We are ambitiously planning a road trip when LO is like 10 days old to go stay with my parents in their bigger house where family can come visit/help. We're hoping to stay for the entire length of DH's paternity leave (4 weeks) so we have help and can see our family. We don't have a spare bedroom so will be home alone without any support if we stay in town. My mom is worried LO will need weekly check-ups so our plan is going to be defunct by more than just the logistics of packing up and getting there. How often did you need to bring LO back to the doc at first? I thought maybe just a 2 week visit and then a 6 week one, but I really have no idea.
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Initial visit - 2 days after discharge from hospital (although that may not be necessary if your Ped visits your LO in the hospital). Our LO was jaundiced, so we had multiple visits during the first 2 weeks to take care of that (she needed a special blanket for phototherapy and multiple heel sticks to check her bilirubin levels). After that was cleared up, her routine follow-up was scheduled for 1 month, and then 2 months,again at 4 months, and then 6 months (she is just now 5 months).
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We had a 3 day appointment, then a 2 week, 1 month, and 2 months. Then we also had a few appointments with the LC in between since we had BF issues at the beginning. I had a 6 week post partum appointment as well. I know some people who have had to bring their baby to the doctor more often at the beginning because of jaundice and weight issues as well.
That being said, it is wonderful to have support, and maybe you can talk with her health care provider on what you can do to make this all work. How far away are your parents? Good luck!
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5 days, 12 days and then two months.
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We had a visit a few days after discharge to make sure LO was gaining ok, and another visit a week later to follow up on her weight. After that one (she was about 12 days old then?) we had no visits until her 1 month and then 2 month.
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@lemong: It's a 3.5 hr drive with no LO and no traffic, so hopefully manageable if i can nurse while DH drives and we stop for diaper changes. It's actually a lake house, not their regular house, so we are tempted by the total peace and serenity (and again, help!) up there!
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we went at 5 days and 2 weeks for the kids, even after the ped did hospital checkups. then it wasn't until 2 months. standard appt was 6 weeks for me, but i also had to go in at 5 days because i had bladder issues and came home with a foley.
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@LemonG: I forgot about the pp visits . . . I had one the first week after delivery (I lost a TON of blood), then at 6 weeks, and again at 8 weeks (I was still bleeding at 6 weeks).
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We saw our pediatrician 3 days after LO's birth and then a 1 week, 2, week, and 1 month appointment.
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I have a very amusing image in my head of you trying to nurse while he drives, lol. Tres awkward
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@blackbird: Haha. I said it was ambitious
I probably won't even be able to nurse sitting perfectly still. We'll see..ETA: wait, i mean he'll be in the driver's seat driving. Not like, holding the steering wheel while I"m in the driver's seat! That wouldn't be very safe.
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With my second we did days, one week, 2 week, 4 week, and then 8 week. But she was super tiny and gained weight slowly.
With my third she didn't really lose weight in the hospital at all (my milk came in before we were discharged). So we just did a 2 week and 8 week.
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Thanks everyone! Looks like we won't be able to go up until after the 2 week visit... which would leave us like 10-12 days up there. Hopefully still long enough to make it worth it, but we'll have to see.
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2 weeks and 8 weeks
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3 days old, 1 month, 2 months, next one is at 4 months. I had a pp appt at 6 weeks.
Can you call your ped and see what the schedule will be?
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@mrskc: Yeah it would be helpful if we had one! Gotta get on that..
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3 days, 2 weeks, 1 month
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We saw the pediatrician at 11 days (day after LO discharged from NICU) and then every week for a month to confirm he was gaining weight. The visits slowed down after that.
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We saw (will see) the ped at one week, two weeks, one month, six weeks, and I saw my lactation consultant at three weeks. You never know how things will go postpartum so I'd be hesitant to be so ambitious. LO ended up with thrush necessitating extra appointments for both of us.
Also, I'd never take LO out of her car seat to nurse while the car is moving, too dangerous.
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haha, i figured you'd be in the backseat and just lean over
I think it also depends if your pediatrician has 'rights' or whatever it's called at the place you are delivering. Mine does NOT at the hospital I am delivering at, so I will be seen by a hospital ped when we get discharged, then 2 days later are supposed to see our pediatrician. And then I think we see her again at 2 weeks and 1 month, then 2 months. Then 4 months...
If our ped had rights to work at the hospital I'm delivering in, she wouldn't see him 2 days later like that unless there were issues.
At least, this is what I remember from our phone conversation
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Our visits to the pediatrician were at 5 days, 12 days, a month, and 2 months (and then 4, 6, 9, 12, etc). My postpartum visit was at 6 weeks but I had to go back around 10 to get my Mirena IUD inserted.
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I dont think you will feel up to it at 10 days pp. Are you able to go on your roadtrip when you LO is a little older
we went at 6 days, 2 weeks, 4 weeks , 8 weeks and then every month after that.
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You may not feel up to traveling post partum. Plus it's nice to be near your pediatrician. It's hard to know how much you will need to visit your pediatrician. If your LO has jaundice or low birth weight you will need more appointments. Plus, if you have issues breastfeeding, there are good lactation consultants at your hospital.
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I agree with PP that you may not feel up to going anywhere post partum. We had pediatric visits at 4 days, 14 days and 6 weeks. But she also had to have x-rays at 4 days old and go see a pediatric orthopedic at 10 days old. And the worst part for me was that I could barely sit on anything w/o a pillow because I was so sore after giving birth.
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@JoJoGirl: I haven't had LO yet, but I have to think I'd rather be home for the first couple weeks, help or no help. I'm a total homebody though and being around my family for a couple of weeks, as much as I love them, wouldn't be that relaxing. It might be harder to get into a routine with the traveling and feel 'normal' again.
As far as nursing while in the car, I hope you mean leaning over into the car seat, not taking LO out in a moving vehicle? I know my sister did the leanover successfully once, but it was an emergency and NOT easy. (Well, emergency was they were stuck in traffic and my nephew was losing it, not a true emergency!).I'd think in the beginning that those kind of tricks aren't going to be possible.
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@Foodnerd81: @JoJoGirl: It is definitely possible to nurse in the lean-over position! I did it a lot on a long car trip when LO was about 4 mos, and many, many times after that. But it is...how best to put this...an acquired skill? If you're just starting to BF, I think that it could be very hard to pull off. I don't mean to discourage you, but it might be a good idea to have a backup plan, you know?
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Our visits were/will be: 4 days, 11 days, 1 month, 2 months.
Our LO had jaundice that cleared, but she could have had additional time under the lights had it not cleared up.
I drove to my parents/in laws 2 hours away at 2.5 weeks PP (we're still here now!) and it was definitely a big production because we were in a groove at home and I didn't know how it would go on the move. Luckily, DD is a champ, but you never know if your LO will be fussy, etc and it might be more trouble than its worth. I would play it by ear if possible!
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I think it might be possible to take your trip if you really want to - our LO was around 2 weeks old when Hurricane Sandy hit, so we had to pack up all the baby stuff and leave our apartment, and it worked out fine. Granted, we didn't go 4 hours away, but it was still being away from home with a very little one!
With the pediatrician visits, could you work out an arrangement when you find a pediatrician where you go to a doctor near your parents' place for the few visits you would miss while you're away? Also, that way in case anything comes up, you'll have a doctor where you are.
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2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months.
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You guys all definitely raised a lot of points here that I hadn't thought of
Thank you! And we'll keep you posted!
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You'll probably want to stop to feed your baby, even if you pumped and then bottlefeed them you still wouldn't be able to burp them without taking them out of the carseat, and gas for babies can be pretty painful. We did a 20 hour road trip when my LO was six weeks old and we ended up stopping every three hours for me to nurse her. It wasn't too bad.
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2 days , then an additional weight check 2 days later because he had lost over a lb, 2 week with ped, next appt is in 6 weeks for shots !
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Initial visit (We left on a Saturday so she went first thing Monday Morning), two weeks visit, and then one month visit.
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It's hard to plan for immediately postpartum because you don't know what will happen. Our little guy lost a bit more weight than expected, so he had an appointment the day after discharge (our pediatrician does come to the hospital and see babies, but wanted to monitor his weight), one week after discharge, and then at one month (he'd shown good weight gain by then). My appointment was at 3 weeks to check my recovery and c-section scar.
Thank you! And we'll keep you posted!
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