How fast did you have visitors after delivery?

[cleo29]

With C, both of our mom's were there, which I didn't mind at all. We had some friends come over the next couple of days, one of which smuggled in some congratulatory beers for H.

This time, being that K was born on Christmas Eve, we had fewer visitors. H left briefly that night to go to our friend's house to see C (they have an annual Christmas Eve party and my mom was there with C) and then our friends came by on Christmas to see us. It was just strange, like I didn't have a Christmas this year. lol

Honestly, I didn't mind visitors. I was happy to see people, show off the baby, etc. And it's not like people camp out for hours.

[sewf]

I will say, when my little cousin was born, my mom was my aunt's coach (I was 13). We went back and forth between the hospital three nights in a row, and they kept sending my aunt home in the mornings (they didn't know that my the cord was around my cousin's neck and that's what was delaying dilation. My grandma had 10 kids and finally put her foot down with the doctors and said, "I know what labor looks like, and this is it. He needs to be born NOW!")

Anyway, after me spending three nights on hospital waiting room floors and chairs, I was at school when he was actually born. My uncle took me to the hospital immediately to see the baby, and at that point, they had just finished cleaning up my cousin. My aunt was OK with that, kind of as a reward for being so uncomfortable and losing sleep, but I don't think she let anyone else visit at the hospital.

[firedancer49]

My mother came from another state with my sister when I went into labor - they live 2 hours away. My mother stayed in the room with us for most of it, until I needed a c-section. I was ok with that. They made my sister sit in the waiting room (rule of no more than 2 others in the room with us). So after I delivered my mom and sister were right there. Then a few hours later my niece, nephew and brother in law were there - also from 2 hours away. I think my dad came down at that point too. They all left except my mother b/c she wanted my dh to go home and get rest. With my c/s I was not allowed to be left in the room alone with the baby. My mil showed up a few days later as well as aunts and uncles, etc.

[firedancer49]

The only time I was annoyed with visitors was when my neighbor/friend came to visit. She stayed for way too long, I felt like shit and needed to breastfeed. I was too uncomfortable to do it in front of her, and too new at it to say anything to her about leaving or anything. She got up to use the bathroom and I had to mouth to DH to get her the hell out of there. Then even after him hinting to her, it took at least another 20 minutes for her to leave. I was miserable.

[Marle]

DH was the dick who didn't let anyone even my parents visit at the hospital. Parents saw the kid right after delivery but then stayed away for the next 3 days. It was nice to be able to rest but I felt bad for a second. Then I was to busy to even notice.

[partiallysunny]

For delivery is was just H and I, which is what I wanted. After delivery, one friend waiting in the waiting room. That was okay, I knew she was excited, but I felt bad she was just out there waiting.

The next day H's family (mom, dad, sister, niece), my mom and dad, and my best friend visited the hospital for a couple hours. My MIL stayed with us for three days once we were released and my parents visited about four days after the birth.

I think it worked out fine, but I did miss the support from my mother and my H was said his little sister never came to visit.

[livinitup]

Both grandparents are OOT so I refused to insist/deny any plans other than to agree to call when I went into labor. The matrix of possibilities was just too much. When it all happened, I gave birth at 8 pm and my mother/sister arrived the next night at 6pm. They were due earlier but the flight was delayed. It was heaven. That first day with LO and DH, just resting and having our little family. Then fun and hugs and dinner with all of us that night. I was ready for discharge the next day and the ILs flew in and met us at our house with lunch for everyone. Then left. My parents stayed for a few days and were a great help.

I'm really glad I didn't over think it or have expectations. And gratefully, people weren't insane. For once.

[oleswenson]

For our first daughter, right away as we knew she was not going to make it.
For DS, my mom was in until I started to really push, then left the room. She came back and glanced at DS, went home to let our dog out and came back a few hours later. MH's family came the next day. I did not particularly want hospital visitors, as breastfeeding was new to us and I wanted to get that established without prying eyes.
DD2, people came about eight hours later the first day. The second day, a friend came and one of my sisters came. Again, I was perfectly fine not having hospital visitors. DD and I had alone time, could cuddle and get to know one another and nurse without covering up, etc.

[sonrisa]

My parents showed up 24 hours into my labor. (They had gone to dinner, then a movie in SF hoping to hear from us then showed up because they assumed there must be a baby by then). When they found me screaming in pain crumpled in a naked pile on the floor of the delivery room bathroom they went home. We told them when I went into the OR for the c-section and they drove in then. They came into the delivery room after she was born and I was stitched up. My brother and SIL flew in from NYC and surprised us at about midnight after she was born. I can't remember if the in-laws were there day one and day two, or only day two.

Next time, I think we'll have the grandparents take dd out for brunch during the section and then they can all arrive together to meet the baby.

[hi725]

Shane was born just after midnight (12:07) and I had people in my room by 9am and the people kept coming all day long. I was not happy. I'd had an unplanned c-section, was puking my guts up for almost 24 hours, and had blood pressure issues that kept making me black out every time I lifted my head up.

With Ethan, my c-section was only semi-unplanned. He was born at 2:30 in the afternoon and I had no visitors the next day (except my sister who snuck in on her way to work). The ILs were supposed to come, but I vetoed it because I had been up all night puking again. They were not happy, but at that point I did not give a shit.

You really have to do what you think you will be comfortable with. I can tell you that my anxiety levels were through the roof after I'd had both babies and people were overwhelming me. There were multiple occasions with both kids where I found myself pressing my lips together so I didn't scream "PUT THE BABY DOWN AND GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM".

[interro]

Aug 8, 2012 14:02:57 GMT -5 bostonrunnah said:

I just want everyone to leave me alone and I'm not even pregnant yet haha

Me too! I've already told my mom that I probably only want M in the delivery room with me, and I know that is going to be tough for her. She was a maternity/L&D nurse for a long time, and she's awesome at it - many people we know had her as a nurse and would request her when they had their next kid, and I've job shadowed her through a whole delivery to see her first-hand - but as a mom, she can be overbearing and I don't think I want that.

And I really don't even want our parents and M's son to get there right away or be in the waiting room, either - I want a little bit of time before being swarmed. And if E's mother tries to come to the hospital I will not be impressed. E's grandparents can bring him to meet this hypothetical sibling at the hospital thankyouverymuch.

All this assuming I can even get KU whenever we're finally ready.

[eddy]

I am selfish and wanted 24 hrs both tines

[dragonfly08]

With DD #1, nobody was at the hospital. Our first visitors, my parents, arrived about four days after she was born.

With DD #2, my parents and MIL came down. My parents came to hang out with me in L&D for a while, MIL was at my house taking care of #1. Only DH was in the room for the actual birth. My parents came back to see me and meet DD about an hour after she was born, then they headed home (mom came back a week later to stay and help out for a while). MIL and DD#1 came over a couple of hours after my parents left.

[malibu]

I was in labor all day Dec 4th. Had an emergency C early Dec 5th. No one came until around 2 p.m. on the 5th, thank God, since I hadn't slept since Friday the 3rd. Although everyone (my parents, H's parents, H's sister and husband, and my friend and her husband) all came at the same time. I was just about to try to eat lunch, felt like puking (thanks to not tolerating morphine, as it turns out), and the nurse decided that was just the time to try to get me up and walk around.

I vaguely remember my H asking me if I wanted him to call my parents when she was born and he and DD were going back to the room while I was getting stitched up. I said no, she's sleeping. He called HIS parents, told them she was born, and my MIL later called my parents and basically announced it to them, not realizing I hadn't talked to them. My mom didn't even know I'd had a C, LOL. I fell asleep after I got back to my room and kept thinking it was 5 in the morning (it was more like 8, and my mom had been up all night waiting for the news, haha).

[amberlyrose]

My family must be really overbearing because I was there within 24 hours of each of my cousins' births. When one was flown out of town for complications, we were on the road within 3 hours of the birth. I was.. 14? haha. You guys would kill my mom and my aunts!
Please imagine 10-15 nieces and nephews sitting in the waiting room waiting for their turn to see the new baby.

I live OOT from my family, so my hypothetical perfectly planned first child will have my mom and H in the room during delivery, my dad and two siblings waiting outside, and SIL and Aunt-IL coming within the day. It will more likely be my mom flying in a couple weeks before the due date and the rest of them driving up when I'm in labor.
Unfortunately, we probably have to tell FIL that I'm having a kid, so he'll be around at some point too.

[daisyheadmaizie]

It was just DH and I for the delivery. My sisters (they were 12 and14) and their dad were in the waiting room. They saw DD right away, and we're able to help DH give her a bath and such. I was in surgery for almost two hours after she was born, and then recovery for several more. They stopped by briefly once i got into my room, but i was too groggy to handle visitors. After, that we sent out arrival texts/etc and requested no visitors until the next afternoon after I had showered. We had a steady stream of visitors from that point on. I enjoyed the company and being able to show off baby, plus I was there for 5 days so it helped pass the time.

[Deleted]

I didn't phone anyone until after I had already given birth, so no one even knew I was in labour. We called my mom probably an hour after Sofia was born, and she was at the hospital within half an hour. My IL's came about an hour or two after that.

[eb777888]

I was really weird when I was pregnant. MIL is very overbearing and has boundary issues when it comes to the grandkids and I didn't want her near the delivery room. (I later found out from H's brother's wife that MIL barged into the delivery room when she had her first baby, demanding to see her grandchild. She's a bit more timid that me, I would have told her to GTFO).

I was induced and didn't say anything to our families until after S was born. My family lives out of state so it's a none-issue but I knew my IL's would be all up in our shit and I just wanted a couple of hours to breath. IL's ended up coming right when we called them (he was born at 8pm), friends and other IL's showed up the next day.

[cbwm1]

My parents and MIL and SFIL were at the hospital for a majority of the 18 hours I was in labor and stayed until after my c/s.

MIL used to be a L&D nurse and while she drives me batty normally, she was unbelievably helpful that day.

After that, my parents came every day (they were staying at our house taking care of our cats), FIL and SMIL came the day after he was born, MIL and her BFF came one night, DH's cousin and his wife came one evening, and then some good friends of ours came one morning. So, not too many visitors.

I would have loved tons more. lol

[maggiemoo]

I was induced twice. For the first kid, my parents hung around
the room until I told them to go get lunch. I hope I was nice about it.My mom kept saying
I was holding my breath and seemed in pain. I took a nap after
some very nice meds so I didn't mind the company after that.
Once it was time for the epidural, I didn't see them until about an
hour after delivery. IL's and my sister came by next day and stayed
about an hour. No visitors to the house for a week.

Second kid, my parents were on babysitting duty. They brought DS1
in to visit. They spent the rest of the time in the waiting room with
MIL, FIL, SIL, and SIL's kids. They visited shortly after the birth.

I didn't mind the visits. They were short. I was also starving. My
parents brought us awesome takeout.

[regencygirl]

We told our families not to come. My IL's listened, mine did not. I had to have an emergency c-section (something happened to the cord, at that point I had been in labor for 26 hours, was tired and didn't care what happened as long as the baby came out and was fine and I could sleep.) I was so drugged up after the surgery, I have dim memories of my grandparents and father coming into my room. The IL's came the next day, and I wound up kicking everyone out of the room at one point because I was in a lot of pain and was so overwhelmed, I couldn't think about anything except how much I wanted to cry. When we have another kid, we've DH and I have already said no one can come near us until we call them and tell them to come.

[candreco]

We made it very clear early on that DH was the only extra person in the delivery room, and that we didn't want people hanging out in the waiting room. My parents are local, so we let them know that we were heading to the hospital, and that we would call when I was for sure staying, and then when DD was born. We didn't call DH's parents until I was officially admitted, since they were three hours away and we wanted to encourage them not to drive up right away.

My parents did come visit that evening, about two hours after DD was born. By then I was cleaned up and about to be moved up to the maternity floor. DH's mom and sister came the next morning, of course when DH was out of the room for five minutes and I was nursing. The four of them all visited a couple more times while we were there, but it wasn't a revolving door.

[messykitchen]

I had party time births. With my son I had my sons father, MY father, my two lesbian grandmothers, a whole slew of dr.s and nurses, and god knows who else. The whole world was staring at my vag. With kid number two (who I put up for adoption) I had MY dad again, her adoptive parents, my boyfriend, and another slew of dr's and nurses (I guess I was a teaching moment). If I do it again, my dr, and my child's father only. MY DAD HAS SEEN ENOUGH. They were both high risk births and I understand him being there for number 1 (my mother died 4 days beforehand and he was stressed) but the second one, eh. We are close, but not that close! After each one though, I had almost no visitors after.

[peekay]

My parents and inlaws were in the room within 20 minutes of birth. We had a bunch of siblings and cousins come in a few hours later, everyone else waited until we came home from the hospital. I thought I wouldn't want anyone at the hospital, but it was kind of fun to have everyone there. I was so excited and felt so great after delivery that it was super fun to show off my new baby.

[Deleted]

We don't have any kids yet, but when we do I don't plan on telling anyone until after the baby has been born. I have a feeling I will have no interest in having anyone but H all up in my space. Hell, I might never tell my ILs. I don't even want to tell them when I get pregnant.

[chickenlittle]

My mom was there for the birth, but she left right afterwards. The in laws wanted to be there within the hour, and I said I needed a couple hours, which wasn't nearly enough. MIL was taking effing pictures and telling me to smile and pose while my asshole was still contracting and blood was gushing out of me. Yeah, those are some pictures I cherish.

I think I got about 4 hours of sleep total for the 5 days we were in the hospital. Next time, it will be me and DH. That's it.

[peachykate]

I didn't want anyone there until after he was born but my MIL and two of our friends showed up even before I went in for the c-section. I was so frigging pissed that MIL showed up, she just wanted to get in there before my parents did. My friend was working at the hospital and DH's best friend kept us occupied during the delays so he was a life saver.

Once I got up to the room and they brought up Jackson I ended up so drugged that I passed out. I woke up and everyone was gone but my sister and she had Jax. It all worked out and no one came to visit the rest of the time we were there.

[broc]

Joaquin was born at 4am. SIL showed up ready to see the kid the minute visiting hours began, at 10am. H had stepped out for some reason, so I got to explain to her through my morphine pump & residual anesthesia that Joaquin was in the nicu, and no we couldn't go see her. H's BFF from HS showed up around noon with flowers for me though, and it was the most touching gesture I got through the whole thing. We got a couple visitors around noon the next day too, and we had our traditional christmas champagne toast withthem. My mom came in 5 days after the fact, and FIL and MIL came back 6 days after.

I totally ditto that christmas eve is the best time to have a kid if you want to be left the hell alone.