VENT: So, who took care of your toddler when . . .

[Erinne]

I've considered hiring a doula primarily to be with dd, but that's because I want her to be there either for the birth or immediately after, depending on her comfort level. The on-call babysitter is a great idea too. A couple of my friends have said they'd watch dd, but they all have their own families too. If you don't have family around that you trust, it is hard. If it's during the day, I'm sure a friend would be happy to do it, but of course you never know. Good luck!

[Teddyandnick]

Don't worry! It will all fall into place. My parents took DS1 when I had DS2. He was a planned c section so I knew exactly when he would be there, so it made planning easy. I had to be at the hospital at 5 am, so we dropped DS1 off the night before so my parents and he wouldn't have to be up super early. My brothers live in the next town over, so if it had been an emergency, one of them could have helped out.

[BESMama]

My mom did, but we have friend backups as well. And the reality has been that once baby is born, DH stays for about an hour and then heads back home to watch over the other kids...it's not like he's at the hospital the entire time I am.

[nursenmom]

My mom is two hours away but she will come down as soon as she can. Hopefully the weather, and length of labor will be cooperative. I'm just hoping we can figure it out when the time comes because there are just too many unknowns at this point. We have a babysitter we might be able to call but she goes to college and is also going to be out of town starting in two days for about a week. Then there is Easter and everyone has different plans. Just praying it all works out and it's very hard to do. I'm very much a planner when it comes to these types of things but you just do what you have to.

[Junipervt]

I had a homebirth, so DD was there. I had a friend (who doesn't have any kids yet) & who also happens to be a doula come hang w/ her.

[Marbie]

We had neighbors/friends from church. We called at 4am and took DS over to sleep at their house for the rest of the night.

[rosefall]

When DD was born, SIL was on the hook to watch DS, but labor progressed quickly, and we had to call a neighbor to fill in while she drove 1.5 hours to get here.

The next time, my ILs were staying with us over Thanksgiving. They were actually just packing to go home when I talked myself into labor at 41w.

[nrsenadenos]

My mother-in-law, though only during actual labor and delivery. DH went home as soon as the baby was born and cleaned up and I stayed in the hospital alone until it was time to go home.

[corinne76]

We dropped dd off with my gma. But gma watched her all day when i worked, so it wasnt unordinary. We dropped her off about 8am. I started contracting in the middle of the night and i was so afraid to wake everyone up if it was false,since i had a csection scheduled in 2 days.turns out ds had his own plans

[ambivalent_amy]

I had a semi-planned induction so we had a friend lined up to take DS1 and then my mom and dad came later that day after DS2 was born and stayed at our house. DH went home at night, though (DS2 was born in the afternoon). This time, same friend will take the boys if needed but my parents are only 90 mins away so should be able to make it in time. Worst case scenario, DH drops me off at the hospital until someone gets there for the boys.