When should husband take leave for r&r if wants to be there for birth?

Question

i am due april 17th. his co already said he will be able to take his 2 week leave around this time. i was just wondering, should he plan on being there a week before the due date or just 2-3 days?

any input would be great! thanks!

Answer 1

cant really tell you, I mean the due date doesn't exactly mean the child will be born a week or so before or after, h**l sometimes kids come even a month before they should (not exactly common) really its a gamble, I would play it by ear as long as you possibly can, your the only one who can tell him when you think the baby will come. the safe way would be to come a week before then in an ideal world he'd have a week with the child. thats probibly the best deal.

Answer 2

That's a difficult one. You can never rely on the due date. I would ask your Dr. what he thinks. He/she probably has the best idea when the baby will arrive. Can you wait till it gets closer to your due date to decide when your hubby should come home ? If so I would wait as long as you could to make the official decision.

Other wise there is the planned Cesarean section . Natural birth is a lot less risky though.

Good luck and congratulations !

Answer 3

2-3 days should be fine. You might Even want to talk to your Dr about a Sechdule C-section that way you know he will be there.  

Answer 4

My advice is at your due date or even a few days after. I know you want him there for the birth but being there right after is great too. What if he gets there 1 week before your due date and you end up having the baby late so it's not until after he's already left. Personally I'd rather have him there when I knew the baby would be already out than have him wait with me in misery hoping the baby would be ready any day now.

You can ask you dr about enducing you on your due date but it depends on the dr and the staffing at that timeframe. Don't try to enduce before your due date because you risk unnecessary problems.

Answer 5

Honestly the problem you run is there is no definite way to determine when you will go into labor unless you are scheduling it.  You could go early or you could go 2 weeks late.  I would suggest talking with your doctor about a scheduled induction which will make the chances of him being there higher.  Unless you are already set to have a c-section for medical reasons I wouldn't suggest you ask for one.  No doctor will do one unless medically necessary as it is major surgery that you and your child run risks with.