Last night, Erik and I went on a tour of the hospital where we'll be delivering our baby. It is different than the hospital we used for Everett.
I REALLY liked it. I REALLY liked how they are open to what the patient wants and would like to do. There are some logistical drawbacks to using a larger hospital, but I think that it will be worth it in the end. The NICU is the best in the area and has much better policies than Everett's NICU. (Most people don't think about that; I do.)
It was also great to be at a point where I can actually visualize a normal delivery . . . visualizing the delivery without at least 3 NICU staff breathing down my neck. Visualizing that I am able to keep my baby with me and not have to drag my swollen and wrecked body down several floors and through the hospital to go see my baby. (I wasn't able to see Everett, aside from the few minutes I had when he was fresh from the womb, until 14 hours after I had him. I had "too much medication" in my system, they said. That was a total load of crap--they were just too lazy to put me in a wheelchair and give me directions to the NICU.)
If this pregnancy weren't full of concern, I would be actively investigating other venues to have my child. [Erik is having a heart attack as he just read that because he checked out ALL the birthing videos in preparation for Everett's delivery (wasn't able to attend childbirth class because I was on bedrest) and he saw ALL kinds of venues.] As it is, I am comfortable with our choice and am grateful to have choices.
It was great to walk through those labor and delivery halls with the opportunity to ask questions rather than have the first time I go through be because I am in delivery crisis. I am just fine without the drama, thankyou.
Don't get me wrong; I am grateful for the inspired doctors and nurses that brought my first pregnancy as far as it went and were able to help all of us with Everett's prematurity. But I am looking forward to being supported by staff open to whether or not you want to breastfeed (even those in NICU), I am looking forward to being supported by staff that doesn't have a huge patient load, and I am looking forward to meeting my baby, hopefully without drama.
