1 hour trip to hospital, how did you cope? when did you leave?

[*TripleJ*]

we had an hour and 20 mins and we stopped halfway which was ok the second half was the hardest the car ride was only slightly more uncomfortable than the way home i had stiches the bumps were fun not

[Junglemum]

We had an hour trip in. It was really no problem. Actually DH loved using the emergency lane on the freeway during peak hour. lmao.

I was having cx 10 min apart from 2am. At 7 am they were 6 min and i rang the hospital and said "Hi there, this is my second baby, but i was induced for the first and i have kind of forgotten when i'm supposed to come in, do i wait until the cx are 5 min apart and 60 seconds long? It's just that we have an hour drive and peak hour traffic will be starting" After a few Qn's she said "You should definatley come in now, if your water breaks in peak hour traffic the baby may arrive in hurry" So we jumped in the car and headed off. Cx were 4 min apart all the way there but i coped fine.

As it turned out DD2 was posterior and my labour slowed down, i was at hospital for a good 12 hours before i had her! The midwives were so amazing. On the phone i told them i was planning an intervention free birth and didn't want to come in too early, then i again told them when i arrived. They were so supportive and amazing and not once i i feel pressured to sway from my goals. They were nothing but supportive.

So the hour trip in was no biggie, but they did advise coming striaght in once labour was established.

I think often the 'don't go to hospital early or you will end up with intervention' is not always true. If you are clear about your goals and are able to speak your mind then things can work out just fine. Well they did for me anyway. So don't let that worry you!

[DaintreeDream]

Thankyou so much everyone, you have made me feel so much better about the trip. I wasn't completely worried as I plan on leaving for the hospital once I know that I am definatly in labour, would hate to drive all that way for a false alarm!

The trip is also mainly on a quieter freeway, we are going to a country hospital, so there is 10 minutes to the freeway and then under 5 minutes to the hospital at the end of the freeway so it should be on pretty smooth roads, well they feel smooth now anyway!

Rommy'sMummy - We do sound like we are in a similar sitution. I believe this time around we do not have any medical problems to worry about in baby but this will be checked again and confirmed at our ultrasound next week so then I think I will relax and plan a little more, I think this is still hovering in my mind alot. I am definatly going to start meditation/hypnobithing etc once this ultrasound is done and I know everything is fine.

Falguni - I am a bit concerned about arriving to early when I will be on a time frame for a VBAC but I haven't discussed this with the hospital yet, I am back there in 3 weeks and I plan to go through it all then, I think you usually have about 8 hours from arrival, I have no idea if that is enough time or not. It will be summer though and we could always do what RM said and go to a park or for a walk before we actually book into the hospital if I feel we still have a long time to go, at least we will be close by if we need to go in. Oh I really do not have any idea yet. I am sure it will fall into place though.

Thanks again everyone.