30w+5d: Hospital Tour!

I was really looking forward to my hospital tour. But sometimes things don't always turn out as expected.

The actual tour was great. We were able to tour the delivery room and the postpartum room. Each person starts in the triage room to monitor contractions and to wait for a room to become available. Only one person can stay in triage with you. No need to tour that room since I became intimately familiar with it the first time I went to L&D in January.

The delivery room is huge! Some rooms have a labor tub, if it doesn't have one -- they can bring a portable tub in. You basically labor and delivery in this room & stay in there for about 2 hours after baby is delivered. My hospital is a "baby friendly" hospital, meaning they really emphasize mother - baby bonding, immediate skin-to-skin, and breastfeeding. You can have as many people as you want in the delivery room, but only one person can stay the night.

We also toured the postpartum room. It's a lot smaller, but has all the basic things you need. Both rooms have a couch that pulls out into a bed. They have a TV that controls everything: AC, lights, TV, music, etc.

For a vaginal birth you would stay 24-48 hours after delivery. I'm assuming I'll need to stay closer to the 48 hour mark due to my diabetes. They'll have to monitor baby boy's glucose levels & I'm really hoping for no major complications, but it can extend the stay.

So... the reasons the tour wasn't so joyful.

1) I got a suspicious look from the check-in lady when I was signing in. ALL the other pregnant ladies were obviously pregnant, they were all pretty big and had beautiful D-shaped, round, bellies. The outfit I wore hid my pregnancy (not intentional). I just look like I have a big gut. So, she was like "can I help you?" and was surprised when I said I was there for the tour. She tried to hide it! But I noticed it none-the-less and it bothered me. I have some bump-envy and some insecurities about the way my bump looks. Maybe I'll write another entry just on that one of these days.

2) I brought my son with me. I was the only one to bring a child. Going into the hospital tour, I thought it'd be a great idea to bring him so that he can visit the hospital prior to baby brother being born, get familiar with it. I've read some blogs that say this is a good idea. And maybe it was for them? Also, I had logistical issues -- I would've needed a babysitter for him if he didn't come with me and the hospital only does tours on weekday evenings.

I really tried to prep my son with, "We are visiting the hospital that baby brother will be born at" etc etc. He seemed excited. I tried to setup the expectations on how he was to behave...

My curious son... and his attention seeking social self... was a bit much for me to handle during the tour and he frustrated me, that I could hardly pay attention to anything being said since I was so focused on making sure he didn't get out of control.

I even held him, even though I'm not supposed to (he's above my allotted weight limit to carry), and that didn't even help control him much. He even said to me when I was trying to contain him, "That hurt! Don't hurt me." Ugh. Of course I didn't hurt him, he was being drama -- but how embarrassing having all those other couples there and my kid being loud and obnoxious, then saying something like that to me... then he started crying because he didn't like the way I picked him up --> making it even harder for others to hear things on the tour.

There's not many times when I feel like crap being a single mom and normally I don't get embarrassed at things like this. Kids are kids and my son is 3. He was acting just like any other 3 year old would. But the tour was only 30 minutes and I guess I expected him to act more appropriately -- he hardly ever acts crazy like that in public. Lately though, his public outbursts have been increasing in intensity. It's hard for me to contain him since I have physical limits (can't pick him up). I think 3 year olds can "smell" weakness and he knows he can get away with more! LOL.

Also, I guess I had this "expectation" on how the tour would go and that it would be this wonderful experience. Instead, it turned into a struggle with my son :( Luckily since I took the birthing class, I already knew everything there was to know. It was good to see the rooms in-person, so I know what to expect on the big day.