Wednesday, March 23, 2005

On Tour

Yesterday was our preadmission appointment and tour at the hospital. I told Chad, as we were waiting for the elevator, that if we heard any screaming when we got up there, then I was calling the whole thing off. Luckily that didn't happen.

The maternity wing was quiet and felt private. It has locked doors on either end, and there are protocols about having your baby in the halls (i.e. you can't walk with them in your arms - they have to be wheeled in their bassinette). It seems that they take the potential for abduction pretty seriously. (One more thing to worry about that normally never would have crossed my mind!) The room they showed us seemed quite a bit larger than what I remembered when I peeked in a couple of months ago, but this time I wasn't looking so much at the size and amenities as I was at the monitors and equipment and tubes coming out of the wall... oh my. The worst part was seeing the bank of regular delivery rooms and then oh, by the way, here's the OR right next door in case you need a C section. And ah yes, the anaesthesiologists' office is in this same wing just one floor down - they can be up here in thirty seconds if needed. Good to know.

The local hospital is a surprising mix of a very modern, almost holistic attitude toward health care... without big-ticket funding to back it. The rooms are all LDR rooms you stay in for your entire visit. You've got CD players and mini fridges and a kitchenette with all the gingerale and cookies you can handle to make you comfortable. They have birthing balls and showers and this big jacuzzi tub to labour in that has a swing-open door and tilts back... and yet, there's still no epidural. You want something to wear after labour? Bring it yourself - the hospital gowns disappear when that baby comes out. The same goes for diapers and clothes for the baby, and even the vaseline to use on his or her bottom - that's on the packing list they give you to bring. If you can make do with toilet paper for your nose, you're OK - if you want a box of Kleenex, it's your responsibility.

In spite of this, yet again, the entire experience had Chad practically doing backflips. (I think the icing on the cake for him was finding out that the TVs have full service cable, TSN included.) In just a few short weeks we'll be back (and I'm trying to picture it - night or day? which room will we get? will I really want to use that tub when the time comes?) - and after making use of all the icky medical stuff they have on offer, we'll be going home as a family. I still can't quite wrap my head around that.

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