400 miles at 38 weeks - feasible?

[AlteredCarbon]

Hi everyone, I am currently 36 weeks into my first pregnancy. I am 29 and have been in good health throughout with the only issue being very low blood pressure. I will be spending Christmas at home in Lincolnshire with my family but it has been planned that we will spend new year with DH's family in a house they have hired in a small village in the north of Scotland. I don't want to ruin all their plans but am beginning to wonder how realistic this is.

Am I crazy to be contemplating a 400 mile journey at 38 weeks pregnant? I've heard that first babies are usually late and we plan to travel back home by my due date (which would be another 400 mile drive at 39 weeks) Any advice or experience would be gratefully received.
Thank you

[bakingtins]

Blooming uncomfortable. Do you know where the nearest maternity hospital is? You really can't bank on baby being late - you have to reasonably expect it to arrive any time between 37 and 42 weeks. Take your notes, your hospital bags and the car seat if you decide to go for it.

[swashbucklecheer]

I know i didn't want to go too far from home at that stage with my first. Mind you he did come late but you are still poised for every little twinge being "it".

[momb]

Theoretically anything is possible...but is it actually necessary?
A baby isn't even considered early from 37 weeks. If you insist on going, make sure that you have contact details for local maternity ward.
You don't say how far north so I'm going to guestimate a 7 hour journey from Lincs as the Highland Roads aren't particulalry fast? If that's the case you need to plan your route and the maternity wards along the way at approx 2 hour intervals. Make sure you take a copy of all your notes with you. Bear in mind also that you need to get out of the car at least hourly to stretch your legs.
If you were talking about a dying relative whom you desparately wanted to see then I'd say make provision and do it; if this is just for a family Christmas tbh I'd say skip it this year.

[PotteringAlong]

If you do it make sure you've got your hospital bag, car seat and notes with you, as well as knowing exactly where the nearest hospital is.

I wouldn't have wanted to be in the car for that long.

[AlteredCarbon]

DH's family are really keen for me to go - they're all Scottish and I think they quite like the idea of the baby arriving up there. They keep saying there is a reachable hospital and that brother in law is a doctor so it'll be fine. (Not that I want BIL involved!) I've been putting off making the decision but it's getting closer and I still don't know what to do for the best.

Momb- I hadn't even thought about needing to know where hospitals were en route. I was focused on 'what if' once I got there!

[Sunflower6]

It doesn't seem fair that you are the one that has to travel so late in your pregnancy, the journey won't be very comfortable for you surely.

As posted above can't you skip It this year? What if baby comes early?

[Eminybob]

DS (my first) came at 37+4 completely unexpectedly. Imagine your waters break on the motorway!

[PotteringAlong]

And if they do come early do you really want to do a 7 hour journey home with a newborn baby?

[KatherinaMinola]

Personally I wouldn't - I gave birth at 38 weeks. It will be cold and remote, probably snowbound, and you are really quite likely to go into labour at either 38 or 39 weeks (stuck in a snowbound village, or trapped on a motorway with numerous traffic issues).

Sorry, I know that's a bit negative, but these are all quite likely scenarios. Save it for another year - I'm sure everyone will understand.

[divingoffthebalcony]

No way. I really wouldn't. A journey that long would be really taxing even if you weren't very heavily pregnant. And, realistically, you could go into labour at any moment. First babies aren't always late.

[NeedaDiscoNap]

I was just going to write what Pottering said above - would you want a very long drive home with a newborn if your baby was born when you were away?

I had quite a tricky pregnancy but had a v small bump and I was bloody knackered by around 34-35 weeks. Then my waters went just past the 37 week mark. So if it was me I'd stay at home and put my feet up!

[NeedaDiscoNap]

Mine was a first baby by the way.

[bunchoffives]

I think it would be really silly to attempt it. Imagine if you got stranded on snow blocked roads. They might be alright when you leave but the weather could turn or be bad on the way back. Could be a nightmare and dangerous.

[Pico2]

Newborns aren't meant to spend more than an hour in a car seat (or something like that). It therefore would be impractical to get back. Not to mention uncomfortable if you end up with a CS or substantial stitches.

[Fairyfellowsmasterstroke]

I think it's totally inpractical to make such an unnecessary journey at 38 and 39 weeks of pregnancy.

There's too many variables which other posters have said (weather closing in, discomfort of journey, starting labour on a gridlocked motorway, icy treacherous driving conditions etc etc).

I think OH's family are being a bit selfish expecting you to make the journey - I strongly suggest you politely, but firmly decline.

[bagofsnakes]

Absolutely possible but it really depends on how you feel about it. We had a similar family trip planned when I was 37.5 weeks and, in the end I decided not to go. It would have been a three hour drive to get there and an hour drive to the nearest maternity unit if I went into labour while we were away. In the end I just felt like I really needed to be near home. Everyone was very understanding.

While first babies are most often later, my perfectly healthy DS was born at 39, so it does happen.

[KatherinaMinola]

Yes, actually there's not just yourself (and the baby) to think about - you might be putting yourself in a position where already-taxed emergency services need to get out to you. I remember reading in the paper about a woman who had to be airlifted to hospital during snow season - and this was in a city in the south east!

[Annbag]

First babies aren't always late, they are less 'on time' than later babies and you are term at 37. I'd be more worried about the potential journey back with a newborn. They can't go in a car seat for more than a few hours at first, plus you'll be unlikely to be in a routine with feeding etc and you might not feel great yourself!

[meglet]

Not in a million years. Tell them no and stay at home. They have no business expecting a full-term pregnant mother to travel all that way!

I could hardly breathe when I had to sit crunched up in a car in the last month, 5 mins across town was my limit. And you really don't want to be heading home all that way with a newborn, they shouldn't be stuffed in car seats for very long. I can't imagine a seatbelt over engorged boobs or a CS scar too .

Stay home and hunker down.

[Annbag]

And the first few days / weeks (or months if you're me!) with your first baby are pretty crazy. As much as I love my DHs family, being stuck in a cottage with them in those early newborn weeks would have been awful. Think bleeding a lot, sitting around with boobs out and not wanting to get out of PJs and you'll get the idea!