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Flying to be there for a birth??? Help!


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How does one buy a ticket to do this? My dear sister (and her dh) is expecting this winter. Both she and I would like me to be there for the birth.

How in the world do I go about booking a flight so that I can be there? I cannot go out of town forever--I have kids to school!:lol:--but this is important to me. Any advice??

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The only time I've heard about such a thing is an extended trip. You go a couple of weeks before the baby is due and plan to be around for at least a week after.

 

I really don't see any other way. She can give birth anytime between 38 and 41 weeks. If you couldn't leave until she began labor, you would be paying a very hefty airline price.

 

I don't think you have any other clear cut options unless she plans on being induced. Sorry!

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Is this her first baby? I am always overdue, so it would be easy for someone like me to schedule, but if she doesn't have a history yet I would think you'd have to plan for maybe a week before her due date, extending to a week or two after.

 

Yes, a first baby.:001_smile: That's what's am afraid of-- three week trip!:D

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The only time I've heard about such a thing is an extended trip. You go a couple of weeks before the baby is due and plan to be around for at least a week after.

 

I really don't see any other way. She can give birth anytime between 38 and 41 weeks. If you couldn't leave until she began labor, you would be paying a very hefty airline price.

 

I don't think you have any other clear cut options unless she plans on being induced. Sorry!

 

actually, until 42 weeks is normal.

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If you aren't picky there will be a flight. You might not get there for the birth but you would soon after. Open tickets still have to have a seat available and they usually cost a lot more. How far away are they?

 

I'm in South Dakota, and they are in Seattle; not a quick trip, or I would plan to drive, yk? :tongue_smilie::001_smile:

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This has never worked out for me. I planned to be in town for a week before and a week after my sister's due date with her first. Baby came two weeks over due, so I missed him. With my last birth sister came on my due date and stayed for a week, then she had to go home. Baby came the next day, of course, at 8 days over. Same sister just had her second, and I didn 't even try. Good thing because we all expected a late baby and this one came right on the date. I as sad to miss the birth, but I'll see her next month.

 

So, good luck is all I can tell you!

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You just have to make your best guess. I wanted my mom for my births and the time immediately after. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't.

 

With #1, she picked a date 2 weeks before my due date. He was a 35 weeker.

 

With #2, she went 3 weeks before the due date and dd was born 21 hours later (since m-i-l had just had surgery and couldn't keep the other baby, this was very good).

 

#3 made attempts to get out early, so she came 4 weeks early, but could only stay a week. He was born at 38 weeks, well after she left. Having her there to wrangle the toddlers probably helped keep him in longer, though.

 

I had been on bedrest since week 25 with #4 ... my mom came out at 36 weeks (when the bedrest was lifted), and baby didn't come until 39 weeks. My mom had scheduled to stay for a month that time, though, so she still had a week after the baby arrived (by c-section, so I really did need help after).

 

She never got to be there at any of the actual births ... of the two that she was in town for, the first, we had nobody else for our 13 mo old, and for the last one, she was going to come and bring the dc, but then only dh was allowed back when we had to switch plans ... she did manage to time it so that she arrived with the dc just as they were wheeling the baby out of the OR, though.

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it depends how much money being there for less time is worth/possible.....

 

its ~18 hours drive time. there are airports between you. so one approach might be to keep an eye on how full flights are from different ones of those airports, and then try to book a last minute something from one of them, intending to drive to another airport if that is what it takes. (eg. two years ago, i needed to get from los angeles to niagara falls in a hurry. when talking to the airline i said "i can fly into just about anywhere within a day's drive of there.... so try buffalo, try toronto, try hamilton, try rochester... i'm happy to fly into one and out of another if that's what it takes. adding canada into the mix made the difference; there were more seats available into toronto than into anywhere else. so if you have a passport, flying into vancouver bc and then driving might open up way more seats.)

 

or if you know an airline steward/ess who could take you under a "family and friends" standby, that might work, too.

 

good luck!

ann

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