Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
WWMND? (BR?)
So H may possibly miss my due date because he's being sent to PRC/ranger school. He was supposed to leave this month but has been getting the runaround from his PA because they think he has anemia.
Anyway, let's say he actually graduates and I go into labor before then. Should I travel 8-9 hours in a car during winter with a newborn to attend his graduation? Or just leave the baby with my mom and go down myself? It would just suck for him to miss the birth (I know it happens all the time) so I thought the next best thing would be to go to his graduation and be like "surprise, here's your new son!" but then I don't know how early you can travel with a newborn.
Thoughts? I know I'm thinking too far ahead but I keep getting told different things about how you shouldn't travel with a newborn until 6 weeks, or others that say it's okay at 2 weeks, etc. So how early would you travel to GA from NC in November if that's ultimately what I end up doing?
Re: WWMND? (BR?)
The most beautiful place on earth to me: Glacier NP
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="D
He doesn't care what I choose to do as long as we're both (baby and I) okay. He wouldn't be mad if I didn't show up or if I just showed up alone.
I second this. Bringing someone else might make the trip stressful for you. You would have someone to sit with the baby in the car while you drive or have another driver so you could rest. This seems like the best option unless you're just planning on it being you and H while you're down there.
Thanks ladies!
We had to make an emergency trip when Isabelle was 3 weeks old because H's dad was very sick. It was a 14 hour drive, we stopped to feed her every 2 hours and she slept the rest of the time.
The only part that was hard was stopping every 2 hours but it is doable.
Will you be breastfeeding? If so, I wouldn't travel without him that early on.
I really think it depends on how you are feeling. I had a c-section so a long road trip would have been torture for me. If you're feeling good and well rested enough to drive that far then I would go for it. But you won't really know that until it actually happens.
If you do go I would just keep baby boy well bundled and in his seat so he's sort of protected from all the people and germs (since he'll be so new at that point). I took J out at around 2 weeks to Target so I'm not one of those people who thinks you need to hibernate in the house until your baby is a certain age.
ETA- I think you and the baby will be fine to drive though
The car ride didn't bother my incision or anything though @ 3 weeks PP.
I would fly. An 8-9 hour drive is going to be more like a 12-15 hour drive with a baby that young. If you are breastfeeding you will need to stop every two hours to feed, and even if you're not you'll need to stop that often for diaper changes and such. At that age, feeds can take up to an hour each.
Flying is so much easier. I flew with DS at four weeks and it was super simple. I could feed him whenever I needed to and I just put him in the Moby to walk through the airport and we were both happy.
Totally agree with this.
There's not way to postpone the school? It just seems like they would want to work around something HUGE like the birth of a first child. Maybe that's just the AF wife in me talking though
I'd take the baby and bring your mom or someone to help you with him on the trip. Maybe that person can watch him while you and hubby have a nice dinner, etc. My babies will be 4 months old on Friday and there's no way I'd spend time away from them. If you plan to breastfeed that would be tough too, unless you had a huge stash of frozen bm by then. I think your H would want you AND him there, no?
I really hope it works out so he can be there for birth. GL and keep us posted!
I hope that this worry is for naught and your DH is home for the delivery.
Call me a horrible wife, but I just wouldn't go. At two weeks I was still sore from labor and stitches, tired from waking up with her at night, and sore, tired and frustrated from breastfeeding and pumping. We took her out to dinner with K's aunt when she was around a week old but to be completely away from home, I just wouldn't do it. Just thinking of all the things you would need to bring with you for the newborn makes me vote no.
K deployed a few days before she was a month old and I moved from NC to IL about a week or so later. The drive was 16 hours but it took 24 after we stopped for feedings, changes, and so on. She slept most of the way, but she also vomited at the end which made for a fun last couple of hours in the car.
GA to NC ain't real winter. LOLOL
In all seriousness, I think you'll have to wait and decide after the baby is born. You won't know what kind of demands your baby will have on your time, how well they do in the car, etc until your baby is actually here and in your arms.
In my experience, you'll probably be able to make the drive. But if you pop a kid with colic or a finicky eater, you might not be able to. Plus, what if you end up with a c section? Those recoveries can take time and the last thing you'll want to do is drive.
Click me, click me!
I'm right in-between Pumpkin and Sgt M.
I think ultimately it is going to depend on how labor, delivery, adjusting, nursing, etc., etc., goes. I was in no way shape or form ready to be sitting in a car for HOURS for at least a month after my delivery. I had a vaginal delivery but my recovery from it lasted way longer than someone who underwent a c/s. Honestly, I think part of it was not getting the rest I needed. I was up trying to entertain our guests (going to aquariums, lunches, dinners, etc) and trying to keep them happy for the first 3 weeks of DD's life. Obviously it doesn't have to be that way, but you just really never know what is going to happen in the L&D room.
Would your DH be flying/driving back with you after the graduation? How long would you stay there? If its just one or two nights, I would honestly ask yourself if its worth all the planning and unknowns. That's a long way to travel with a new baby. How old do you anticipate the baby being during all of this? 2weeks? 6 weeks? 8 weeks? The younger the age, I would be more inclined to just stay home. If he was 6wks+ I might make the trip depending on how well things were going at home.
P.S. an extra 2 cents...if you plan on breastfeeding, just plan on it and do it. Don't already doubt your ability to. Positive thinking, yo!
A friend of mine just took her 2 week old on a plane trip to Alaska (from Connecticut) without incident. However, she had her DH with her both ways and at the other end in Alaska were lots of friends and family.
Personally, I don't think I'd want to chance being in the car for that long with or without the baby since you're probably going to be pretty tired just from having the baby around. I know it sucks, but I'd just wait for him to come home to celebrate both occasions. Take that as you will, I don't have kids.
Now that I think about it, I'm not sure I'd want to take a fresh baby on the plane with me without at least having someone to help me wrangle all the baby shiit.
Just thinking of packing, carrying everything through security and then sticking my fresh born kid on a plane with a bunch of germy mouth breathers? Not to much And I'm not even a germaphobe.
Click me, click me!
Agreed, but then again I'm kind of a germaphobe.
This. We're travelling with the twins in Oct and I opted out of a plane for that very reason, and they'll be 6 months old. Planes are one of the worst places for germies too.
Please do not take your new born on a plane before he gets his first couple rounds of shots. Flying is the germiest way you can travel. You are in a closed off tube of grossness. You would be far better off driving.
The trip will take a little longer, but you can do it. Deffinitely have someone ride with you who can switch off with you if you get tired or need a break. Make frequent stops to feed and change the baby. Take him out of the car and walk around a bit. You can do it. I've done it before.