What to do with DC1 when going into labour??

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DS is 5 (nearly 6) and me and DH are stuck for what to do with him when I go into labour with DC2 in Jan.

So either he will be in school - but what to do with him straight after and that night etc
Or it'll be on the weekend or at night - which causes more problems esp if DS is asleep.

What did others do? (esp as DH family in states and the closest mine is about hour away)

Thanks

We had friends who could have dd who was 2, as long as baby came at a reasonable time ie not before 8am.waters broke at 5am so I had to go to hospital in a taxi and gave birth alone ie no dh at 7.45.
Tbh it was fine....dh was useless at dd's birth so I wasn't too fussed.

We are doing same as we did for DC2 as we are doing this time round for DC3and4.

If at night (with DC2) our neighbours who we get on with very well will just come and fall asleep in spare room and we will phone member of my family who live abput 45mins away to come later at a reasonable time in morning.
If not at night then friends who live very near to come.

good luck

We had a similar predicament and had some generous offers from neighbours to help in an emergency.

In the end we opted for having my Mum to stay. She had to stay for quite some time as I was overdue, but DD needed a familiar face.

Or get a doula who can take you to hospital whilst your DP gets your DC sorted, then he can join you?

My sister got neighbours to look after her DD while her and DH went to hospital and they looked after DD until a friend of theres got there to look after DD (who knew them well)

Surely if it is when your DC is in school they will have a friend that is willing to have them for an hour or two until your family could pick them up?

we had a similar situation though DC1 was only 2.9 back then. DH took me to hospital and walked the corridors with DC1 while I gave birth to DC2 on my own. luckily I was quick (baby cam 30 min after we arrived at the hospital).

also wanted to say that I found it quite liberating to give birth without DH

as your DC is a bit older, does he have any friends from school with whom he could stay?

good luck

Family an hour away in most circumstances is close enough to call as soon as you're sure it's labour and for them to get there in plenty of time. Have them leave straightaway for your house, if you need to get to the hospital sooner ask a friend/neighbour to fill in the short gap.

Thanks everyone.

Okay then it's neighbours then family if night or friend then family if in day, or just waiting for family if time. Thank you all for your help. (DH is definatly not going to miss DC2 birth esp as he wasn't a DS's)

I have a friend who is happy to come to our house if dd is asleep, she will stay for an hour and a half while my mum comes to take over (it'll take mum that long to get here). We did a test run at 33 weeks when my contractions started. My firend arrived in 15 minutes (dd1 was born in 2hours 5 mins so time was important), then my mum took over when she arrived.

They stopped it all and now I'm supposed to be having a cs at 37w so mum is picking dd up 2 days before and bringing her back the day after so she can meet her new sisters (twins). Hopefully it'll go to plan. I felt bad waking my friend up at 1.30am but she said she was willing and I will of course repay the favour if needed.