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#3 is on the way, I'm in the second trimester. We've recently moved and are about 5 hours away from family.
It occurred to me that I don't have really close friends or neighbors here yet that I would be able to drop my kids with when the "time" comes. I'm wondering what others have done in this situation? When we had #2 at our old house, our best friends lived nearby and the wife came over until my MIL had time to drive up the next morning. That was a huge help because my daughter went straight to the NICU for a week, so having her there to watch my son all day was a necessity. But even if my mom or MIL left immediately, 5 hours may not be enough of a window for them to get here. (2nd pregnancy was 8 hours labor start-finish, went to hospital after 3 hours)
We have a few friends nearby that I think would be willing to help if they could, but they both have 2-3 kids themselves and work. Logistically I'm not sure they would be able to handle that many kids, or be able to shuttle them all to/from school. My youngest is not in school yet so I can't certainly expect them to stay with her and miss work.
Ugh, maybe I'm stressing about it too early. Thoughts?
My second baby was a scheduled c-section, so we knew in advance what day the baby was coming and could plan accordingly. So for us, it was easy. I suppose you could talk to your doctor about being induced a little early? I'm not sure how you feel about that or if that would be an option for you.
Otherwise, is there any way that a family member could come and stay with you near your due date until the baby is born?
Or another option would be to hire a sitter from an agency to help out.
When we had our second and later third baby, we had a neighbor on call that would come over. I had no family nearby. Do you have any relatives that could come a little early and stay with you until you get home from the hospital?
We definitely have relatives that could come up and stay long-term, but the initial moment is what we're worried about. All of our neighbors work, are elderly or have school-aged kids. I could maybe have my mom come up around my due date for a few days, but in reality we're looking at a 3-4 week window of delivery.
We definitely have relatives that could come up and stay long-term, but the initial moment is what we're worried about. All of our neighbors work, are elderly or have school-aged kids. I could maybe have my mom come up around my due date for a few days, but in reality we're looking at a 3-4 week window of delivery.
I'd have Mom come and stay, even if it is a few weeks. I can't imagine how scarey that would be. I hope you get it worked out.
agree that the pecking order should generally be - ship in a parent or two prior to the birth, enlist the help of trusted friends/neighbours, and consider the possibility of hired help.
the more possibilities you have lined up well in advance, with plan Bs and plan Cs in place (as back up), the more comfortable you will be. and no, its absolutely not too early to start thinking about it now!
life is complicated the more kids you have - worst case scenario, you may have to consider your husband not being around for the birth/post-birth period for as much as you would like, although hopefully you will be able to find a solution which avoids this.
I was induced a week early and we had no one to help. Our older children were both late, so we figured this one would be too. My husband's sister traveled for work but planned to be home delivery week to take care of the girls for us. I went in for a routine appointment and my doctor suspected pre-eclampsia, and he gave me the choice of going to the hospital for testing and being induced if I was positive, or going to the hospital and being induced regardless. I chose the latter. It was like 9:30 a.m. and he told me to go home, get my stuff, and be at the hospital by 11. We had to go get the girls out of school. Their usual sitter was out of commission, recovering from a hysterectomy, and our neighbors were at work! The girls stayed in the room with us, up by my head. The induction took a while, but once the contractions started, our son was born in 15 minutes. This one is your third too. If you have had easy deliveries before, chances are this one will be very quick. I have heard SO many stories about #3s. I think some moms could push a third baby out with a good sneeze, know what I mean?
If you don't have anyone to watch your kids, it's not the end of the world. Worst case scenario, they are with you. You will adjust and get through it.
I called a local church, and some church teens took care of my kids. They stayed at the house, cleaned it, and when I came home, a casserole and a cake was waiting for me. Nice young girls. And they would not take any money either.
Thanks for all the advice. I think we'll try a combination of family, babysitters on call, and crossing our fingers-Lol! There are definitely larger problems to have.
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