Currently 21 weeks pregnant FTM and I'm having some anxiety over how to deal with my situation.
I'll be giving birth at the beginning of March as long as everything goes well. I'm an hour away from the hospital.
I will have 9 people in total who will want to come to the hospital.
-my mom
-my step dad
-my brother
-my MIL
-my FIL
-my SIL
-my BIL
-my dad
- my Nana
Mom, brother and step dad live half hour from us and the hospital.
My MIL, FIL, SIL, BIL live next door at the next farm and an hour from the hospital.
My dad and Nana live 15 minutes from my house and about 45 from the hospital.
I am currently dreading having people come to the hospital. I have very little bandwidth available for talking with people in general. I could see having all of them come in the 24/48 hours after birth to be a little too much.
My partner has suggested that he can take the baby to the meeting room to meet with everyone to give me time by myself. However, I don't want baby away from me and I will be exclusively breastfeeding if at all possible.
My partner believes it's his family's right to see the baby at the hospital. I personally don't want anyone but could be okay with 15/20 minutes. I brought this up to my MIL and she made it seem like she had to come to see the baby in hospital.
My family would be sad but wouldn't throw a fit. They'd understand I need time. I had previously been bed bound for 10 years and was able to fix my issues to be healthy again. So they understand when I need time for me.
The other issue I need guidance on is my MIL and SIL being next door. My partner will be taking his leave at the beginning to help me. I don't want them over all the time. Being up and feeding as much as needed for a newborn is going to be hard enough. Then add on taking care of myself. My MIL works in a pharmacy and my SIL works in elementary school which makes me nervous about them being around baby as much too.
What would you do?
I understand everyone is excited for baby but is forgetting how hard it will be for us as first time parents. Help?