How to Plan for the Arrival of Baby Number Two

Having multiple plans is a good idea. With our second, my water broke at home at 3am. A neighbor took me to the hospital while my husband stayed with our 3 yr old until 5am. A teacher at our daycare had offered to take our oldest to school with her (start time 6am). So, husband called her (apologizing for how early it was and dropped number #1 at her house). He then came to the hospital and I had #2 around 7:10am.

It's really good of you to be talking about this now. Don't be afraid to ask friends, neighbors, relatives to help out. I was really surprised that the daycare teacher offered to help - made things tremendously easier for us.

Good Luck!

Just have plans and back up plans for each point in the day. You never know when someone's cell phone will be out of range or turned off. I'm in the same boat right now, and had three different neighbors volunteer to help drive me or watch my daughter. I programmed their cell phone numbers into my phone. I'm still anxious about it all, but I know that's normal.

Like everyone else said, people love to help you out with this. For my last child, my neighbor told me she would watch my other kids, I didn't even ask her!

One thing to do is write down his routine, so if you have someone helping who is not familiar with it, they have an idea of what comes next. You also need to know, that not everyone will follow that routine, but hey, this is a special occasion and that's ok. I might even get a new DVD or two (keep it a secret to your little man), so if the person watching him gets a little stressed, they have that option.

I don't know about anyone else's labor experiences for child #2, but I got the idea that baby would be popping out fast and that was not the case. So you might have plenty of time to get to the hospital.

The important thing is to just come up with a list of people to call depending on what time of day it is and then be done with it. Worrying isn't going to change it, you know that baby will come when she's ready!

M.

Hi S.! During my 2nd pregnancy, I asked my Mom to fly in and stay with us for the last few weeks. My daughter was only 14 months old when my son was born, so I knew I needed to give the two of them time to get to know each other and comfortable with each other. It was wonderful for both of them...and my daughter did not have any problems while I was away in the hospital.

I totally agree with the other Mama about having an emergency plan. Our closest family, my in-laws, are 2 1/2 hrs away, so we had to ask friends and neighbors if they would be willing to watch my daughter until my in-laws could arrive...even if it was the middle of the night. You'll be surprised how gracious your friends will be when you ask them for this! My hubby and I both carried a list of emergency phone numbers for the hospital and our friends. And we had the same list located at each phone.

Congratulations on your growing family!

Totally understand! I'm 38 weeks and I've decided to bring my son with me to the hospital if it's day, and at night we have a friend close by to call and sit. My mom is about 1 1/2 hours away, so when she gets here she'll take over with him. I'm really nervous about this too. I pray that I go into labor during the day. I've even asked my doc about inducement so that I'll have a secure plan and know where my son is. Good Luck! It's nerve wrecking isn't it!

It's a realistic worry. You'll need to have several plans in place whatever you do. Think of someone (or a back-up someone if necessary) who could come over in the middle of the night at the drop of a dime (close neighbor or relative) if need be. They may be taking shifts with the person who will ultimately keep him overnight. Last resort can be that you may end up bringing him to the hospital and someone can meet you in the parking lot to take him. My neighbor was willing to come in the middle of the night and stay with my daughter until my sister-in-law got there. then, my sister-in-law would stay overnight and transport my daughter to their home. As it turned out, we all left at 9:00 am and my sister-in-law met us at the hospital and took my daughter. Make your list of all emergency numbers, hospital numbers, and of people who could be involved and post it in a prominent spot for all involved. Make a copy for all involved.

It will all fall into place once you have your back-up plans made. It really makes it easier when that close neighbor or relative lives nearby. It's peace of mind and you can rest easy once your plans are in place.

Congratulations.

I agree. You will be amazed at how helpful people are in this situation. My husband and I don't have any family in the area, so we asked a neighbor in advance to watch our 3 year old when the time came. Of course I went into labor at 3:00 am, called our neighbors, they came right over and just slept in our bed for the rest of the night. In the morning our 3 year old son came into our room and found our neighbors sleeping there. He thought that was pretty interesting. Much better than finding an empty bed! So prepare for a middle of the night trip to the hospital, anything else will be easier. You'll want your husband with you, so don't plan on having him stay with the baby til morning.

I had to pick up my friends other children at the hospital. It wasn't that big of deal. And yes, it was at 4 in the morning. She gave me some really nice bottles of wine --very thoughtful.

(you could also do what I'm going to do, a home birth, then you don't have to go anywhere ;-))