Renee - I am in totally the same position as you.. Daniel owns his own company in the underground coal mining industry, which is actually 13 hours away from where we live! He works a 5 days on 5 days off roster and comes home every 5 days. He too is going to take off 4 shifts which works out to be 6weeks, but at the same time i had to explain to him that the baby may not come on her EDD and she may come much earlier than everyone expects! I know that if something does happen and he can't get here in time that it isn't his fault as these things are out of our control - although i too am very scared as i don't have any family or friends here and am petrified at the thought of doing it all by myself.

i'm not sure how you feel about it, but perhaps you could video tape the birth so he can still witness it iykwim? i know it's nothing like first hand experience, but it's better than nothing and him being absolutely clueless about his son/daughter's birth!

How far away is the mine he going to be working? If it's only a few hours, it might not be so bad because you can just call him up at the first sign of labour, and although he might not be there for the initial stages of labour (depending how quick your labour is) atleast he might be there for when your special little package arrives into the world!