Maternity Tours & Final Decisions

Eric and I had our tour of Trident Medical Center, which is the only hospital my OB will allow me to deliver in. Since we had such limited choices in facilities, I was hesitant to stay with them. I had also seen the Mount Pleasant Hospital when visiting my friend and was very impressed with their postpartum rooms and the sleeping accommodations for the new dads. However, I think we are going to stick with our OB and plan on delivering at Trident after tonight.

We started off the evening on a great note with Eric breaking the "smoke free campus" rule before we left the parking lot. I told him the fact that he won't be able to just run downstairs for a smoke should be another incentive to quit sooner rather than later. After meeting in a conference room with several other couples and discussing other classes and important information we need to know before arriving for labor and delivery (like make sure your check-in paperwork is completed and received in advance, call your doctor before coming in, and making sure contractions are 5 minutes apart from beginning of one to the beginning of the next and about one minute in duration), we finally began the tour.

To get to the elevators we had to walk through the cafeteria. And let me just say, there is nothing crueler than forcing a bunch of pregnant women to walk through the aroma of baking pizza around supper time when they can't stop to eat! We were able to see the rooms, which were clean and accommodating and helped ease my jitters before heading into the hospital in October. The hospital is in the middle of renovating some of the rooms and they will have tubs for water births and even better furnishings. I like that they have only one room for Labor, Delivery, and Recovery, and then transfer mom and baby to a postpartum room where we would stay until discharge. I DO NOT want to be carted all over the hospital while trying to deal with excessive pain. And I absolutely love that as long as the baby is healthy, they let the baby stay in the room with the parents the whole time. They also have great security measures to prevent baby snatchers (which is comforting and worrisome at the same time).

The only downside to this hospital is that the rooms aren't very big and the sleeping arrangements for Eric won't be that great. His "bed" is basically a fully reclining chair that's just a little wider than most chairs. It looks like we might be packing lots of pillows so he'll be able to get some rest too!

So it seems Eric and I have made our first big baby decision. Which is great because I didn't want to have to find a new office that understands and works with me on all of the issues I've been having, as well as my past medical issues. I'm sad because my best friend is due within days of my due date and will be delivering on the other side of town, but I really think staying with our OB and Trident is the best decision for me, baby, and Eric.

What grown up decisions will I make tomorrow?