I unfortunately don't make a good candidate for a home birth, because of my history with Bailey. That and my insurance (Medicaid) won't pay for it.
Two thumbs up to the homebirth. I just read the above comments. Do you have a midwife?
Use the $86 you would've spent on a bus ticket and get a babysitter. ;-) There are babysitting services that interview and screen sitters and then assign them to you when they are needed.
Otherwise ask your doctor if your children can be there for the delivery. I personally wish mine could've been there. It would've been such a private, intimate experience for us all. Midwives generally allow it though hospitals and doctors do not. Just check and see what you can do.
People here aren't that nice lol. I met one lady here whom I used to work with, and they won't watch the kids for less than 100 bucks, mainly because of Aiden. He is a handful, and doesn't play nicely with other children, so a lot of people won't watch him. That and Aiden does not listen to authority, and he will get into almost everything, whether he knows better.
I mean heck, he is 4 and will wake up at 5am and get into EVERYTHING...I once had makeup and $250 dollars worth of groceries ruined. We have to have locks on the inside of every door and window, because he will go outside. And he is sneaky lol very quiet when he does stuff.
And I can't put a baby gate up in his room because he might need a potty break in the middle of the night, and he shares his room with the other 2 boys. So, I don't know what i'm going to do lol. Maybe I can just ride it out and have a home birth lol.
oh, also if you got to know another mom in your area maybe you could trade baby-sitting, you could watch her kid's for a night out once in a while and she could watch yours when you have the baby and for any appointment you need to go to without the kid's, just a thought!
if he acts like thats, maybe ask him if he's going to take the kid's for Christmas and then kinda hint that you would like to keep them, so he is more likely to want them! your kid's and my kid's are almost the same ages! I have a just turned 7 year old, a 4 year old and a 2 year old! Good luck!
That's a good idea too! But i'm not sure how much they would charge. We are financially stable right now, mainly because DF works and I stay at home with the children, so we don't have to pay for childcare. I can call around and see if anyone would be willing to be on call for a set amount, that we can budget out.
I'm not sure if visitation will stay the same, I have a custody hearing end of this month. I will have to see if they will keep it the same. My ex NEVER takes any extra time with the kids. I offer but he declines. He only takes them when he feels it's going to screw my plans with the boys, or won't take them if he finds out it would be beneficial. I could start asking him if he plans on taking the kids this Christmas. As I plan on asking him to take the children from Dec 20th to Jan 3rd. which is 2 weeks...but I doubt he will.
A thought to use as a back up... On craigslist there are tons of posts from people willing to do last minute childcare. There are also websites that do background checks on sitters like sittercity. You have plenty of time to meet a qualified person, do a background check, etc... in your area. Perhaps you'd like to start building a relationship with a new sitter now with the understanding that she will be on call when the new baby comes? Even if you don't end up needing her, it might be good to have a sitter to rely on at other times.
I wouldn't mind bringing my older son with me to the delivery, and i'm sure even with DF my son will have a lot of support from nurses, my labors are pretty uneventful, and quick. And on top of all that, DF bought my older son a Laptop for Christmas...and push comes to shove, we can keep him entertained for HOURS on that, with kid appropriate games of course! DF is really good at being there and supporting the family as a whole, no matter how stressful things go, so i'm not concerned about the support area for myself or my older son. Of course I will have to talk with my doctor about that, but if I explain my situation, it may be something they will allow.
Now the only issue is if the ex will take the other 2 children. He is court ordered to have Christmas this year with the boys, but if he finds out that having the kids will be beneficial to me, he will likely cancel and make me keep them. And that there, will be an issue, because my younger 2 are handfuls. Aiden who is 4 is Autistic and excitement causes him to have meltdowns and severe tantrums which can last for hours. My youngest who will be 2 in October is always on the go...and if he isn't in the spotlight he too can get pretty pissy.
I'm not on good terms or talking terms with my ex husband. Information is relayed through his father due to a protection order, so I'm a bit nervous that my ex to be an a$$ he won't take the children, which will cause DF to miss out on the birth.
if your son is 6 maybe he will make a few new friends at school when it starts, and then you could make it a priority to get to know that parents nd if you felt comfortable enough maybe he could spend the night over at friends house when you have the baby. As far as having him in the room a lot of hospitals will allow him to be there, but it is usually best if there are atleast 2 other adults there, if a child is there, so one adult can be supporting you and one can explain things to him and take him on bathroom breaks, meal breaks, ect. I am somewhat faced with a similar situation I am 37 weeks pregnant with baby #4 and live in an area where I have no family and don't know anyone yet! my husbands friend and his wife live here, but they both work and their schedules vary, so I can't count on them, I did find a crisis nursery that would take the kid's for free for up to 72 hours when i have the baby, the only problem there is the kid's won't know them, but if need be I can use them! Good luck and hope it works out! oh, and i had my son there when i had his little sister and did not do pain medication, just explained things and made sure he had some to talk with during the whole thing!