Long distance baby shower?

Question

Hey all! I want to get some thoughts on having a baby shower (or not) when you live far away from family/friends. My husband and I live in NC and my family and college friends are in NH/MA. My mom is really adamant about throwing me a shower, but I have mixed feelings. 1) I'd have to fly there (or sit in a car for 16 hours.) so it would have to be before Sept and my mom has narrowed it to two weekends that month. I'm not sure I'll be able to request the time off work to take a trip and... 2) I'd have to take time off work and cut into the paid time off I will have saved up for maternity leave. 3) Gifts - I'd have to bring them back on a plane or ship them after the fact OR have people ship them instead of bringing them to the shower. Any thoughts?

Answer

I'm in Alaska and all friends and family are in Texas :/ bit of a distance lol I'm doing an online baby shower for everyone to just go to our registry

Answer

I'm actually traveling for my shower (although not the distance you would have to) but I really want to have one. It's my first pregnancy and we are expecting twins. The travel and getting everything back is going to be a hassle but I know my husbands family is over the moon so I want to share this with them.

I think the virtual shower might be a good option so you don't have to miss work but still gain the experience.  And I'm sure you'll get a lot of useful stuff too!

Best of luck!

Answer

I am in the same boat and unsure. Somewhat related: for my bridal shower I attended in person but was adamant about people mailing gifts to my home only. I took photos opening each gift and brought the print outs with me to the shower (and mailed them to gifter in my thank you cards). It worked pretty well.

Answer

I live in MN and my family is all in NY. I am due Oct 11th and will travel back for my shower which is July 24th. Not sure if I'm flying or driving, but either way it will be an expense for sure. This is my first, and I really want to experience having s shower. My sister was pregnant with her twins 2 years ago and physically couldn't make the trip back for a shower. Instead, she had a "virtual" shower. My mom had everyone over her house and they put my sister on Skype. A lot of people actually sent their gifts to my sister in MN so she could open them during the shower while everyone was there. I know if sounds funny, but it actually worked out great and everyone had a good time!