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Monday, June 13, 2011

Childbirth classes and a tour of L&D

Yesterday B and I went to our new (sob) hospital for, as you probably guessed from the title of this post, a day of childbirth classes and a tour of Labor & Delivery. I will give Omaha this, Methodist Women's Center is the nicest hospital I've ever been in, and as most of you know, I've been in a few. Our new hospital is just not up to snuff.

When you go into labor (or at least think you are), you go to L&D and you are set up in a triage room where they check to see if you are in active labor. If you are, then you need to get up and scoot your tush to an actual delivery room where you will give birth (if having a vaginal delivery). Once you've popped the kid out, you get stitched up (since most doctors perform episiotomies...um, fuck no), the baby gets cleaned up a bit and weighed, and then you get sent to the closet. Oh, I'm sorry, I meant the Mom and Baby area, where there is not enough room in the actual room for the father of the child and the shower is too small to turn around in. To add insult to my already injured psyche, the food is also so ad that our instructor told us that the L&D nursers will be ready with take-out menus for when you get hungry. We did try the food, and suffice to say we will not be partaking in it again if it can be helped.

We also learned during our class that about 35% of women who walk in the doors to this hospital will receive a C-section, that they use forceps, and that it is usual for nurses to withhold information about how dilated you are, which in turn has more women asking for epidurals earlier than they planned. Due to this issue, pitocin is used in about 75% of all births in this hospital. Why all of this crap is happening in one of the best rated hospitals in the suburbs of the capital of the free world, I have no fucking clue.

I am PRAYING that our instructor just didn't realize how invasive she was making everything out to be. I was under the impression that my OB was not so....old school, and that he trusted in the natural process a bit more. I will be bring up my concerns at our next appointment, and B has a birth plan drilled into his head about what I want to fight with the L&D team about. All I want is a healthy baby, but that doesn't mean I am willing to let people do things for convenience or because it is their personal routine procedure. This is still my body, as broken down and worn out as it is.

I miss Dr. Carlson at Methodist, and the wonderful nurses in the high risk L&D area, the beautiful hospital itself, and the delicious and stomach pleasing food from the cafeteria. I almost wish I had never been there, because now nothing else can compare. Over the next few weeks I am going to do everything in my power to convince myself that the hospital doesn't matter. Getting her out safely, getting her out in a way that does minimal damage to my body, and getting her home safely are the only things that are important. Everything else is just a moment in time to get through. It will pass. She is worth it, and much, much more.

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