Just Get Me to the (Hospital) on Time!

[lilmisssunshine]

My husband, bless his heart, is completely terrified of me going into labor and having the responsibility of driving me to the hospital.[img]smileys/smiley5.gif[/img]

This is partly because driving in America still makes him nervous (It's opposite side in Japan) and partly because he HATES if I have a problem (pain) that he can't fix.

The hospital is about 10 miles away and we have to go on the freeway to get there. It's not really that big of a deal to get there, unless we happen to have to go during rush hour. Then we can get stuck in a lot of bad traffic and it might take an hour.

At first, he wanted us to go by ambulance. He was shocked when I told him people don't do that. Every time we get in the car, he points out how he has to wait at the red light, but an ambulance can go right through it. [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img]

His latest idea is that I should "check in" to the hospital a few days before giving birth. Like it's a hotel! Of course, he doesn't seem to comprehend that you never really know when the baby's coming, so I don't know if he wants me to just check in now or what. [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img] Unfortunately, some stupid co-worker told him that this is possible to do, so now he's really into the idea.

Anyone have any good ideas about calming him down? Alternative ways of getting to the hospital? I thought maybe a taxi would be a good idea because then he can sit next to me and hold my hand and not have to worry about driving. But I wonder if the taxi driver will freak out about a woman in labor...

It's all so silly!

Love,
SHannon

[msradar65]

Don't tell him you are in active labor. Just say you want to go and get checked to see if its time. If this is your first it will not go really fast for most.

Then you can arrive early and if they say too early..maybe check into a hotel. and wait close to the hospital

[lilmisssunshine]

LOL

I never even thought of that! D'oh1

Love,
SHannon

[meg27599]

When my sister had her twins, she did a pre registration at the hospital. It was part of the Lamaze class. She filled out all of the paperwork, the hospital got all the insurance info, etc and everyone was calm because no one was in labor. It could be that your husband found out about that and thinks that you can "check in" early. Regardless, you might want to look into finding out if your hospital will allow you to do that. it really did make things easier when she finally did go in. No searching for the insurance cards, etc.

I would suggest that you and DH drive to the hospital a couple of times each weekend. Sortof like dry runs to get him used to the route and more comfortable driving. You have a few weeks left so it can only help.

[lilmisssunshine]

Good idea. I wonder if we can do that.

Hubby works on weekends, but has wed and fri off. This could be a good chance to do a dry run during the rush hour traffic just to see how long it might take.

Course, you feel a lil stupid intentionally going out into rush hour traffic. haha.

Love,
Shannon

[wanthomework]

Haha, men think it's just like on TV when a woman's water breaks and the baby comes out within like 10 minutes [img]smileys/smiley36.gif[/img] Tell him that labor can last for 24 hours...esp. if it's your first so he shouldn't have to rush you to the hospital.

Shannon

[Itsjusmeli]

It's cute that he's so anxious about it!

[tenXmom]

How to say this to make him feel better and not scare you......

I'm pretty sure that with your first you'll have PLENTY of time to drive to the hospital (even in traffic) without your DH (or Fred, the taxi driver) delivering your little guy

If it would make anybody feel better do a couple trial runs -are there different routes depending upon traffic?

I don't suppose hearing about my 12 hour labors (for everybody except #5, 6, & 7) would ease your nerves?

Whatever you do, don't tell him my wife gave birth to my daughter within an hour of going into labor. My daughter was born 18 minutes after we walked into the hospital.

My son took a while longer, something like 3 hours total.

[lilmisssunshine]

You guys are all so funny.

It is cute that he's so nervous about it. And you can tell that when he brings this stuff up, he's been thinking about it all day preparing his argument. [img]smileys/smiley4.gif[/img]

I'm fully aware that labor is probably going to take a long time, especially because it's my first. Unfortunately, the same coworker that told him I could "check in early" at the hospital just had a baby about a week ago--his wife gave birth within 6 minutes of getting to the hospital! And their hospital is much closer.

I'm just not worried about it at all and he is. Of course, to make matters worse, I have the uh...pelvic issue where my pelvic area hurts all the time (can't think of the name right now), so I hobble around when I walk. And the past two days, I've had such bad gas that I've been doubled over in pain, holding on to the wall as I try to get to the toilet. haha. It doesn't bode well.

All this talking about it, though, has made me realize that I really just need to suss out what his real problem is. Is he afraid I'll deliver in the car? Is he afraid because he can't be there to help me get through the contractions if he has to focus on the road? Perhaps the answer to that will bring the real answer to our problem.

Love,
Shannon