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Community Corner

How To Handle Hoboken Traffic While Pregnant

Kathy Zucker devised an intricate battle plan with several backup options to take care of her older child when she gave birth to her second. Now she is revising the plan for baby #3.

Being pregnant in Hoboken means worrying about traffic.

The vast majority of the time it takes me less than half an hour to get into Manhattan. The PATH train to 33rd Street (with a stroller-friendly elevator) and the ferry are fast, clean, reliable and convenient. I also have the option of driving since my station wagon is available 24/7 in our deeded indoor parking spot right outside the lobby door. To my family, transportation in and around Hoboken is simply a delight. Except during rush hour.

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I had nightmare visions of getting stuck in the Holland Tunnel in active labor. A good friend with connections in the Port Authority told me to pull over a PANYNJ cop if that happened and he would make sure I got through quickly. Luckily my water broke in the middle of the night on my due date (what are the odds of that happening?) so my husband got me to NYU Medical Center in twenty minutes.

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With my second pregnancy due in mid-winter, I was worried about both traffic and blizzards. I have lived in the NYC area in my entire life and I have never seen as much snow we got last winter; we could have opened a private ski slope on the Hoboken viaduct. Another major concern? Going into labor in the middle of the day when my husband and mother were respectively in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Second deliveries tend to progress much more rapidly, so I setup a backup plan with a good friend's mother to watch my daughter if I went into labor during the day and kept the phone number handy for a cab company to drive me to the hospital. My husband would meet me at the hospital and my mom would head to Hoboken to retrieve my daughter.

Many Hoboken multiparas choose to deliver at Hoboken University Medical Center to avoid endless logistical planning. I know moms who walked to the hospital and back home after giving birth. I decided not to go that route since I have a very good relationship with my Manhattan-based obstetrician; given all the issues I experienced during my first pregnancy and delivery, it seemed wise to stick with a known quantity. However, it's really nice to know there is a hospital five minutes away; it dispels my long-term fear of giving birth in my living room.

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And for baby #3? I assume I will give birth in the summer (hello cankles!) since that is when most babies are born. With both kids home on summer vacation, that makes the battle plan for baby #3 essentially the same as for baby #2.

Now I can go back to trying to figure out sleeping (or not) arrangements for a family of five.

To read more about what makes Kathy Zucker tick, check out her blog at http://momcondoliving.com/ and follow her at http://twitter.com/kathyzucker

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