How did you handle visitors after your baby's birth? Did you have a specific set of rules you wanted to follow or did you just kind of go with the flow?
Here's my dilemma...My MIL has made it about a week without doing anything crazy, so I should've known this latest thing was coming. They have a family reunion 6 days after baby is due - June 8th. She informed DH that the ENTIRE family is caravanning through our city on their way to the reunion and that they expect to see the baby, even if I'm in the hospital. She also asked if I'd consider being induced if I go past my due date to ensure that everyone gets to visit with him, and that she won't miss his birth before she goes to the reunion. Oh. em. gee. I will NOT have an induction for funsies and family reunion entertainment! Of course my husband told her it was fine and that his whole family (30+ people) could come see baby wherever and whenever, hospital or home.
Is it ridiculous that I want to hold firm to the rules we originally set? I don't want visitors in the hospital, and I don't want visitors who aren't immediate family (our parents, my sister, and her husband) before he is two weeks old. I realize that we don't see them often, but they have a family reunion twice a year. My husband isn't that close to them, and I've met them all twice. My anxiety about a ton of visitors coming after baby is sky high because one of my sisters died at 12 days old from a virus she caught from either a visitor or the hospital. My parents have never known for sure which, but it makes me incredibly upset thinking about hosting 30 people at our house when our baby is only a few days (or maybe even hours, depending on when he comes) old. I also work in an emergency room where I've seen newborns die of both pertussis and RSV, which adds to my anxiety level. What to do, what to do?