hospital tour
Well, that was a bit discouraging.
I'll start with the stuff that I'm not too excited about:
1) IV's are not only 110% necessary (as stated by my doctor and the staff at the hospital), but there is no heparin lock. It's attached to the machine, which is attached to me, which seriously limits my movement while in labor.
2) On that same note, they do continuous fetal monitoring - no option for periodic fetal monitoring. This is another thing that attaches to me, that attaches to a machine, which decreases my movement even more. Those of you who have ever worn those know how they can shift and move, and of course so does the baby - if I move around, that thing will very likely lose contact with the heartbeat, and send excited nurses into the room. There doesn't seem to be a way around this or any flexibility, but I am going to discuss it with my doctor. If everything seems to be progressing nicely, I don't see why they wouldn't be flexible at all.
3) From the pamphlet they gave me:
"Your Activity Level: Check with your nurse before getting out of bed.
Things You Can Do For Yourself: Change position in bed frequently. (emphasis added by me on this one, not on the first one)
4) It appears that I am going to have to really fight to keep Chloe with me immediately after giving birth. Well, I am *allowed* to keep her with me after giving birth, but I will have to push to be *allowed* to initiate breastfeeding immediately. She was really unsure that they would let me go ahead and try to breastfeed as soon as she is born - she was very adamant that they really want to take her away to the nursery first to check out her swallowing reflex, her palate, etc. before I try to feed. This is really the most important thing to me - I want to do this very badly, regardless of how the actual birth goes. She said that I could let the nurses know whenever I am admitted, so they could prepare (I guess have someone ready to come in the room when she is born and do all the checking out there so I can go ahead and breastfeed). I hope that's good enough, because I don't want any major surprises here right after she's born! :P
5) I'll also likely have to really negotiate to keep Chloe with me as much as possible after birth - there is a lot of emphasis on taking the babies to the nursery regularly for checkups(but "they'll bring them back to breastfeed") and even though she threw in some fine print about how we COULD have them checked out in our room, that's just kind of inconvenient for the nurses so it's better for the babies to go there (yes, that was said, I'm not just being negative. lol).
This is really bothering me. :/ I mean I realize she's my baby and I probably legally can do whatever I want within reason and as long as there are no complications or problems, but I just really don't want to be the patient that they all resent, you know? I'm normally very non-confrontational, so the idea that I am going to have to really put my foot down to get this relatively unimportant thing is a bit daunting. I won't really have my doctor's backup, he's pretty much like, "Whatever the hospital says".
I guess what bothers me most is the apparent lack of flexibility. There are other, smaller things that kind of nagged at me as well - the uncertain looks and the "well....you'll have to talk to your doctor...." over any question about delaying certain procedures or doing anything out of the ordinary (not just from me, there was another lady there with questions similiar to mine). I'm not talking about serious procedures either.
I really wish I had looked more into a midwife option, but home-birth really freaked me out. Now, I'm a lot more open to it, but with only 3 weeks left until my due date, I'm not really willing to switch everything up on a whim. Plus, the doctor is pre-paid for, and I go to church with him, so I'd hate to just bail and have to keep seeing him every week. I'm weird, I know.
The positives:
1) The postpartum room is about double the size of the one I was in at the hospital I gave birth to Reagan at. They also have larger couches, which fold out into a bigger sleeping area for whoever is staying overnight. Oh, and there is a big whirlpool tub. In the postpartum room. The labor rooms don't have this, they just have tiny little regular bathtubs.
2) She was really nice, I don't mean to make her sound like she wasn't. The staff is really nice there, they were great when I had to go in to be monitored a couple months ago.
3) Much closer to home
4) Flat-rate pricing; no guessing or estimates. That's pretty nice, even if it is still $6200.00
See, I'm not as stuck on the type of birth I'd like to have as I am on keeping Chloe afterwards. I'm a lot more stuck on this than I was with Reagan - I was a new mom and had no clue what to do, plus it took a little bit before I really felt like I was even a real mom. Letting them take her to the nursery was not a big deal. Now, though, I want to keep my baby with me. Rooming-in is not an issue, they allow that, but it's the 4 hour nursery visits in the morning that kind of get to me. I know it sounds so ridiculous, but I really want her with me as much as I possibly can have her - and if they CAN check her in the room, I want that done.
I do want a natural birth, and it feels like these procedures are working against me in that area. I've never done it before, I don't know what to expect. My mom went all-natural with all 3 of us and she was in the bed the whole time for each of them. She told me that they all went so fast, she had no desire to even get out of bed or move or anything. I may be the same way, or I might not go as fast and I might want to get up and move around to let gravity work for me a bit. I have NO idea. I'm just getting nervous that if my movement is seriously limited, then I am being set up to have to handle more pain than I would have to otherwise, which sets me up for an epidural. I am not 110% against an epi, but I am going in there with the mindset that I am not going to get one, at least not unless I REALLY can't handle it, you know? I will not feel like less of a woman if I give in and get one, I don't mean to sound like that. I just really want to try this naturally, and it feels like this is going to be an uphill battle.
So, needless to say, I'm a little frustrated and disappointed. I'll make do with what I can, but I just had to vent that out for a minute. It'll be fine and I'll get to meet my baby either way it goes, I know!
♥
I'll start with the stuff that I'm not too excited about:
1) IV's are not only 110% necessary (as stated by my doctor and the staff at the hospital), but there is no heparin lock. It's attached to the machine, which is attached to me, which seriously limits my movement while in labor.
2) On that same note, they do continuous fetal monitoring - no option for periodic fetal monitoring. This is another thing that attaches to me, that attaches to a machine, which decreases my movement even more. Those of you who have ever worn those know how they can shift and move, and of course so does the baby - if I move around, that thing will very likely lose contact with the heartbeat, and send excited nurses into the room. There doesn't seem to be a way around this or any flexibility, but I am going to discuss it with my doctor. If everything seems to be progressing nicely, I don't see why they wouldn't be flexible at all.
3) From the pamphlet they gave me:
"Your Activity Level: Check with your nurse before getting out of bed.
Things You Can Do For Yourself: Change position in bed frequently. (emphasis added by me on this one, not on the first one)
4) It appears that I am going to have to really fight to keep Chloe with me immediately after giving birth. Well, I am *allowed* to keep her with me after giving birth, but I will have to push to be *allowed* to initiate breastfeeding immediately. She was really unsure that they would let me go ahead and try to breastfeed as soon as she is born - she was very adamant that they really want to take her away to the nursery first to check out her swallowing reflex, her palate, etc. before I try to feed. This is really the most important thing to me - I want to do this very badly, regardless of how the actual birth goes. She said that I could let the nurses know whenever I am admitted, so they could prepare (I guess have someone ready to come in the room when she is born and do all the checking out there so I can go ahead and breastfeed). I hope that's good enough, because I don't want any major surprises here right after she's born! :P
5) I'll also likely have to really negotiate to keep Chloe with me as much as possible after birth - there is a lot of emphasis on taking the babies to the nursery regularly for checkups(but "they'll bring them back to breastfeed") and even though she threw in some fine print about how we COULD have them checked out in our room, that's just kind of inconvenient for the nurses so it's better for the babies to go there (yes, that was said, I'm not just being negative. lol).
This is really bothering me. :/ I mean I realize she's my baby and I probably legally can do whatever I want within reason and as long as there are no complications or problems, but I just really don't want to be the patient that they all resent, you know? I'm normally very non-confrontational, so the idea that I am going to have to really put my foot down to get this relatively unimportant thing is a bit daunting. I won't really have my doctor's backup, he's pretty much like, "Whatever the hospital says".
I guess what bothers me most is the apparent lack of flexibility. There are other, smaller things that kind of nagged at me as well - the uncertain looks and the "well....you'll have to talk to your doctor...." over any question about delaying certain procedures or doing anything out of the ordinary (not just from me, there was another lady there with questions similiar to mine). I'm not talking about serious procedures either.
I really wish I had looked more into a midwife option, but home-birth really freaked me out. Now, I'm a lot more open to it, but with only 3 weeks left until my due date, I'm not really willing to switch everything up on a whim. Plus, the doctor is pre-paid for, and I go to church with him, so I'd hate to just bail and have to keep seeing him every week. I'm weird, I know.
The positives:
1) The postpartum room is about double the size of the one I was in at the hospital I gave birth to Reagan at. They also have larger couches, which fold out into a bigger sleeping area for whoever is staying overnight. Oh, and there is a big whirlpool tub. In the postpartum room. The labor rooms don't have this, they just have tiny little regular bathtubs.
2) She was really nice, I don't mean to make her sound like she wasn't. The staff is really nice there, they were great when I had to go in to be monitored a couple months ago.
3) Much closer to home
4) Flat-rate pricing; no guessing or estimates. That's pretty nice, even if it is still $6200.00
See, I'm not as stuck on the type of birth I'd like to have as I am on keeping Chloe afterwards. I'm a lot more stuck on this than I was with Reagan - I was a new mom and had no clue what to do, plus it took a little bit before I really felt like I was even a real mom. Letting them take her to the nursery was not a big deal. Now, though, I want to keep my baby with me. Rooming-in is not an issue, they allow that, but it's the 4 hour nursery visits in the morning that kind of get to me. I know it sounds so ridiculous, but I really want her with me as much as I possibly can have her - and if they CAN check her in the room, I want that done.
I do want a natural birth, and it feels like these procedures are working against me in that area. I've never done it before, I don't know what to expect. My mom went all-natural with all 3 of us and she was in the bed the whole time for each of them. She told me that they all went so fast, she had no desire to even get out of bed or move or anything. I may be the same way, or I might not go as fast and I might want to get up and move around to let gravity work for me a bit. I have NO idea. I'm just getting nervous that if my movement is seriously limited, then I am being set up to have to handle more pain than I would have to otherwise, which sets me up for an epidural. I am not 110% against an epi, but I am going in there with the mindset that I am not going to get one, at least not unless I REALLY can't handle it, you know? I will not feel like less of a woman if I give in and get one, I don't mean to sound like that. I just really want to try this naturally, and it feels like this is going to be an uphill battle.
So, needless to say, I'm a little frustrated and disappointed. I'll make do with what I can, but I just had to vent that out for a minute. It'll be fine and I'll get to meet my baby either way it goes, I know!
♥