is this crazy - 36 weeks and wedding in France?

[rowtunda]

I really really want to go to this wedding in France but I'll be 36 weeks pregnant. It is DC number 2 and DS came at 38 weeks.

We would be getting the channel tunnel there and back - approx 6 hrs from London via train and a taxi from the station, staying 2 nights in a cottage with friends and then train home. We live in London. DS would stay at home to be looked after by grandparents (if we can convince them it is a good idea!).

I can get travel insurance - checked with the post office. Would I be crazy? I know with DS I felt pretty large at 36 weeks but then I'm thinking a couple of days away relaxing with friends may be just want I need.

Of course there is also the slight issue of this one been earlier than DS - which could be interesting, but then he could be late as well.

Any opinions?

[HPsauceonbaconbuttiesmmm]

Depends an awful lot on how good your French is/whether you are happy to have emergency care delivered by a team you can't understand.

The French healthcare system is excellent and no doubt you'd get good care. But you have no idea yet how you will feel by then, unless its soon. I'm on dc2, 39 weeks, and have had horrid spd from 26 weeks. Didn't have anything like that with dc1. Also, as you know there's no chance to rest with a toddler in the house. No way I could have done the trip at 36 weeks.

Could you see how you feel and go closer to the time? Do make sure your insurance covers you and the baby in case of scbu, the E111 is just basic afaik. Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy.

[HPsauceonbaconbuttiesmmm]

Sorry, that choose closer to the time...

[holidaysdistantmemory]

Yes, would be a bit crazy. My dc2 came in 20 mins and before due date. Depends how chilled you are tho, if you are happy to take baby carrier, car seat, Moses basket and all the other baby junk, and don't care about having it in an unknown hospital, and the possibility of staying there if the baby is kept in for longer for whatever reason (and your dc1 could be accomodated) then maybe! Fwit my consultant just made me cancel our summer holiday in England when I will be 38 weeks. Gutted, but that's life! X

[RightUpMyRue]

I wouldn't do it and say that still PG with DC2 at 40+2.

Not worth the risks to me.

[WildeRumpus]

aw, I'm sorry to say that I wouldn't do it.

I am 34 weeks atm with DC2 and am lucky enough to have avoided any serious ailments (like SPD) so far but am sooooo knackered, my bump is HUGE, my ankles, wrists and face have ballooned and I just feel soooooooooooooooooo pregnant. I have to go 1.5 hours away on the train for work at 36 weeks and am dreading being that far away from home!

We had a housewarming party at ours two weeks ago and honestly it just wiped me out (it was fun but I did want everyone to go at about 10.30 ) I can't say what you will be like at this stage but if you want advice/experience I have to say that I would be grateful not to have to go.

All the best with your decision!

[rowtunda]

oh no your all so right and sensible - is there nobody crazy out there to tell me to do it?

I don't speak more than GCSE french (which was 20 yrs ago). I hadn't considering all the baby paraphernalia I would need if baby was actually born out there.

holiday - 20 mins is quick, how long was your labour for your first? My DS was only 7hrs labour so I am also a little anxious about it being a quicker second time round and being on a train

Sods law if I don't go I'll be two weeks overdue though!

[WildeRumpus]

row it isn't even just about if the baby comes early. You might simply feel like seven shades of humongous, hippo-like, braxton hicks-ing, heartburny, insomniac shit In which case staying home isn't being sensible (am not normally considered a sensible person btw!) it just is.

Atm my idea of a holiday/great time is simply for DS to be out of the house while I am in it, on my settee, with the remote, with the chance of a snooze. That is heaven! And as I said, I am not really suffering that badly at all, am just a very pregnant person, (working all the way to term, still travelling around and looking after DS full time).

That said you are your own person :) If you really want to go, go! :)

[Notmyidea]

depends...I'm 38 weeks now and tomorrow I'm going to be driving 2 hours to dump my 2 preteens at a pgl activity holiday I've impulse-booked at the last minute so I can get some peace and they can do something other than gawp at the telly and scoff Easter Eggs. I can see the attraction of a break from your ds, and being away with your partner having fun and being looked after, even if you did slope off to bed early.
I think you need to choose your insurance carefully, but go for it:D

[holidaysdistantmemory]

Op, first labour was 6 hours! Good luck! Its all very well me preaching, I took dc1 to a wedding which was a 7 hour drive each way when he was under 2 weeks old because the wedding was very fancy and I wanted champagne! Despite everyone telling me it was a bad idea. Seemed a good idea at the time until he went lifeless and limp on drive home and we thought we had killed him and was it worth it for a party...

[fanjobiscuits]

I would check what your insurance covers very carefully. Just because it covers you when pregnant doesn't mean it covers costs if you give birth - or medical treatment for the baby if it is born.

[tattychicken]

I live in the SE and drove with DH to a wedding in Aberdeen when I was 38+6. It was fine. We took it slowly, had plenty of stops for me to stretch my legs, got there early so there was no rush etc. Also, when we received the invitation, we made it clear to the (lovely!) bride and groom that while we were planning to attend, it very much depended on how I was feeling at the time, so no guarantees of being there and may cancel right up to the last minute. They were fine with this, and we have lovely memories of dancing together with my mahoosive bump! DD was 10 days overdue as it turned out...