Husband coming home at night after c section

[Anonymous]

Basically, will I be ok? We have older kids and have a close friend setup to be with them on night one but the plan is that night two and three, my husband will come home and I will stay at hospital with our newborn. This felt like a good plan but as the date gets closer, I am feeling worried. Our hospital doesn’t have a nursery.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't do it. You'll need someone to get the baby for you when it's crying and nurses are sharing numerous parents. Plus in case of complications... I'd get a grandparent or sitter to come.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically, will I be ok? We have older kids and have a close friend setup to be with them on night one but the plan is that night two and three, my husband will come home and I will stay at hospital with our newborn. This felt like a good plan but as the date gets closer, I am feeling worried. Our hospital doesn’t have a nursery.

Will you be OK? Yes. Of course. You'll get through and both you and baby will be healthy and no worse for it.

Will it be difficult? Yes. Of course. It would be great to have another pair of hands to help you and your baby, in addition to the medical staff.

But you have other obligations/priorities, including other children. Do what feels right. But you would absolutely be fine, particularly if we are not talking about that first night.

[Anonymous]

Someone should be with you overnight at least the first night. You'll have a catheter and will need help with the baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone should be with you overnight at least the first night. You'll have a catheter and will need help with the baby.

Just saw he'll be there night one, good! Do you have a friend or family member who would be able to stay with you after?

[Anonymous]

Will the hospital have a bassinet that can be rolled right up to your bed? If so, it is reasonable manageable to get the baby in and out of bed that 2nd night although you might need to page the nurse or assistant to help you get around the room, if needed. I actually found the time alone with my 2nd son kind of lovely. And it helped my older son emotionally to have Dad at home.

That being said, maybe ask the friend if he or she could be available for one more night, just in case but that if all goes smoothly, your husband will be home. That will ease any anxiety you are experiencing about it as there is some back-up. It's definitely tricky and I remember having a lot of anxiety about how we would juggle it but it all went so smoothly. Congrats and take care!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Will the hospital have a bassinet that can be rolled right up to your bed? If so, it is reasonable manageable to get the baby in and out of bed that 2nd night although you might need to page the nurse or assistant to help you get around the room, if needed. I actually found the time alone with my 2nd son kind of lovely. And it helped my older son emotionally to have Dad at home.

That being said, maybe ask the friend if he or she could be available for one more night, just in case but that if all goes smoothly, your husband will be home. That will ease any anxiety you are experiencing about it as there is some back-up. It's definitely tricky and I remember having a lot of anxiety about how we would juggle it but it all went so smoothly. Congrats and take care!

I agree. When I had my second, the baby was in my room in a bassinet the whole time, and she was relatively easy to lift to me even with the csection. On occasion when I needed help, I just paged a nurse. I really enjoyed the time alone with her and ability to bond. During the day there are so many people in and out of the room between hospital staff and family, that the nights were a nice time to bond.

[Anonymous]

With one of my c sections that would have worked ok )not great) but with the other it would have been a non-starter. Can you plan for that as an option with a back up if your recovery makes that too hard?

[Anonymous]

OMG, you'll be fine. There are nurses to take care of you My husband went home after my second c-section because we have a younger child and no family to help. I was fine. In fact, I slept better after my second c-section without him there than I did after my first.

Let him go home and rest, send the baby to the nursery. Tell the nurse to wake you up when the baby is hungry. If you can't send the baby to the nursery, just make sure you hit the call button as soon as the baby gets fussy so that they can come hand you the baby to nurse. It's not hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone should be with you overnight at least the first night. You'll have a catheter and will need help with the baby.

I wouldn’t assume that. With both of my c-sections the catheter was out and the nurses had me starting to stand up within hours of delivery. Barring complications, OP should be able to manage by herself overnight by the second night.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically, will I be ok? We have older kids and have a close friend setup to be with them on night one but the plan is that night two and three, my husband will come home and I will stay at hospital with our newborn. This felt like a good plan but as the date gets closer, I am feeling worried. Our hospital doesn’t have a nursery.

We have family coming (from across the country but thankfully we’re all vaccinated) to watch our older kids while husband stays with me. I don’t doubt that you *can* do it, but for me it was a combination of wanting as much help/rest/sleep as possible before returning to the chaos of our house...and admittedly some time for husband and I both to have with just our newborn. (One of my favorite memories from the births of our other kids was watching my husband do skin to skin with them and bond with them. Made me love him even more). In other words, if I were you I would ask the friend- or others- for another night or two.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG, you'll be fine. There are nurses to take care of you My husband went home after my second c-section because we have a younger child and no family to help. I was fine. In fact, I slept better after my second c-section without him there than I did after my first.

Let him go home and rest, send the baby to the nursery. Tell the nurse to wake you up when the baby is hungry. If you can't send the baby to the nursery, just make sure you hit the call button as soon as the baby gets fussy so that they can come hand you the baby to nurse. It's not hard.

This. You can manage.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OMG, you'll be fine. There are nurses to take care of you My husband went home after my second c-section because we have a younger child and no family to help. I was fine. In fact, I slept better after my second c-section without him there than I did after my first.

Let him go home and rest, send the baby to the nursery. Tell the nurse to wake you up when the baby is hungry. If you can't send the baby to the nursery, just make sure you hit the call button as soon as the baby gets fussy so that they can come hand you the baby to nurse. It's not hard.

+1 My husband spent the night at home after #2 and #3 and I actually liked it better. The nurses were SO much more helpful than DH! I preferred keeping the baby next to me in the bassinet and called a nurse when baby needed a diaper change or if I wasn’t able to transfer baby for nursing.

[Anonymous]

I would echo definitely need someone for the first night. Also nurses were much more attentive and helpful because they knew I was solo. One even offered to watch baby at nurses station for an hour overnight because no nursery (I declined). DH is not great at middle of night wake ups anyway, so having nurses coming was so much better.

But, have a backup plan in case you are in a really bad recovery.

[Anonymous]

You will be fine! Second set of hands is a luxury not a necessity. My DH had to be home with our other two kids for my last c-section. The nurses are aware of who is solo and will be there to assist with getting the baby out of the bassinet for you. Are you at a hospital with a nursery?