Friday, October 1, 2010

The good, the bad and the ugly of my hosplital stay

The Good

Food - My rule of thumb is that any food that I personally didn't have any hand in making is good food. Even better, the hospital I stayed at actually does a wonderful job at preparing food. Plus, every morning you get a menu with a whole plethora of choices for each meal. I spent a lot of time agonizing on whether I should choose cheesecake or angel food cake for dessert.

Nurses - I love the women and men (although I have yet to meet a murse... I think they are mythical creatures, like unicorns or a helpful government worker) who work in this profession. In another lifetime, I think I would like to have gone to school for nursing. They showed me mercy when necessary, and kicked my butt when it needed kicking. Yay nurses!

Drugs - Not that I am a big proponent of drug use, but having your belly/uterus sliced open really, really hurts. Unfortunately I am allergic to almost all of the "good stuff", but found the right mix of Darvocet and Motrin worked quite nicely.

TV - We don't have cable at home... the hospital does. And I can watch it in bed. Does life get any better?

Calling someone to magically take the baby away - For the most part, Mattias hung out in my room. But at night, I would call for him to be whisked off to the nursery and brought back in a few hours for a feeding. It was all sorts of lovely. Mostly because it led to...

Sleep - Can you believe I got more sleep in the hospital with a newborn, than I usually do at home (if you're a parent of a diabetic, you can). Because we have to check Elise's blood sugar at least twice a night, I usually get about 4 hours of sleep a night. Towards the end of my pregnancy, I was getting about 2 hours. So the hospital was heaven for me. Sleep heaven. And the naps! Sweet, wonderful naps.

The Bad

Lactation Consultant - Usually I have no issues with these (mostly) women whose job it is to look at and touch women's breasts on a daily basis. But I was matched up with the Lactation Nazi this go-around. Seriously woman, I nursed my first for 2 1/2 years. I just stopped 8 months ago. I can handle this! Mattias dropped a lot of weight in the hospital... almost 10% of his birth weight. And I guess that's a no-no. This lady basically wanted me to nurse him every hour, threatening me with formula if he didn't gain any weight. The problem was that Mattias was a very sleepy baby and would rather snooze than eat. The funny thing is, the pediatrician didn't think his weight was a big issue. Sorry Lactation Nazi, the doc wins this one.

Asking about my poop - I love starting the day with a bright and cheery, "so, have you had a bowel movement today?" The only thing better is being threatened with an enema when your answer is no.

Loneliness - With Elise, Fred was at the hospital with me the entire stay. This time, he had to go back and forth between the house and the hospital; sleeping at home so he could care for Elise. I spent a lot of time by myself and it was very lonely. Especially during the overnight. Thank goodness for nurses and cable TV!

The Ugly

The bill - I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure it will make me cry.

4 comments:

phonelady said...

Oh my goodness you poor thing what a horrible woman the lactation nazi I mean . Not all of them are like that though .Not all babys are the same . I have to agree also with the cheery bowel movement statement . Oh well Im glad your home and all is over with as far as the birthing process .

MaRia said...

I had a male nurse when I had my #2 (#2 kid that is!). He came in and said he was there to check me, as in CHECK ME and do the uterus presses. I wanted to say UHHH REALLY!?!?!? I DON"T THINK SO. (I have only had female Ob's) but at that point after all that, what sense of decency do you have left, and I was probably still on drugs, so I didn't object. :)

Jade Clark said...

Wow, I'm glad you got to "enjoy" your hospital stay then. I hated every second of it, and just for grins they kept us longer than they said they would. JERKFACES!!! Whew, ok, sorry... just needed to get that out. Yep, still angry about it (and the bill). Next time = home birth, or at least birthing center. For.Sure.

Meri said...

I LOVE that you got some good sleep in, and I totally agree on the food. If I don't have to make it, no compaints here! ANd sorry about the nazi...ouch! The worst thing for me was when they massaged my stomach/uterus to get the blood out...it was torture, and the thing I alwasy dreaded most!