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Frustrating drives to prenatal care

bluelotus13bluelotus13 member
in 3rd Trimester
Sort of a rant but I'm also curious if anyone else has long distances they travel for their prenatal care and if so, how do you handle the trips? I'm now 30 weeks with our second baby and have about a 1.5 hour drive to my OB's office/the hospital (they're attached buildings). It's definitely worth it for the OB and the care, but now that I'm getting farther along, I'm starting to really hate the trip since it usually ends with me having several strong Braxton Hicks that leave me really tense/uncomfortable. 
I didn't have long trips to the office during the first pregnancy since we used to live locally to the office, but now that we've recently moved out of the area I'm trying to find ways to cope with the drive or at the very least manage the intensity of the Braxton Hicks. I'd be very appreciative of any suggestions you ladies might have! I'm already not looking forward to having to go to biweekly visits because of this. 
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Re: Frustrating drives to prenatal care

  • jennypolkadotsjennypolkadots member
    I just got back from our 1 hour drive to our midwife's office (2 hours round trip). It sucks, but like you the care is worth it to us. Are you going alone? My husband drives me, I wouldn't be driving myself that far unless it were the only option. Sometimes I lay the seat back and lay on my side. At 36ish weeks your visits will start being weekly, so it's a good idea to have a plan in place before then. Also start thinking about comfort measures for the trip when you deliver - have blankets and pillows so you can lay in the back seat, and plan to stop with the baby on the way home for a feeding or two.

    Stay very hydrated and try sitting on a wedge to keep you knees below your pelvis. I haven't had any Braxton Hicks yet, but my midwife says staying hydrated prevents them most of the time. Dehydration causes muscle contractions. I drink at least 80 oz of water a day plus 3 cups of pregnancy tea and sometimes some juice too. So lots of fluids!

    Could you leave early and stop for a bit in the middle? Like for a bite to eat or a quick walk around a store? This could help, too. 
    BabyFetus Ticker
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  • bluelotus13bluelotus13 member
    My husband has the car for work so on the days that I have an appointment I just leave with him and he drops me off at my parents' house on the way (we usually have to leave around 6am in order to get down by 8:30am in all of the rush hour traffic). Then my mom helps get me to the appointment since they live just down the road which is a huge help! I really couldn't imagine doing this on my own. 
    I really like the wedge idea and putting the seat further back! My son has his seat behind me so I might be able to see if we can switch it to be behind my husband so that I can put my seat further back. I've definitely had issues with dehydration during this pregnancy so I've been keeping a large water bottle on hand at all times so that I can sip even absent-mindedly haha
    At this point my doctor is hoping to induce me just after the 39th week since the drive is so long and I'm high risk for quick delivery but since there's always the chance that I might go into labor before we reach that point, I'm definitely trying to come up with ideas for the drive to the hospital in case we do need to make the full trip. 
    Thank you for the ideas!
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  • jennypolkadotsjennypolkadots member
    If your car seat is behind the passenger seat I would try moving it to the other side or the middle so you can recline your seat to lay on your side. Or you can lay in the back against your son's car seat (assuming you haven't installed the 2nd carseat yet). Adults over 18 aren't required to use seat belts in the back seat in most states, but double check yours.

    Could you change your appointment times so that you aren't sitting in traffic? If your appointment was at 10 am or 2 pm, for example, that would get you there and home without spending time sitting in traffic which is just making the trip longer. I would definitely stop half way for a quick walk, too. 

    Just curious, but are you saying your husband drives that much every day for work? That sounds like a total nightmare! Seems like such a waste of time spending that many hours a day just commuting, but I know a lot of people do it. Where we live (north Alabama) people complain about a 20 minute drive.

    BabyFetus Ticker
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  • bluelotus13bluelotus13 member
    Yeah, we just moved to central PA but my husband works in the DC area so 5 days a week he has to get up at 5am in order to get to work by 8:30 (and that's in regular level traffic). On the weekends he works as well but it's only a 40 min commute to his second job which seems like nothing compared to his regular commute. I honestly hate it and he does as well, but because of jobs being scarce and our income letting us just scrape by, he doesn't have a whole lot of choices. It's definitely a waste in my opinion, not only of gas and money but energy and time as well. DC traffic is ridiculous and he already spends most of his day driving around since he's a contractor, so he's almost always in his car. The only benefit to it is my being able to jump in to get to the DC area for my appointments which is also why I can't switch appointment times (if I don't leave as early as he does then I can't get down there). It's incredibly frustrating but the upside is that on some days I get to help him pass the time during his commute haha
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  • MaebbMaebb member
    My trip is about 15 miles from my house and my work, so it's about 25 minutes with no traffic or 45 (or longer) with heavy traffic.

    It's good that you like your OB and the care that you're receiving, but how far are you from the hospital where you'll be delivering? Are you comfortable with the length of that drive? That would be my concern. But sorry you have the long drives to your OB - that's going to get really annoying in the last few weeks of your pregnancy when you have to go weekly.
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  • bluelotus13bluelotus13 member
    The hospital is attached to my OB's office so it's the same length of a trip (1.5 hours in good traffic, up to 2.5 in heavy traffic) which is why my doctor is planning on inducing once I've passed the 39th week mark (we're keeping our fingers crossed that I don't go into labor any time earlier since there will be a very good chance that I'll end up having her on the highway). I'm high risk for quick labor and delivery and my doctor is equally worried about the chances of me not being able to get to the hospital in time if I'm not already booked to come in. 
    I'm really not happy with the length of drive but it is worth it. 
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  • texasmomma22texasmomma22 member
    I live on the border of Mexico and I drive 2.5 hours to San Antonio for my Doctor. I did the same thing with baby 1.. It was a nightmare. I had a planned induction with the first and hopefully with the second. It can be frustrating especially when you get there and they make you wait for ever or want to reschedule because something happened. I will be so happy to get out of here!
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