backup if he would need to leave town for any reason.

hellopartyof5 · August 2014

Honestly? If my husbands not home I think I would just ask one of my neighbors to drive me lol. No pressure on them

haleyusf · August 2014

How far are you from the hospital? A neighbor or taxi could be a good bet if it's not very far if there's no one available. And if your labor isn't hitting you too hard, as a last resort, you can always drive yourself. I drove myself with DS because I was able to breath through the contractions pretty well and wasn't in crazy pain (was still 5cm dilated at that point). Drove myself to my doctor to be checked and then on to the hospital; gave birth 3 hours later

Probably not my finest decision safety-wise and I'm not really recommending it, but it worked out in the end.

Shortstack06 · August 2014

@JaymeeLH‌ I understand the winter, if it is cold(like last windter we had a lot of below zero days) he gets a lot of no heat calls and works non-stop. So I was curious what others were doing also.

Shortstack06 · August 2014

@haleyusf‌ We are in the country, my closest neighbor is a half mile down the road and it is 15 minutes to the interstate (back roads) and another 20-30 to the hospital depending on traffic and if the university there is in session or not makes a difference also. We don't have any taxis in our town. I keep having bizarre dreams anything that can go wrong will with this haha

Shortstack06 · August 2014

Double post

JRod13 · August 2014

If for some reason H can't get to me I guess my dad will take me....we're close and all, but damn that would be awkward....I'm just gonna bank on H being able to get here.

missmissie82 · August 2014

Most of the time, you'll have HOURS between when when you feel you're in labor and when the baby is born. Obviously you want to be at the hospital as soon as possible, but you'll probably have some time to get there.

Totally doing the right thing by planning ahead!

mlee116 · August 2014

H would and then family would be my backup. Do you have any neighbors/coworkers/etc that you could call if absolutely necessary? Like PP said, most likely you will have plenty of time to make it to the hospital. But if its urgent, hell, I'd be knocking on my neighbors doors or calling a cab. And of course if its an emergency, call an ambulance.

allfalldown14 · August 2014

My SO will take me...he lives 15 mins away and works about 30mins away depending what time of day for traffic. I'm not too worried about it....I don't think I'll pop the baby out in the 30 mins it takes him to get here!

nopegoat · August 2014

My H was suppose to be in Africa for 2 months around my due date last time and everything worked out alright so I am not freaking out this go around lol. He has already gotten the OK to just take local jobs around my due date. Even then he can get stuck on a ship or at port security so it could take him a while to get home. We are probably going to fly my mom out so we have someone to watch the boys and she can take me if needed.

The closest family last time was 2hrs away. My H made sure that we were pretty close with a neighbor and had several watching out for me.

More than likely you will be in labor for a while and will make it to the hospital np.

cwbh928 · August 2014

We live about 30-40 minutes from our hospital! My DH will be driving me - unless he is at work in which case my mother will since she will be staying with us during that time. IF that is the case it would be fine since my husband actually works across the street from the hospital!

kz's_girlygirl · August 2014

I will have a planned c section, but if I go into labor before hand I'll have to get to the hospital asap since I have a TAC. It's about 15-20 minutes away, and I'll just drive myself if DH is at work.

path75 · August 2014

twolittledogs said:
I work with all guys. I'd drive myself before I'd ask one of them to take me.

Also, there's usually time between the first sign of labor and actually delivering.

I work with mostly guys too. When I told them I am working until I deliver I think they cringed. How embarrassing it would be for my water to break at work but anything is possible. Someone would take me if it was necessary but I hope it doesnt come to that. My husband is getting a new cell phone. He is notoriously not answering his phone and he blamed the phone. No excuses. Lol

marriedinaugust · August 2014

No clue. If I go into labor early and my husband is at work I may be screwed. I plan to labor at home a while before going in anyway but if it goes quickly we may have barely enough time for him to get home (30-45min without traffic) and get back to the birthing center (20-30min without traffic). If I go into labor "on time" or late my MIL will be here so she can take me.

jayellekay · August 2014

I live 5 minutes from the hospital. If my H happens to be out of town, I'll either drive myself, ask a neighbor, or call a cab. Most likely I would drop DD off with a neighbor and drive myself as long as I wasn't to the super intense part of labor. There will be VERY few of us in this group who have such a fast and furious labor you wouldn't be able to get yourself to the hospital, even transporting yourself!

Because of the medication I'm on, I'm expecting my water to break (but not really be in labor), so I will have some warning. Of course now that I'm expecting it, that's not how it will happen, but that's the plan at least!

nesenotes · August 2014

You have time (or I did) once labor starts. So I would hope I could text him it's a 911 situation and he would call or I would have him check in multiple times. When my water broke, I was in public, they wouldn't let me drive even though I wasn't having contractions. I had to wait for DH to come pick me up 1 hour. Then we ran home to get everything that was another hour. I don't think I went to the hospital until after 9pm and my water broke at almost 7pm. And after all that all we did was sit around at the hospital and wait for contractions to start.

RayRay007 · August 2014

Haven't thought about it, but with DD I drove myself to the hospital the day I delivered. Although, I wasn't in labour and was only going in for a NST. So.... not the same at all. I think if you are in the early stages of labour you will have lots of time to get ahold of your H and get to the hospital.

britgil89 · August 2014

I work at a church and we're all very close...it could be my priest driving me! Lol

Heidig14 · August 2014

I had honestly not even thought about it. Dh is on the road alot at work and sometimes is hours away. I'm guessing if it's during the day I will either be at work still and have one of my coworkers drive me? I guess I need to make a plan!

lionyloo32 · August 2014

Hmmm haven't given it an extreme amount of thought, although I probably should. DH will likely be traveling, but hopefully not. If I'm at work when I go into labor, I will likely drive myself since I'd be closer than having to wait for DH to get to me. If at home and he's home, he'll drive. If I'm home alone .... I guess I'll drive myself. This is actually a bit of a scary thought. I may talk to my OB at my next appointment about the options to be induced. Although I really don't want to be, it would be nice to be able to somewhat plan and have someone here.

ladysaceb · August 2014

I plan on laboring at home for most of my labor. If DH can not make it home from work in time to get the kids to a sitter and me to the hospital I will have a sitter come watch the kids and drive myself. I am not to worried about it. I actually joked with DH the other day that I have done this enough times that worse case scenario, I have the LO in the bathroom while the kids watch a movie and have an ambulance meet us at the house and get me and baby to the hospital after.

ladysaceb · August 2014

I plan on laboring at home for most of my labor. If DH can not make it home from work in time to get the kids to a sitter and me to the hospital I will have a sitter come watch the kids and drive myself. I am not to worried about it. I actually joked with DH the other day that I have done this enough times that worse case scenario, I have the LO in the bathroom while the kids watch a movie and have an ambulance meet us at the house and get me and baby to the hospital after.

kellyo0131 · August 2014

Haven't really thought about it yet. Last time I actually drove myself. My water had broken over the weekend at 36 weeks...I had no idea bc it was such a slow leak..I thought it was discharge. Since contractions never started I ended up calling at 8 AM from work on Monday and they told me to come and get checked out then walked me next door to the hospital.

hollieandaaron2012 · August 2014

I work 45 mins from home and my hospital. If needed my coworkers will drive me home and also if needed the town I work in has hospital. The biggest question right now is if I let DH go hunting since my due date is the end of the rifle season and he goes to a place 3 hrs away! Hunting season is kind of a big deal around here but the DH knows he might have to skip it this year.

Shortstack06 · August 2014

@hollieandaaron2012‌ we have property where we hunt, fortunately I am due outside of deer season.

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