i think that everyone has already given good advise. i will chime in with my own little story. three years ago, my nephew was born. orgionally his due date was in may...but i kept saying that he was going to be born on my birthday (end of june). it just so happens that i REFUSE to work on my bday, so i had taken that week as my vacation. tyler was born 2 days after my bday.
lisa went into labor in the morning and the family started showing up at the hospital after work. lisa literally, looked at everyone and said, "i am going in the bathroom and when i get back, you better be gone." lol. she was DRUGGED and does not remember kicking us all out! so now we were all stuck in a waiting room. at 9 o clock, they kicked everyone out but the grandparents. lisa ended up having an emergency c-section so the next few days were pretty painful for her. we basically went to the hospital and stayed with her for 20 mins or so and then left. there are tons of people to take care of her and the baby while she is in the hospital. i feel badly that i wasn't around to help when she got home. i know that my family and her family were there for her and that i was there in spirit.
oh, and my college roommate called me from the hospital on the day she had her baby. it was hilarious. she was soooooo still feeling the effects of drugs! she said, "i am just calling to say i had a baby." i said congrats and asked if everyone was ok. she said, "what was i talking about? oh, yeah, i had a girl." we only talked for maybe 5 minutes, but i knew that everyone was healthy and happy.