Touring

Some people take childbirth classes and learn to breathe through 16-24 hours of body numbing pain. Me: I take a tour to prepare! Since I will be having a c-section, I will be spared all the pushing and grunting and screaming that typically accompanies labor and delivery. I will however, probably be grunting later when I'm trying to walk with those staples in my belly. But let's not dwell on that!  Lets talk about all I learned on my tour.  :)

For starters, there is a LOT more security in place on the maternity floors than I would have thought. There are cameras and you have to be buzzed in almost anywhere you go. Only certain hospital employees have access to these areas and there is a procedure for almost everything. So, even though it didn't occur to me before, I am very glad to know my baby will be on lock-down 007 level security! lol

Bj, of course, is flying high right now. Turns out that when I'm admitted to the hospital, I will get a bracelet. When Evangeline comes, she will get a bracelet, and yes, HE gets a bracelet. This "bracelet of power" will allow him access to all things Evangeline. He will be the only other human authorized to pick her up etc.  Other visitors can see her, but he has privs. available only to bracelet wearers!

We got to see the NICU before the group tour of delivery rooms, nursery and recovery rooms. The charge nurse was very gracious and answered all our questions.  We got to see the area where you must scrub up for three minutes before entering the NICU and touching the baby. This is to prevent MRSA infection from finding its way to the babies. Then we saw section A, which is where babies start out. Since Evangeline won't be premature, she will get a little warmer vs the big huge plexiglass tank thingie that the teeny tiny babies get. She will stay there till after she is recovered from surgery and doing well. Then she will move to section B, which is the next step before coming home. It's less critical care. Finally, before we take her home, we come to the NICU to spend the night in one of their parenting rooms, just us and her to make sure we know what the H*** we are doing before we bring her home.  If all systems are go, then we bring in her car seat, they put her in and place her in a little red wagon and we pull her to the car and strap the seat in place...AND BRING OUR BABY HOME!!!  Woooo!!! Not sure how long the process will be from start to finish, but 14 days is a reasonable guess. Much will depend on if she needs a shunt after her closure surgery and how she is at feeding etc.

Meanwhile, after I get discharged, I still won't be able to drive so Mom will be supervising me at her house and driving me to make milk deliveries for the baby. They are very receptive to having human milk for the baby vs. formula and have a system all in place for that too...so cool!

So, after the NICU tour, we went back down stairs and had some dinner in the cafe, then joined the big tour group for the next phase of our tour.  For this part of the experience, I was chauffeured. I was waddling along sooooo slowly, and my tummy was hurting so bad (The round ligament pains have been getting worse) that Bj got me a wheel chair to make the travel easier. I was embarrassed by this, but he used his grumpy voice so I went along. And would you know it....it seemed like he was sprinting along the halls! It had taken us so long to walk to the cafe and we got back to the check-in desk so quickly.  "Why are you rushing?" I asked him. "I'm not." he said.  "Um... yes you are!" I accused. "No. I'm not." he said again. I was about to say something else when he told me, "Just look around you. See all these other people? Am I passing them? No. I'm just walking!"  Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. OMG!  A three toed sloth could pass me at my new "normal" walking speed! How did this happen???  It was a very sad moment, and one I shall not dwell on. At least I'm still locomoting, regardless of how slow.  So....lets get back to the tour highlights!!

The first place we went was to the second floor. We saw the room where I will come (and the ladies doing a regular delivery will stay in this room until the baby comes) until they are ready to bring me to the c-section O.R. The maternity/c-section O.R. is right up next to the NICU so it's the perfect set up for me and Evangeline.  After the c-section, I will go to a recovery room across the hall for a few hours then I'll be moved up to the third floor post-partum suite. And let me just say, those suites are SWEET!!! They used to be semi-private rooms that have been renovated into one HUGE room.  They have wi-fi, DVD player and TV.  Add the morphine drip that I'll have for the first two days and I guess it's party in my room.  ;)

All in all, I would say the experience was very positive for me.  It was great getting first hand knowledge of the processes we will be going through and learning hospital policy on this and that.  The staff seemed friendly and overall, I would say we made an excellent choice for our baby on where she will be going. Baptist NICU is a level 3 NICU, which is the neonatal equivalent to a five star hotel. She will get the best care possible. And it isn't long now! On our way out the maternity nurse on the postpartum floor waved and said, "See you again soon!" I just rubbed my belly and smiled cause next time I see her, I will have already seen my treasure!  How exciting a thought!!!!