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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Is it crazy to travel 2 weeks before due date?

36 replies

Pastnowfuture · 20/11/2019 11:21

Hi. This is my first pregnancy and very few of my friends have children so I'm posting on here to see if a general consensus exists.

My family and closest friends live in my home-town which is about a 4 hour drive from where I live now. I'm thinking of travelling up for the long Easter weekend which is exactly 2 weeks before my due date. I've had a really rough start to pregnancy with two months off work and a diagnosis of hypermesis gravidarum. I'm 17 weeks now and things are slowly improving but I'm still weak and tired.

I wouldn't need to drive as my husband would do that and generally I would be relaxing and eating out, although I do hope to visit my favourite beach for a walk along the dunes!

I feel this will be the last opportunity I get go up for a while as it won't be easy with a newborn. It's already tricky as no one has a spare room and we have a dog. Everyone will of course come visit us after the birth but I won't get to see them all at once.

Does this sound like a good idea? Will I be totally exhausted? Is it silly of me to be so far from our hospital/birth centre so close to due date? I know everyone's experience will be different but I would love to hear some opinions.

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notnowmaybelater · 21/11/2019 09:29

I travelled 5 hours to visit my parents for a few days at 36 weeks, and I felt massively homesick! I don't usually get homesick (I actually moved abroad at 28 weeks in my second pregnancy and didn't feel homesick) but I wanted to be in my home at that stage of pregnancy, not my parents. I didn't want to bring my baby home to my parents' house.

I was away for a few days without DH though as I was teaching at the time and it was half term, he was working. Perhaps it would have been less intense in your position.

I wouldn't though, unless you can both afford to (financially and work wise) stay in a hotel in your home town for potentially several weeks if the baby comes early, and are sure you'd be perfectly happy to do so...

Booboostwo · 21/11/2019 09:52

I don't want to freak you out but HG has a habit of returning towards the end. I suffered quite a bit at the start, then things calmed down, but HG returned with a vengeance for the third trimester. With HG a 4 hour car journey could be hell, you won't be able to eat out and the whole thing may be one massive inconvenience.

PlinkPlink · 21/11/2019 09:56

I gave birth 2 weeks before my due date. I was 37+4 I think.

I'd had enough I was 1cm dilated already and the MW was kind enough to give me a sweep which started things off.

Totally up to you but you may end up giving birth in a strange hospital you don't know 😂😂

pissedoff19 · 21/11/2019 09:58

I'd go, just make a plan for if you was to go in labour early and take your birthing bag.

You could be over due and be annoyed you missed out.

Roselilly36 · 21/11/2019 10:00

I wouldn’t attempt it personally, it’s a long journey and it won’t be comfortable for you tbh.

IsabelleSE19 · 21/11/2019 10:05

I went away at 37 + 4 for DH's best friend's wedding. I felt okay in myself so that wasn't a problem. However, early on the morning of the wedding my waters broke and we had to drive back home (about 5 hours) stopping for me to change maternity pads every so often! Luckily I wasn't in proper labour DS took bloody ages to come out in the end but still, not ideal. And if you can't stay in a proper bed that's not going to be comfortable at that stage.

TheCraicDealer · 21/11/2019 10:14

Definitely book the refundable hotel, you might feel up to it- what do you have to lose?

However I wouldn't be making any commitments to yourself or anyone else that you'll definitely make the trip. Easter weekend and a seaside town will likely make it a longer trip with holiday traffic, and four hours is already a long time to be in the car. I had a great pregnancy and worked up until 38w+2, but I still found myself really just wanting to relax (i.e., not go anywhere and flake out at home enjoying the silence) and do the last bits about the house at that point. The CONSTANT peeing/needing to pee really got me down, and my sleep wasn't great because I was getting up four times a night to use the toilet. The two weeks before DD was born at 40w+3 were lovely, just pottering about going to the odd appointment, pregnancy massage and cleaning/tidying the odd bits at my own pace.

noblegiraffe · 21/11/2019 10:30

I did this with my first pregnancy. It all turned out ok, but the journey (went by train to make it more comfortable, access to toilets etc) was awful.

But when I gave birth it was an EMCS. DS was in hospital for a week, and I was in a lot of pain. Thinking back on that, I was an idiot to risk that happening 4 hours from home. How would you feel about a 4 hour journey home with a gaping wound and a newborn who has been very poorly screaming in the back of the car?

Whodoyoutrust · 21/11/2019 13:38

My concern would not be the giving birth at a different hospital but the potential 4 hour journey home with a newborn (stopping every 30 minutes to get them out the carseat plus stops for changing and feeding which won't be on a schedule) and you maybe having stitches or even a c section wound.

I chose not to drive to family at 38 weeks with my first and turned down a wedding the same week due to distance. Good job too as I'd have been taking a 2 day old baby with me!

DC2 was born at 37 weeks, so again a journey at 38 weeks would have been with a newborn.

grisen · 21/11/2019 17:11

To everyone who is saying you might have to give birth at a different hospital. True. Very true. But so did I, and my waters broke at home. We had been a low risk pregnancy throughout and were never even offered the 2nd one even though the one we were told to go to was just a birth centre. The one we had to make our way to was 45 mins away from the original hospital by car and we were asked to make our own way there (over £20 on a taxi or hour and half on bus)
So you might always have to give birth at a different hospital. We only saw the same midwife twice once, and were bounced between going to the birth centre and surgery for appointments from 20 weeks due to not having a midwife.
Also chances are that if you do give birth at a different hospital they’ll boot you out ASAP, and you’ll have to have all your bloods done again. It’s not that bad.

notnowmaybelater · 21/11/2019 17:30

It's more the location being far from home (an 8 hour round trip in the OP) than it just being a different hospital. Bringing the baby home to the wrong house or being a very long away from the baby's father (when you're together and eagerly awaiting the arrival together) are factors rather than the bricks and mortar of a hospital. In the the community midwives never work on the delivery wards as far as I know, so continuity of midwife care is irrelevant to delivery (but can be nicer and more useful in the first ten days or so after the birth).

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