When to tell family?

Question

I’ll be 36 weeks tomorrow and I’m a FTM. My husband and I are trying to decide when to let our families know that I’m in labor and going to the hospital. Maybe it’s the hormones but I’m having a lot of anxiety thinking about going into labor because it’s so unpredictable and I’m a planner! The hospital where I’m delivering gives us 2 hours after the baby is born before allowing visitors back to the room. My thought is, what if I have a really long labor and I’m so exhausted afterwards and not ready for visitors? I know I can say I need more time but I know myself and I know if there’s a waiting room full of people that have been there for hours on end and then they have to wait an additional 2 hours after he’s born, they’re going to be anxious to meet him and I would feel guilty making them wait even longer. I sincerely hope I’m wrong and I hope I want everyone to come back there as soon as possible but I just keep thinking, what if I’m not ready and I want to soak up those first few moments of us becoming a family of 3? 
All of this to say, our current plan is to wait until he is born to let our families know but I know they will be hurt and disappointed that we didn’t tell them sooner. I keep reminding myself that I have to take care of myself and my baby first even if that means others aren’t happy. Have any of you waited until the birth to let your family know? Or did anyone have their family waiting the whole time and it really wasn’t as bad as I’m imagining it to be?

Answer

Could you potentially send out a ‘going into labour, will text again when ready for visitors’ message- and then just keep them updated like ‘baby born but still not quite ready’ ect. 
There’s no harm in not telling them until you’re ready for visitors though! X

Answer

you need to do what's best for you. I honestly don't think waiting until after he's born is a bad idea. you're g on a want that one on one time with your baby before sharing him with everyone else and you're definitely gonna want time to relax. depending on how long or hard your labor goes, you may want to rest before being bombarded with visits and all that extra excitement.

Answer

I’d say to your family “we will message when I’m in labor, but the Hospital has a two hour no visitor policy so we will message when the two hours is up, that way it saves them the trip there just to turned away” 
You might word it better then me.

Answer

I wanted to wait for visitors until after he was born, I was induced though so a few people knew I was going to start induction and before I knew it, I had a waiting room full of people for a day and a half. 😒🙄 It was annoying and very stressful because people are waiting but it’s not like you can make your body go any faster. If you want to wait, I say do it! If I go into labor naturally with this pregnancy, I’ll for sure be waiting.

Answer

tell them it's up in the air at the moment. tell them it depends on how your labor went is when they can see the baby. don't feel guilty about wanting time 2 just your little family. most of the time the hospital will give you time to make sure your baby is fed and skin to skin for mom. I didn't let anyone visit for a few hrs

Answer

Honestly, YOUR new family is all that matters. If you don’t want visitors do it. This your labor and your baby. If they want to be disappointed then shame on them. I had a planned c section and a NICU baby and I didn’t let anyone come see her for over a week even though they were all in the waiting room wanting to visit. I had a traumatic pregnancy, and I wanted to spend time with MY family. As in my husband and my daughter. Don’t feel bad for your wishes.

Answer

I’m not gonna tell anyone I’m in the hospital. I’m gonna announce the birth to everyone at the same time. I don’t want people in the waiting room because I know once the news it out that my son is born, my room will be flooded and I’m not gonna be ready for visitors. I promise after you give birth, you’re going to want to sleep. A lot. And it’s going to be really hard to do so because you have to feed the baby every two hours (newborn stomachs are the size of a quarter). When I had my daughter, I was exhausted. Every time I would finally start falling asleep, the nurse would come in from the nursery with my daughter so I could feed her. Every two hours. Plus my MIL DEMANDED I tell her when I was in labor so she could tell everyone so they could go to the hospital. Between the constant feedings and the unwanted visitors, I didn’t get any sleep until the next day.

Answer

I personally think you should wait until you & your hubby have enough skin to skin & you’ve showered. What’s the rush 🤷🏼‍♀️ take your time & bond as a family first

Answer

So I waited till after she was born to tell family. She was born at 4:46am I told everyone at like 7 and ppl started coming over to see her at 11. It was easier for me that way bc my husband was deployed abs I just needed a minute before everyone came to the hospital

Answer

Honestly, I think we are only going to tell immediate family when we head to the hospital, but inform them that no one is allowed in the room until the baby is here (my mom, my 2 best friends and his parents/step-parents). Once the baby is actually here, we will let everyone else know (social media, etc.).

When to tell family?

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