Tonight, Hubby-poo and I toured Baylor Frisco hospital. Not that I have a point of reference, but I thought it was really, really nice. It's smaller than I imagined it to be, but I don't know what's 'normal'.
The first striking thing is that there were no to almost no babies in the nursery. Why? Because they were all in the post-partum rooms with their mommies and daddies. You get a crib in there, so the baby can stay with you. They bathe the baby, examine the baby and do basically everything with the baby in the room with you. The only stuff they do outside of the room is lab work and circumcision and stuff like that.
Anyway, the Labor and Delivery rooms are nice. Every room is private (no semi-private nonsense). There is a recliner for dad to sit, a flat screen TV, wireless internet, etc. Dad gets three meals a day (mom gets ice chips). There is lots of space, so if I want to bring in a birthing ball or whatever, I totally can. There is a 1-to-1 delivery nurse to patient ratio (of course, there are only 12 delivery rooms, so it's not like they have a TON of delivery nurses running around). Like I said, everything the baby needs is in the room. So I can see it get its first exam, first bath, etc. And I can nurse right away.
The post-partum room is also pretty sweet. Again, there is a pull-out bed for dad to sleep in. There is a glider/rocker for nursing, a crib for the baby, a flat-screen TV with a 'webcam' that I can activate if I want people to be able to see me in there (okay, well, it's active for the nurses to check if I'm sleeping before they come in the room, but I can activate it so people can log in and check on what I'm doing). There is a chat feature, so we can type-chat and stuff. I don't see myself activating that feature, but you never know.
They do have a NICU on-site, but it's level 3A. There are other hospitals closer with higher levels of NICU, one of which my doctor does deliver at (Plano Presby). We do plan to visit it (we have a scheduled tour, and a friend who is delivering there any day now). But my understanding (Debbie, correct me if I'm wrong)is that you don't get to have your baby with you in the room. The other thing I don't like about it immediately is that I couldn't call the hospital directly to set up the tour, I had to call the main Texas Health number.
In any case, I feel good about it. Obviously I am still going to check out the other place before making a final decision (this is me, after all... I'm gonna do my research).
On an unrelated note, I do need to do more natural childbirth research. One of the ladies in the room talked about bringing in a massage therapist (it was a specific kind... neuro-muscular maybe?) to help with pain management. I also need to figure out how much it means for me to do things naturally. On one hand, I'd really like to do things naturally. On the other hand, I am scared to death of the birth process. So we'll see what happens. I have told the OB that I want to do natural childbirth until I decide I don't want to anymore. She is supportive of that plan.
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2 comments:
Plano Pres actually - as of the last 8 months - IS a rooming-in-only hospital. They will take the baby to the nursery if you absolutely insist on it, but they encourage as much momma/poppa/baby bonding time as possible.
Andy and I don't have as many options (have to go through TX Health Resources) for hospitals, but I was amazed at the progressive philosophy that such a large hospital had.
Good to know! Our tour of them isn't until the end of this month. We'll hopefully have a decision made by the beginning of March. Either way is convenient for us, though Plano is closer.
Does you doctor only deliver at Texas Health Resources? Or is it an insurance thing?
Also, I hope you're open to visitors when Junior is born, because I definitely want to see how things go for you. Of course we want to visit you and welcome new baby anyway, but now we have even more motivation.
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