Ride and take your mobile phone they’ll be loads of time from the twinges to get to hospital, they don’t just fall out.

I was out riding at Woburn freeride/play park when my wife phoned to tell me her waters had broken. Luckily I was at the top of the hill, so got one last run down.

My experiences:

Agree with whatever she says and tells you to do otherwise she will call 999 and say ‘he didn’t do what I told him to do’. 😐

and..
I stopped riding when the sleep deprivation kicked in. I’m still struggling 19months on with lack of concentration and any energy on the bike.

Three weeks before my first child was due i was racing DH 3 hours away and staying for the weekend. Over the bars in practice resulted in a smashed collarbone. The wife had to get a lift down to pick her broken husbund up and drive back our extra long wheelbase sprinter camper back. Not impressed to say the least!!!

I think biking is ok. More importantly, when do you stop drinking?

~4 weeks before due date seems sensible to me, it’s not so much that you need to be able to drive, although you do of course, but the fact that you’ll need to stay awake and alert at the drop of a hat (or breaking of waters); this period of required awake/alertness will last from now until you die from all accounts, so probably best to give up the booze all together…

As my missus doesn’t drive I’m required to be sober most of the time anyway, thus the brutal reality of my existance is constantly and inescapably pushed in my face all of the time with no real means to drown it out, I cried myself to sleep last night, and was of course promptly woken up by a toddler who wanted a cuddle/drink/story at 2am…

Out of interest those with 2+ sproglets how significantly did this impact your free time/ability to get out on the bike?

Have none of you heard of contraception? 😉 Congratulations, and good luck with impending babies STWers!

Why can’t you drink?

If your wife goes into labour at 3am do you think you tired, stressed and distracted should be on the road?

Taxi or even calling an Ambulance.

Talking from experience but mrshora went into labour at this time, I drove her calmly to hospital. Her waters broke there. They then sent us home and said ‘come back in a few hours’.

So we did, again me knackered. This time I insisted she stayed as they wanted to send us home again. They relented. I was knackered and even though the roads were deserted I wasn’t concentrating at all and jumped quiet red lights etc.

All the time ladies where wheeled in by Ambulance drivers.

With hindsight I don’t think I’d have driven in. It only happens once and for the nay sayers – sorry.

Cookeaa – we have two. I’ve found it really cuts into bike time. We both work so are always tired at the weekend and I feel guilty disappearing off for a couple of hours. I do get out but it’s much more tricky. Sleep deprivation is a killer though!

Not read all of this but having had two children, my advice is as follows:

Keep riding, but don’t go too far from home and make sure you can hear your mobile.

Birth of each child was by far the best two moments of my life, the joy of it almost brings me to tears when ever I think about it and believe me when I say, it is really something that you do not want to miss – both from your own point of view and being there to support your other half.

The guilt yes. I clockwatch and worry when I’m out on the bike that I’m a bad dad. Never been told this, I just feel it.

A friend of mine has two however once a week he has a rule- he has a few hours riding guaranteed as his ‘me’ time.

i woke up on 20th October 2010 ready to pack my bike in the car as i was doing so my girlfriends daughter ran down stairs and said Mummy has wet the bed………..yes her waters had gone exactly 15 days before her due date – 3 hours later I was a proud father. Hence to say my riding had ended for a few weeks.

Personally I wouldn’t really be more than an hour away if she is this close to her due date.

On a different note our bedroom smelt of almonds!

I think you should post this on mumsnet for a more balanced view 🙂

I was away riding 400 miles away 4 weeks before number 1 son was due.

Get out and ride. Maybe not 6 hours from nearest road and out of mobile range, but get out.

I get the guilt a bit when I’m out riding but then she get’s plenty of “Her time” and TBH 60% of my pre-planned “Daddys time” seems get overturned based on plans I had no part in making but appear to be affected by…

Hora – are you saying you’d just call a taxi so you can Booze right up to the due date?

We had a similarly tiring experience and there’s no way I’d have let anyone else drive us to the hospital. Staying off the booze is just a good general measure to be certain you are of more use to her in the delivery suite…

I was in the Basque country six weeks before and Verbier four weeks before the birth of my daughter. My wife is AWESOME! I can’t believe she was so cool about it but then she is a very special lady who rides too. I’d tend to stay reasonably close to home if I were you in the last couple of weeks. It took an age from the initial first stages to the wee one appearing so having parents / friends close by if you are out and about is a good back up plan.

Like Jedi, I went for a ride the day the wee one made her big entrance.

Jedi

When are you next up north? It’s been too long! We needs to ride and go for a curry!!!! B

My missus is due in 10 weeks with our first and all is going fine so far.

I think that my riding will just become local evening rides in the near future as I’ve got to spend the weekends getting the nursery done.

At least local is literally straight out the door, could always hop on a Turbo too. Saying that it has been known that I’ve had to leave a night ride to rescue her from the perils of “massive” spiders crawling across the lounge floor and staring at her 😆

Drinking wise, it’s not like I drink much anyway so that won’t be a problem.

Out of interest those with 2+ sproglets how significantly did this impact your free time/ability to get out on the bike?

It certainly focuses the mind and ability to get out on the bike when you can.

First 3 months are tough as the first goes to sleep at normal time but the other doesn’t. When they both go to bed at a similar time it’s a lot easier but most of my riding is on my own as I see the others leave 30 minutes before I can get out.

Now the youngest is 10 months old if the planets aline I can be out the door at 6:30 just to make the ride once a week (probably every fortnight) and the rest on my own.
Weekend riding during daylight is more difficult and likely to be after lunch now as that’s nap time.

As for when to stop riding as long as your local right up to the birth. Using Endomondo is useful as if in mobile signal it can be seen where you are.
Afterwards it’s more of a get out when you can and your level of tiredness allows. I’ve managed about 4 days after for both for a proper ride but was knackered. Second time round I hit a stump in full flight on a singletrack and stopped dead. It hurt but wore off quickly so finished the ride. Being rearended in the car at 5mph led me not to be able to pick up No1 for 2 weeks though.

Cookeaa – we have two. I’ve found it really cuts into bike time. We both work so are always tired at the weekend and I feel guilty disappearing off for a couple of hours. I do get out but it’s much more tricky. Sleep deprivation is a killer though!

Exactly! My ride time has dropped loads since the 2nd arrived. Most of my riding now is done in the dark when at least one is in bed. Should be able to pick it back up again in 6 to 12 months when they’re both easier to look after (or am I just wishful thinking?).

Some friends were doing the Gap Road when our first was 11 days late. We woke up that morning, she said “Nope, I can’t feel anything, so you may as well go.” He was born the following day. Damn decent of him to hold on 24 hours. 😀

Hora – are you saying you’d just call a taxi so you can Booze right up to the due date?

We had a similarly tiring experience and there’s no way I’d have let anyone else drive us to the hospital. Staying off the booze is just a good general measure to be certain you are of more use to her in the delivery suite…

Theres no hard and fast rule but for me (to me) it was about being relaxed, putting on a relaxed front that helped mrshora. No I didn’t drink. Funnily enough that night was the night I was going to have a drink but for some reason didn’t. We went to bed as normal then it started. 3 weeks early.

Why should you sit there fasting/not living life normally?

Again, after the birth should you become:
Parent A
Parent B
of
….

Or keep your identities and relax, be yourselves.

I was talking to a woman at nursery the other day and I joked that my Son calls me MAARK! not Daddy and she said unguardedly ‘I wish I still had my identity’.

Its a life journey together still, your relationship complimented by a small combination of you 😀

WTF are you on about?

Permission has been granted for this evenings ride. So I shall ride!

Good messages folks.

PS. Mumsnet, balanced…! Not two words often commonly associated with each other. That place and all the others are a seething hornets nest of hormones. The Wife read one piece of advice given to a Mum to be as revenge for something her bloke had done which was to superglue the end of his willy up while he was asleep. That’s not nice!

4 weeks before our 2nd arrived I got blown off a jump and ripped my knee open :-/

2 days in hospital, 6 weeks on crutches, still couldn’t drive us to hospital when the need came (as I couldn’t bend my leg). And I was a sight in the delivery suite with crutches and my leg like this:

Bracing by Jonathan Bateman, on Flickr

So ride all you can while you’ve got the time, but take care! 😉

WTF are you on about?

People tell you how you should behave basically. Why shouldn’t you have a drink? Do what you want. Everyone is different and every situation post-birth. For instance MiL tried telling me what we should be doing and how….Online advice etc.

MrsHora steered well clear of Mumsnet, I sadly dipped in (serious and then jokingly). There is a strong undercurrent of man-hate in there IMO.

When do you stop riding?

Er, I don’t understand the question 😕 . . . oh, and I don’t have a wife either 😆 . I started riding the week after my youngest was born and don’t plan on stopping anytime soon. He’s 20 next month 😛

Oh and all the best btw – kids are great 😀