Hi Belle,
Where do you stand on taking her with you to the hospital?
DD1 was 26 months when I went into labour with DD2. We moved to a new town towards the end of my pregnancy, so we knew no one who could look after DD1 when the time came. Also she had never spent a night away from me. So we had a friend who was on call for us, but she was 4hrs away. My mil was 4 hours away too. That was it. Hospital was also around 30-45 mins away.
But when the time came, we realised there was no way that either our friend nor mil would make it to our house, so we took DD1 to the hospital with us, she was in the delivery room with us when DD2 was born as well. Well labour was in total an hr and a half, we were at the hospital all of 7minutes before DD2 was born. Actually DH and DD1 almost missed the birth by the time they parked the car, got everything and then came in to find me.
In the end seeing me in labour didnt have a negative effect on her, actually we believe she bonded better with her sister. We did take heaps of toys and snacks and what not. I had pasked her a bag when I packed my hospital bag. I figured she would come with us until someone got to us. So she had everything she needed. After DD2 was born she had her snacks, played with her toys, investigated her sister, then went shopping with DH once the shops opened (she just had to go shopping for a present for her sister).

I know our situation worked out well for us. If labour had been longer then DH planned to take Dd1 for walks when we both needed timeout, play with her and all that stuff. Good luck!

also do you have any friends or other relatives come and stay with you towards the end of your pregnancy?