I am nearly 30 weeks pregnant and I am stressing about who is going to look after my dcs when I enter hospital to give birth.
My dc's are age 11 and 4. I am not so worried about dd1 as she is pretty self sufficient and can let herself back into the house if need be/get herself to school etc. But I am stressed about dc2 (4) who is not yet at school. She attends pre-school every morning currently and is a fussy eater.
I have no extended family - no grandparents/aunties/uncles to leave her with and I am going to have to depend on my neighbours/friends. Although, I trust the three or four people who have agreed to help, I know it is not going to be plain sailing. 3 of the 4 individuals work (maybe only a couple of hours during the day but still have other commitments), have other children etc. and I know this is going to be a big ask. Also although as I said I trust these individuals they are not really part of our daily lives - they don't really understand what dd2 likes/enjoys and all of that...oh I hate the thought of leaving dd2 behind. I am currently in the process of packing spare clothes/toys etc for dd2 plus I will leave a list of what dd likes to eat/what her usual daily routine is (if they are prepared to take her to pre-school which involves a drive, I will also talk to pre-school to see if they can extend her hours to a full day, if need be). It honestly feels like a military operation with all these different contingency plans because there is no one person who can categorically promise to step into the breach. I really want dh to be with me...I am feeling anxious enough about the birthing process but this worry just ramps things up even more. It's crap not having extended family to rely on, though I know I am not alone. I would be prepared to pay for this additional support but it would be the same old...they would not know my dd at all and I just want her to feel cared for. Obviously, I can ask older dd to keep an eye on her but eldest dd is at secondary school and I don't want her to have time off (high achieving grammar school). It's the whole unpredictability of it all...when; if I knew then I could make definite plans. I could create a case for a C-section (past reasons too) but I think this is a bit extreme. Can anyone possibly relate to the above?