Hospital tour/update
So I've been feeling really down lately, and scared of the whole childbirth/labor/delivery thing. Well last night we went on our hospital tour and I have to say I'm feeling a TON better.
I'm 35w today and I thought for sure I'd be the farthest one along in the tour group. Turns out I was the least pregnant of the 4 women haha. The staff at my hospital was all VERY friendly and informative. The tour was guided by a labor and delivery nurse, and she answered just about any question she could for us, including general medical-related questions, which was awesome. Just a few highlights:
-The labor/delivery/recovery rooms were small (we had 7 people in the room and it felt cramped) which at first I thought was weird but once I gave it time to sink in it seems like a much more intimate environment.
-I can have up to 3 people in the room with me to deliver, but they really don't recommend more than 1 (tight quarters and all). I can also have visitors while I'm in labor but again, they don't recommend it. Once I'm recovered I can have as many people visit as I want - or as few as I want, and if I ask they will do crowd control for me so I don't have to be the bad guy!
-They give mom's plenty of time for skin to skin contact and encourage breastfeeding right away (unless there are problems of course).
-The c-section rooms, should I need one, are just steps away from the LDR rooms and even fewer steps from the NICU, which is comforting.
-If I do end up needing a c-section the recovery room is in the birthing ward, and as long as everything with baby is fine he can stay in the room with me :)
-After I recover I go up one floor for my 2 day stay (3-4 for a c-section). They highly encourage all mothers to keep baby in the room with them. They do as many medical tests/procedures as possible in the room and only take baby out if it's absolutely necessary. When we toured there were no babies in the nursery, which was nice just to see that they really do keep babies in the rooms as much as possible.
-All of the nurses are trained in breastfeeding, but lactation consultants are on hand if there are problems the nurses can't solve.
-I get 3 free meals per day via room service, and my SO gets a free meal too (he was excited about this haha). If he wants more than one meal delivered to the room it's $5 per meal, which isn't bad considering cafeteria prices.
Initially I was afraid that none of this stuff would apply to me because I'm high risk (type 1 diabetes) but I talked with my OB today and he said that unless there's some other problem he didn't see a reason for the baby to really be apart from me any more than with a normal delivery. Blood sugar levels can be monitored in the room, and he'll only be gone for a little bit for a circumcision. I'm feeling a lot better about everything now. I wish I had done the tour earlier!
One thing I found out that I never knew while on the tour is that I cannot walk the halls of the L&D ward with the baby in my arms. If I want to walk around he has to be in his crib/container thing (haha sorry I don't know what it's called). Apparently walking around holding an infant is a sign of infant abduction. Am I the only one who didn't know this? Are all hospitals like this? It doesn't bother me because I'm sure I'll be terrified of dropping the baby at first.
I had my 8th non-stress test today followed by a checkup with my OB. Baby was quiet all morning but as soon as the monitors went on he went crazy! He had one deceleration of the heart rate, which lasted maybe 10 seconds. They kept me on the monitors a little longer just to make sure everything was fine, and it was. My OB isn't worried about it, but said to definitely keep coming in for NST's. I'm measuring at 38w and by feeling my belly he said it feels like a "good sized baby." That makes me a little nervous because I know the potential complications of larger babies, but he's assured me he won't even discuss a c-section until the baby reaches 10lbs per an ultrasound.
Speaking of which, I have another ultrasound on Tuesday to measure growth. Everyone keeps telling me I won't see much but I'm still excited!
I had my group b strep test today and he will start doing cervical checks either next week or the week after. I'm going every week now. Yikes! Next week I should find out when they'll induce me. This is getting scary! I feel like I still have so much left to do, but no energy (or time) to do it!
I'm 35w today and I thought for sure I'd be the farthest one along in the tour group. Turns out I was the least pregnant of the 4 women haha. The staff at my hospital was all VERY friendly and informative. The tour was guided by a labor and delivery nurse, and she answered just about any question she could for us, including general medical-related questions, which was awesome. Just a few highlights:
-The labor/delivery/recovery rooms were small (we had 7 people in the room and it felt cramped) which at first I thought was weird but once I gave it time to sink in it seems like a much more intimate environment.
-I can have up to 3 people in the room with me to deliver, but they really don't recommend more than 1 (tight quarters and all). I can also have visitors while I'm in labor but again, they don't recommend it. Once I'm recovered I can have as many people visit as I want - or as few as I want, and if I ask they will do crowd control for me so I don't have to be the bad guy!
-They give mom's plenty of time for skin to skin contact and encourage breastfeeding right away (unless there are problems of course).
-The c-section rooms, should I need one, are just steps away from the LDR rooms and even fewer steps from the NICU, which is comforting.
-If I do end up needing a c-section the recovery room is in the birthing ward, and as long as everything with baby is fine he can stay in the room with me :)
-After I recover I go up one floor for my 2 day stay (3-4 for a c-section). They highly encourage all mothers to keep baby in the room with them. They do as many medical tests/procedures as possible in the room and only take baby out if it's absolutely necessary. When we toured there were no babies in the nursery, which was nice just to see that they really do keep babies in the rooms as much as possible.
-All of the nurses are trained in breastfeeding, but lactation consultants are on hand if there are problems the nurses can't solve.
-I get 3 free meals per day via room service, and my SO gets a free meal too (he was excited about this haha). If he wants more than one meal delivered to the room it's $5 per meal, which isn't bad considering cafeteria prices.
Initially I was afraid that none of this stuff would apply to me because I'm high risk (type 1 diabetes) but I talked with my OB today and he said that unless there's some other problem he didn't see a reason for the baby to really be apart from me any more than with a normal delivery. Blood sugar levels can be monitored in the room, and he'll only be gone for a little bit for a circumcision. I'm feeling a lot better about everything now. I wish I had done the tour earlier!
One thing I found out that I never knew while on the tour is that I cannot walk the halls of the L&D ward with the baby in my arms. If I want to walk around he has to be in his crib/container thing (haha sorry I don't know what it's called). Apparently walking around holding an infant is a sign of infant abduction. Am I the only one who didn't know this? Are all hospitals like this? It doesn't bother me because I'm sure I'll be terrified of dropping the baby at first.
I had my 8th non-stress test today followed by a checkup with my OB. Baby was quiet all morning but as soon as the monitors went on he went crazy! He had one deceleration of the heart rate, which lasted maybe 10 seconds. They kept me on the monitors a little longer just to make sure everything was fine, and it was. My OB isn't worried about it, but said to definitely keep coming in for NST's. I'm measuring at 38w and by feeling my belly he said it feels like a "good sized baby." That makes me a little nervous because I know the potential complications of larger babies, but he's assured me he won't even discuss a c-section until the baby reaches 10lbs per an ultrasound.
Speaking of which, I have another ultrasound on Tuesday to measure growth. Everyone keeps telling me I won't see much but I'm still excited!
I had my group b strep test today and he will start doing cervical checks either next week or the week after. I'm going every week now. Yikes! Next week I should find out when they'll induce me. This is getting scary! I feel like I still have so much left to do, but no energy (or time) to do it!