Getting to the hospital?

[littlemisschatty]

I feel like I need a contingency plan in case I go into labor/water breaks and I am not home with DH.

How did you/do you plan to get to the hospital?
How soon after water breaking or contractions starting did you actually leave?

[redpenmama]

When my daughter was born, I woke up at 4 am with a contraction and another one woke me up at 7 am. They were sporadic (and at that point, I wasn't totally convinced they were for real), so my H went to work, which is about 30 minutes away (and in the opposite direction of the hospital). I started tracking the contractions and by about 3 pm they were down to 7ish minutes apart, so I called my OB and they told me to go to the hospital and get checked out. H came home from work, and we were at the hospital by 5. So, I technically labored at home for 12ish hours from first contraction, but it was very early on -- I think if I had gone any earlier, they would have sent me home.

My H is a college professor, so he will be off work between semesters around my due date, which means he should be around. The hospital isn't but a 15-minute drive, so I'm hoping this time, the logistics will work out well given the timing. (And I probably just jinxed myself there...)

[Jalapeñomel]

I assume we will be taking a taxi, but I really have no idea.

[mswax]

I've always had plenty of "lead-up" before the contractions got to the point of being close enough to call/go to the hospital, so it's really never been a concern for me.

[Cheesecake]

We've already agreed that if DH isn't super near me when I need to go to the hospital, I'll call a cab and grab our bags+last minute items and call DH who will either take a cab or the car to the hospital as well and we'll meet there.

Even if we're together, we'll likely take a cab, because we're close to the hospital and a cab is going to be cheaper than parking there. DH will then take the subway or tram home to pick up car and car seat when we're allowed to leave. (First 20 mins parking is free, after that hella expensive.)

Sent from my Xperia Z, please don't mind typos!

[twotrue]

the hospital is less than a mile from our house so my plan was to drive myself if DW wasn't around.

If labor started at work either I would drive or my co-worker would take me.

sent by phone

[Velar Fricative]

If I'm home and H isn't, I'd call our doula anyway and she would likely give me a ride. I plan to labor at home as long as possible and H doesn't work too far away. Hospital is a 15-minute ride from home.

If I'm at work...oy. I'm thinking a taxi will be the quickest way - public transportation would be way too slow, and I don't drive anyway. The drive would be 30-40 minutes without traffic but this is NYC so that isn't happening lol. The hospital is along the way home but I'd still want to go home unless I test positive for that strep B test in a few weeks.

[snickers]

I would just call my mom if I couldn't get H, but he works 5 minutes up the street so that would be unlikely anyways.
Taking a taxi would be a good option for someone though

[ilikedonuts]

We had no real plan with DD. DH just tried to make sure that he was within an hour or home for work from week 37 on. I guess I knew I could call my mom if necessary.

Now that we have a toddler to worry about as well, I assume we will just stick to the same plan. My mom seriously never answers her phone though, but I have multiple friends that are super close so I could always call one of them to come take me to the hospital and then keep DD until we get a hold of my mom or DH.

[degal99]

Luckily, right now DH works 5 minutes from home, and has the ability to work from home too. So, I imagine as it gets closer, he'll work from home more. If for some unforeseen reason he wasn't around or couldn't take me, and I felt like I couldn't safely drive the 25 minutes to the hospital, I would call an ambulance since we have no public transportation or cabs available.

[iheartvino]

I live about ten minutes from the hospital. I ended up driving myself. Unfortunately, it was during a rainy rush hour and took closer to 25 minutes. I do not recommend that.

[magpie]

I live about a 15 minute drive from the hospital and H works 10 minutes from home by bike. If he's at work and I'm at home, I'll just call him home to take me. I imagine that, as things get closer, we'll just have to be prepared to drop everything and go. I work just up the street from the hospital, so if it happens there (which I hope it doesn't!), I'll get a coworker to drop me off and H will get a ride to work, pick up the car and come to the hospital. I'm mostly starting to worry about what to do with the dog. Hopefully, we can get one of H's grad students can take her in or stop by to take care of her in at a moment's notice.

[Deleted]

it never occurred to me to plan for this. and this is my second child.

i guess i figured i'd drive myself, get a ride from a colleague friend, or catch a cab. my office is about 5-10 minutes from the hospital, depending on traffic, and at least the first time around it was mainly work when i was not with my husband towards the end. i was too damn tired and irritable to do other stuff.

[kelle017]

We live about 30 minutes from the hospital (without traffic). If dh is at work and I'm home, I'll either wait for him to get home or call my parents and have them bring me to his work or to the hospital (they live a mile from us).

If that doesn't work out I could call my sister, but she lives 20+ minutes the opposite way, so really it would be easier to wait for dh to get home (he's not completely out of the way to the hospital, just not as convenient as going from our house)

[kristie]

I will drive myself or I will be at work or DH will take me. i think i will end up with an early induction, so the thought of actually going into labor hasn't crossed my mind. ::shrugs:: either way, I will make it there and DH will too.

it isn't really like the movies. Very few people actually have their water break, and especially with first babies. Usually we have them and their family all come rushing in a panic because their water broke, only to be told it wasn't their water. And then they ask what it was, and you just kind of stand there all awkward while you explain how easy it is for a sudden baby movement to force urine out of the bladder at that stage of the pregnancy. Lol

[osulori]

If J and I weren't both at home, I would have called him wherever he was (work for example) and had him come get me, then we would have gotten our bags from home and headed to the hospital.

We live approximately 20 minutes from the hospital I delivered at so the plan was always 1. call OB to get the green light 2. finish packing 3. leave.

After my water broke, I got cleaned up while I called my OB practice's on call line and the OB gave us the green light to head to L&D. I wasn't having contractions yet so we took a sec to grab the last minute hospital bag items (phone chargers, Kindle, etc) and give the dogs a quick kiss before heading to the hospital. We certainly weren't rushed but weren't dicking around either.

[JayhawkGirl]

My water broke at work, though it was very un-movie-like and I went ahead with the lunch we had planned. When I got back my contractions were mild and about 10 min apart. I had a coworker drive me home just in case the contractions escalated. OB said to go on in.

I was prepared to be told I just peed my pants

I met DH at home, changed clothes, let the dogs out and headed on in. Very calm and leisurely, lol. We got to the hospital about 2 hours after my water broke. They had to fire up pitocin about 6 hours after it broke bc my contractions completely stopped when we got to the hospital.

[allibee8]

With my daughter I went into sudden and dangerous labor, but I was at home with my husband thank goodness. I am determined to go full term and have a normal labor this time. If that happens, I'll labor at home as long as possible and it will be a non-issue. BUT, I know it may not. So, I'm only working until 35 weeks, and I have no shame about asking anyone and everyone to drive me to the hospital if I go into labor. My husband will meet me there, and after what happened last time, we will make sure he is within a 45-minute drive from 32 weeks on. When I had my daughter, I was already on hospital bed rest (my early labor had been stopped a week earlier) and my husband made the 40 minute drive to the hospital in 20 minutes. I delivered 10 minutes after he got there :s

[shepoz]

My mom is my backup plan. DH has 3 short trips planned in the next month. My mom lives 15 minutes away so she is on call for when he's out of town. Otherwise, I'll just wait for DH to get me since he works 20 minutes from home.

[countthestars]

My mom was my backup plan but I was home with H when I went into labor. We didn't leave for almost 4 hours so I would have been fine to wait for H if he wasn't home.

[simpsongal]

My in-laws live in the same neighborhood, so I would probably call them.

I'm more concerned about the weather in late January. Not likely to be a problem, but can you imagine if you went into labor during the DC Snow-mageddon winter? We already put our neighbors on notice that they're on if we need 4 wheel drive

[irish]

Last time, my waters broke at 4am so he was home and drove me in, after a quick call to the hospital. No contractions but they wanted to check me out. The next night he got a call at 5am from the hospital to tell him to come in (they had kept me in), but they told him not to rush... Though she was born an hour after he came in.

This time, I'm not sure. I was reading this post last night and it got me thinking this morning in the shower. Obviously we now have dd to think about. And the fact that she may not be in creche that day (we're reducing her from 5 days for the next few months) so who would mind her? DH is off work (more or less) between now and my due date so that shouldn't be an issue. I finish 2wks before (compulsory) so unlikely to be in work. DH will drive me in and we're 20 mins away without traffic, though with traffic it could be an hour!!!

We'll have to talk about this for sure!! (and I should think about packing a bag...)

[2curlydogs]

Jul 27, 2013 21:33:36 GMT -5 littlemisschatty said:

I feel like I need a contingency plan in case I go into labor/water breaks and I am not home with DH.

How did you/do you plan to get to the hospital?
How soon after water breaking or contractions starting did you actually leave?

I figured that we would have plenty of advance notice, given that labor for FTMs usually lasts ~24 hours from the start of early labor thru to delivery (mine lasted 18 from start to finish).  So I didn't worry about this.

I labored at home as long as possible until the contractions were painful enough to make me want to go in (they were 3-4 minutes apart and 60-90 seconds long from the start, so I could not use timing).  I had B roughly 5 hours later.

[sonrisa]

I'm about 30-60 minutes from the hospital (depending on traffic on the golden gate bridge). If labor starts before my scheduled c-section, I'll see if my mom can come over to watch my toddler. I'll either have DH come home and drive us, or I'll drive myself. Failing that, the toddler and I will take a little excursion to the hospital and I hope someone can meet us there. If it's a true emergency, I'll ask a neighbor to take her and take an ambulance, I guess.

[annabear07]

I haven't thought about this too much. We only have one car so I imagine if I'm at work I would cab it home and meet H there. Or if I was really uncomfortable cab it to the hospital. I have been teasing about taking the metro to the hospital though.

Fortunately H works a 7 minute walk from home so I'm the rate limiting step in the process being 45 minutes away at work. Here's hoping I go into labor at home!

[littlemisschatty]

Thanks for all the stories. I will be on maternity leave 10 days before my EDD, so its not likely I will be at work. DH is in sales, so is in a different place every day. But he will stay well within an hour of home for the next few weeks. So I would say that we will most likely be together , but I guess in a true emergency, I would call 911? I would just hate to do that alone

I gotta finish packing my bag too! Its so close now I hope I have everything!

[timorousbeastie]

I'm not due until February, but at this point my plan is to work up until the end. I work about an hour away from home, with the hospital another 20 min. past that, while H works ~30-45 min. from home; if I were to go into labor at work, H would probably beat me home. If by some fluke I had a movie style labor, going from no sign of anything to water breaking and heavy contractions, I do work next door to a hospital, so I could always walk over there instead of trying to make the drive to my preferred hospital, then H could just meet me there. Of course, since I'm due in February, snow could definitely change the plan - if there is a bad storm when I get close to my due date, I'll probably skip work and stay close to home; depending on how things look, maybe even keep H home, too.

[SallySparrow]

I have no idea. I work like, two minutes from the hospital where I'm delivering. DH works five minutes from the hospital. We currently live an hour away from there. I plan to work right up until she decides to come out, so it'll really depend on where I am when my water breaks, if it breaks on its own, blah blah blah.

We have my bag packed and in the car, so regardless of where I am, I'll at least have that. I feel like I should have a better game plan, but I don't.

[ErinExpat]

Here we taxi everywhere, anyway, so that's what we'll do. If I'm out alone or DH is out of the house, I'll probably head home first and have him meet me so we can gather our things. I would also like to labor at home for as long as I can.

[KKD]

Jul 29, 2013 15:43:18 GMT -5 littlemisschatty said:

I gotta finish packing my bag too! Its so close now I hope I have everything!

You and me both, sister! I feel so far behind with that and everything else.

I haven't really had a plan for any of mine, just because it could happen any time. With my first, I had a scheduled induction at 10 days overdue, so I went to work that day, came home, packed the last few things in my bag, and then H and I drove together to check into the hospital the night beforehand. It was all very calm.

My drive to the hospital with my second was the opposite of calm. lol. She was a week overdue, but she came on a Saturday, which made it easier for everyone, including my ILs who were on-call to watch DD1 while we went to the hospital. We actually already had dinner plans with my ILs that evening since it was Easter weekend, and I told H to tell them to come earlier, but I found out much later that he told them to come earlier only if they weren't doing anything. Really?! Meanwhile my contractions were getting worse, so that by the time they came over (at the time we originally expected them!), I was so ready to go. I didn't know it at the time, but I ended up going through transition in the 30-minute car ride. I would NOT have been able to drive myself through that, so I'm glad it all worked out the way it did. She was born less than 30 minutes after we got to the hospital.

This time, I'm a little worried that it will happen even faster. H works near the hospital, so I suppose if I go into labor while he's at work and don't think I'll be able to wait an hour for him to drive home and then drive me to the hospital, I'll call my MIL (who lives nearby and is on-call again to watch the girls) to take me to the hospital and have H meet me there. It'll be much easier if it happens overnight or on a weekend again, but it's not like babies allow for such requests!