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No advice as I'm not leaving a lo but hugs!

it will be okay!

Can your DH start taking over some nights for bedtime?

Have you started talking to LO about what will happen when the new baby comes (in particular, that you will go to the hospital but you'll be back, etc)? Maybe you can hype it up as a really fun one-time thing. I know for the most part you want LO's routine to be the same, but you could spin it so it's a treat (getting to hang with your DH's cousin, maybe watch a favorite movie, bake cookies, etc)

I did have my husband go home to help put LO1 to bed the night LO2 was born (at my mom's house nearby), but he did come back to the hospital after she went down. Then he went again to greet her the next morning.

We talked a lot about what was going on. Mommy was going to the hospital to have the baby and Mommy and Baby will need to stay there for a few days. Our hospital is across from her pediatrician and we pointed it out every time we went past. We talked about what would happen while I was gone. Auntie will come stay with you. She will needs lots of help, remind her how to get to daycare and what to do at bedtime. We tried to put LO in charge - or at least feel like she was in charge.

Honestly, it sucked. LO lost her stuff at bedtime and couldn't be consoled. DH went home to comfort/calm her and then returned to the hospital to stay with me. The second night DH stayed at home. We live very close to the hospital so him running home wasn't a huge deal, but it wasn't part of our "plan".

But we all survived and I don't think any of us are wounded from it. It's a short blip in your lives and it could go perfect or horrible but it's very temporary.

I was totally the same, it was the number one stressor for me for months. I stay home and DD had literally never been away from me (apart from a few outings with DH) and we had never left her with anyone else, ever. I also lie down with her to go to sleep so we were really anxious.
In the end I had a scheduled c-section so that helped us plan, although it ended up being two days because we were bumped from the first slot to four days later. DD went to a good friend's house, who she loves like family. I knew they would take good care of her and as soon as we arrived to drop her off she ran off giggling with her BFF and didn't give us a second glance. That helped me so much, and my friend sent me texts through the day telling me what they were up to and how much fun they had. She was an amazing support, we were so lucky. I thought I would be crazy anxious but when it came to it I was very calm and reassured. The second day she was more challenging though, and trying to control the situation by not eating. We decided DH would pick her up and take her home so her night time was not disrupted too much. We nearly had to have our friend take her overnight because I struggled with recovery, but decided it was best if DH picked her up and it worked out. I was in hospital for two more days and DH and DD spent the daytime with me and baby brother in hospital. Now that was a ton more stressful than leaving her had been! Toddlers do not like to sit still when there are curtains to hide behind and corridors to run down
It wasn't seamless, DD did develop a scary imaginary friend while I was in hospital, and she did play up for DH, and was sad to leave me every night, but we all coped. They called me every night at bedtime too.
Oh and we didn't talk to her about it too much beforehand, a few days before my due date I mentioned to her what would happen. The morning of, we talked about it and hyped up the fun aspect a lot.

I had a lot of the same fears, but it ended up that I went into labor at 4:30am. We just woke up DD and brought her to the hospital with us and then my parents took her from there to get breakfast and take a nap a few hours later. She came back as soon as she was up from her nap and stayed home with DH that following night.

We were living with my folks when E came along. My parents were familiar with N's routine. Since E decided to come early DH and I just went to the hospital. We thought I was just going to monitored and released on bed rest. Once we knew that it wasn't happening my parents put N to sleep and came up shortly before E arrived. I labored with DH, my parents, and N. It was such a great moment to have everyone there.
I should have started this by saying I have always done wake ups and bed time routines. N did fine, was it perfect nope. Did he survive? Did my parents survive? Yep. N is better adjusted now to be away from me for short times. My parents got extra bonding time and they kept N super busy.

The key is keep the toddler busy.

Big hugs momma.

@NovBaby1112: When are you due? I am having a hard time figuring out childcare for my DD as well. She will be a little over 2.5 when I go in for my scheduled C-section. I think my best option is our neighbor and good friend but DD needs to spend more time with them soon. Their daughter is 10 months younger. It's more of like their weekend home in the city so DD doesn't see them much. She had total stranger danger the last time we scheduled a play date so it's not going well at all.