Reply to How to find childcare for birth when you have no family or friends nearby?

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[quote=Anonymous]I haven’t read all the replies but this was hands-down the biggest stress in my 2nd pregnancy. We live in CA now (used to be in DC); my mom was unwilling to fly out and my MiL could only get a few says off so couldn’t just fly out and wait with us.

When I delivered my first I was badly mishandled and knew I absolutely needed my husband there. My first also came quickly and a month early so I couldn’t predict when I’d need help. The only on-call babysitters I could find said they could be to me within 4 hours.

Various friends offered to pick DD #1 up from daycare, have her sleep at their house etc. I told my minister this was a stress and she ended up handing me a list of names of women who would be happy to host my DD a few weeks before I was due. I wish I’d known about that list sooner. So, I knew I had that option, but preferred DD to be at home.

Our then 15 year old babysitter (who I originally found on NextDoor also) - who lived two doors down - said she’d cone spend the night / skip school when I went into labor. I was skeptical but her parents said they were okay with this plan.

Ultimately, on the app “NextDoor”’I saw someone advertising that their nanny was leaving their family (they didn’t need her anymore because the mom decided to be a stay at home mom) in early Feb. and she was looking for a new job. I was due on Valentine’s Day. I asked if the nanny would be interested in being “on call”. The other lady agreed to keep the nanny until after I delivered  and understood the nanny might have to cancel on her last minute when I went into labor.

The nanny, my neighbor, and the 15 year old sitter all had each other’s info. If I went into labor during the day the neighbor with a kid my kid’s age would keep her to end of school day, if the evening the 15 year old would watch her until the nanny got off work and if night the nanny would be my first call.

It all worked out amazingly well in the end. I tucked my then 4 yr old in about 8:30 pm a week before my due date. Water broke immediately after so I was able to tell her what was happening. Nanny was at our house by 9 pm or so and stayed the two days I was in ths hospital which gave us time to line up other care. The 2nd birth was handled much better and I wasn’t as physically sick either. (The bloodloss from my first left me really dizzy and nauseated for the first few days). It was easy to be in the hospital alone after DD #2 was born.

The nanny stayed two overnights and one full day. I think we paid $25 / hr by day and $15 / hr when DD was sleeping. It was pricey but worth every penny

I realize this is luck / hard to duplicate but I’d (a) ask at a religious community if you have one (b) advertise at the local colleges and (c) try to join neighborhood apps / see if anyone is between jobs. 
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