With DD1 I stayed 4 days and was climbing the walls by the end of it. Having said that, it took us until day 3 to work up the courage to bath our little girl for the first time so as new parents it was not a bad thing to have a bit longer in hospital. I still remember calling the hospital the first night we were home when DD1 was screaming and almost begging them to let me come back !

With DD2 I was home within hours of her birth. DD1 was barely 12 months old and I was desperate to get home to her, even though she was being brilliantly cared for by my parents. I don't like hospitals, love my own bed and love my own space so going home immediately was the right choice for me that time.

This time I'm still not sure what I will do. This pregnancy has been very hard physically and I'm beyond exhausted. I know I will get lots of support and help at home - DH works from home and my folks live 5 minutes away so I will have people around me to help with school drop offs, pick ups etc. Meals I know Mum will help with. The girls adore my parents and their dad, but DD2 especially is very much a mummy's girl and has no idea that "Mummy's sleeping so leave her alone for a while" applies to her. My concern is that I'll go straight from the tired state I'm in now straight into looking after the house (because I can't help myself, especially given I know we'll have visitors to meet the new baby), looking after my "big" girls, and looking after a newborn.

I had PND after DD2 was born, so I am very conscious of this time around getting as much sleep/rest as I can and making life as stress-free as possible. Whether the answer to achieving that is staying in hospital or coming home quickly is still unclear to me. Hopefully when #3 is born I'll have strong feelings one way or the other.