I don't know if I'm being weird/overthinking about this and I'd love to have any opinions or anecdotal experience etc.
Basically due with DC2 in a month or two depending on when he decides to arrive :)
There is almost a 10 year gap from DC1 so I don't massively remember what being in early labour was like except that it went on forever. However, everything I read keeps stressing the importance of being relaxed and able to do what you need to do, etc. I did have a very long early stage last time so I'm not especially worried about a fast labour, though I do hope it will be less than 24 hours this time!
We live abroad and so family childcare for DC1 is tough. However, SIL and BIL have offered and booked flights to come and stay for the week leading up to my due date. I know that in reality we don't even know if the baby is likely to come during this week, but I have consistently measured about 4-7 days ahead of where my LMP dates me and the doctors here don't consider that significant enough to change the due date. So realistically I think that I'm more likely to be due towards the start of that week, making me think that out of all the weeks, it probably is the one I'm most likely to give birth in.
SIL and BIL were planning to stay in a local AirBnB but due to various things it hasn't yet been booked and then recently FIL died and everyone has been strained because of this due to having to pay out for the funeral etc. DH has now decided that SIL and BIL ought to just stay here in our spare room, partly so that it's easier for them to look after DC1 if we need them to, partly because he doesn't want them to pay out more money considering that everyone is short now due to the funeral costs. If they did stay in an AirBnB it's now likely to be more expensive due to the holiday season and also they won't have a car, so it would be a case of DH picking them up or us dropping DS1 off on the way to hospital etc, which he also argues would be stressful for me. So it would be more practical for them to stay here, but I'm hesitating and I don't know if I'm being ridiculous or entitled or whatever it is.
I do get on really well with SIL and BIL but I'm thinking mainly if I want to do things like wander around the house naked, or listen to my music without worrying what others will think, or rock on a birth ball, or shout or do whatever I might need, to be able to do those things without worrying that SIL and BIL will think I'm weird, or laugh or tease me about it later. I don't think I'd worry about DS in the same way - while he probably doesn't particularly want to see me wandering around naked, sometimes he wanders in while I'm lying in bed when it's hot for example and it doesn't really phase him, but it probably would be awkward with the in laws.
OTOH DH (who hasn't experienced labour before) reckons I won't be able to do these things anyway due to DS/disturbing neighbours etc, and that we can always ask SIL and BIL to go out in order to give me some privacy. I also wonder if I'm remembering wrongly and all of these more extreme coping things are much more likely to come into play later on in labour when I'm in hospital anyway, and it might actually be helpful to have people here I can joke around with as it will be distracting. Maybe that's just how it is with second babies - because of course you have to have people around for DC1?
Basically the only way we could guarantee that they won't be here would be to book them into an AirBnB ourselves and DH reckons it isn't worth it just for the slight chance that I might feel less comfortable during early labour, a labour which might not even happen during their stay! I don't know if he's right but I do agree it's a lot of money which we could use for things like him having more time off after the birth or paying for better facilities in hospital (family room) etc.
I don't know. What do you think?