Monday, March 17, 2008
Curious George
When my friend Radha was pregnant with her baby girl, I would always hear this song and cry...
Now waiting for my own baby, I don't cry. Thank you, Baby, for stabilizing my hormones!
The Fundus Among Us
Five month doctor (midwife) visit today
Unless you're going to be a fusspot worry-wart or actually have a genuine reason to be in a high risk pregnancy and really need the monthly attention, I'm beginning to wonder what would happen if I just stopped going for these appointments. It's like all they want to see is whether the baby still has a heart beat. (which is fine... I like to hear it) No measurements - a few feels of the almighty fundus through your belly, an offer to quickly answer any questions, and bam - I'm out of the office in more time than it took me to find parking the the structure.
So today I came armed with questions per the request of Saby, who wanted (if possible) stats on size, length, and heart rate. Also thought I'd try and score some more free prenatal vitamins, as they're super nice and don't make me constipated. Fun times!!
Well. As a result of today's visit I can give you boring information on how baby's femur is 3.4 something centimeters long, or I can tell you the slightly more interesting factoid of a 144 bpm heart rate. If all else fails, I can tell you that this morning I weighed 162 on the office scale... which is always higher than the home scale by which I swear. (Perception, baby... it's all about your perception) I also now have two more weeks worth of super vitamins with Lina-soluble iron. Thanks Nurse Mix... my colon thanks you too.
I guess the most interesting thing to me was that when I lifted my sweater and pulled down the Secret Fit panel of my jeans for midwife Lisa to doppler baby's heart, she had to chase the little swimmy around my uterus. First she was up high (my fundus is 2 fingers above my belly button, which is a pleasant surprise... I'm suddenly getting beeeeeeegg) and to the left (my left), and then s/he must have doggie paddled down lower to avoid whatever was making the house roof sag, where after a few seconds Lisa found the heartbeat again. That is interesting, because I almost always feel kicking/movement/SOMETHING in the same spot (mid lower right), and for this I sort of assumed that baby had settled into a comfy position and was just looking for a foot rest.
When Saby told his mother about our swimmy, moving baby, she said it must be taking after me, because he had been such a lazy infant, both in vitro and out. Saby was apparently a pavum, quiet little thing, weighing in at just barely 6 lbs. You'd be hard-put to look at him and say he was the smallest in his family for so long...
My other theory is that since it's St Patrick's Day, perhaps baby is jigging, utilizing the enthusiasm and gusto provided by his/her one-eighth Irish genetics. Perhaps it's the half Keralite that makes it want to beat on the walls of my uterus? No place here for half-cracked stereotypes ;-) Although if I did have a drink at any point, once the alcohol crossed the placenta the Irish and Mallu DNA might start a nasty bar brawl against each other... (harrr, harr harr...)
Just kidding :-)
I'm taking a nap and then making some St Pat's cupcakes. Haven't baked in ages... let's get our domestic on! The corned beef for our feast-for-two tonight is already at about hour 14 in the slow cooker, and smells nice... nice enough to finally kill the fishy smelly from two subsequent dinners of baked haddock and then salmon. Is THAT why baby is so swimmy? All the friendly Omega-3 DHA fatty acids from the fishies inspiring him/her??
Good night for now!
Unless you're going to be a fusspot worry-wart or actually have a genuine reason to be in a high risk pregnancy and really need the monthly attention, I'm beginning to wonder what would happen if I just stopped going for these appointments. It's like all they want to see is whether the baby still has a heart beat. (which is fine... I like to hear it) No measurements - a few feels of the almighty fundus through your belly, an offer to quickly answer any questions, and bam - I'm out of the office in more time than it took me to find parking the the structure.
So today I came armed with questions per the request of Saby, who wanted (if possible) stats on size, length, and heart rate. Also thought I'd try and score some more free prenatal vitamins, as they're super nice and don't make me constipated. Fun times!!
Well. As a result of today's visit I can give you boring information on how baby's femur is 3.4 something centimeters long, or I can tell you the slightly more interesting factoid of a 144 bpm heart rate. If all else fails, I can tell you that this morning I weighed 162 on the office scale... which is always higher than the home scale by which I swear. (Perception, baby... it's all about your perception) I also now have two more weeks worth of super vitamins with Lina-soluble iron. Thanks Nurse Mix... my colon thanks you too.
I guess the most interesting thing to me was that when I lifted my sweater and pulled down the Secret Fit panel of my jeans for midwife Lisa to doppler baby's heart, she had to chase the little swimmy around my uterus. First she was up high (my fundus is 2 fingers above my belly button, which is a pleasant surprise... I'm suddenly getting beeeeeeegg) and to the left (my left), and then s/he must have doggie paddled down lower to avoid whatever was making the house roof sag, where after a few seconds Lisa found the heartbeat again. That is interesting, because I almost always feel kicking/movement/SOMETHING in the same spot (mid lower right), and for this I sort of assumed that baby had settled into a comfy position and was just looking for a foot rest.
When Saby told his mother about our swimmy, moving baby, she said it must be taking after me, because he had been such a lazy infant, both in vitro and out. Saby was apparently a pavum, quiet little thing, weighing in at just barely 6 lbs. You'd be hard-put to look at him and say he was the smallest in his family for so long...
My other theory is that since it's St Patrick's Day, perhaps baby is jigging, utilizing the enthusiasm and gusto provided by his/her one-eighth Irish genetics. Perhaps it's the half Keralite that makes it want to beat on the walls of my uterus? No place here for half-cracked stereotypes ;-) Although if I did have a drink at any point, once the alcohol crossed the placenta the Irish and Mallu DNA might start a nasty bar brawl against each other... (harrr, harr harr...)
Just kidding :-)
I'm taking a nap and then making some St Pat's cupcakes. Haven't baked in ages... let's get our domestic on! The corned beef for our feast-for-two tonight is already at about hour 14 in the slow cooker, and smells nice... nice enough to finally kill the fishy smelly from two subsequent dinners of baked haddock and then salmon. Is THAT why baby is so swimmy? All the friendly Omega-3 DHA fatty acids from the fishies inspiring him/her??
Good night for now!
Friday, March 7, 2008
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Ultrasonic!
Yaaaaaaay! 20 week ultrasound happened today... and now I feel like I've met the little creature that lives inside me.
It's really neat to be in a dark room while a over-caffeinated 30-something brunette who squeezes warm jelly onto your bare tummy and then pushes what seems like a high-tech roll-on deodorant stick around on your abdomen. The deodorant stick translates the high tech sound waves and vibrations into pictures, which you see on the little tv above you... and voila... a flash of a spine, some blobs, there's a head! Little moving arms, tiny 10-toes. Depending where she goes with the roller, you see different things... baby's head profile view. Nice nose. Big forehead. Baby's head top down view. Brain stuff. Blood flowing (when she turns on the color, Doppler view... baby's brain lights up like a Windows 95 screensaver). Same with the heart, and kidneys, and lungs. Four little chambers, whump-whump-whumping away, and then one flip of the switch and they're suddenly Technicolor with the flow of blood, thanks to the same technology that makes the weather forecast so cool.
I realize now that she did not show me much of Baby from about the belly button down. Being among the huge minority of people who don't want to know the gender of their child, she was very good with avoiding the "gootlies" area. She did however investigate that end while I kept my eyes shut (honest), and typed on-screen the results, and took a photo. That print out went directly into an envelope, was sealed, and is now on it's way to one trusted soul who has promised Baby about a year's worth of actual gender specific clothing. All this happened while I was still covered in slowly cooling jelly, laying on the table.
Baby weighs about 14 ounces... as I told my mother on the phone, "I've eaten steaks bigger than that." But it's amazing to think that this particular steak already has fully functional organs (minus lungs) and can hiccup, kick, and startle just like a regular, outside the womb baby.
The ultrasound technician said that baby looks perfect for where s/he should be, and that s/he was "very fun"; one moment when she was trying to get a look at something and Baby rolled right over, mooning us.
Life is fabulous!
It's really neat to be in a dark room while a over-caffeinated 30-something brunette who squeezes warm jelly onto your bare tummy and then pushes what seems like a high-tech roll-on deodorant stick around on your abdomen. The deodorant stick translates the high tech sound waves and vibrations into pictures, which you see on the little tv above you... and voila... a flash of a spine, some blobs, there's a head! Little moving arms, tiny 10-toes. Depending where she goes with the roller, you see different things... baby's head profile view. Nice nose. Big forehead. Baby's head top down view. Brain stuff. Blood flowing (when she turns on the color, Doppler view... baby's brain lights up like a Windows 95 screensaver). Same with the heart, and kidneys, and lungs. Four little chambers, whump-whump-whumping away, and then one flip of the switch and they're suddenly Technicolor with the flow of blood, thanks to the same technology that makes the weather forecast so cool.
I realize now that she did not show me much of Baby from about the belly button down. Being among the huge minority of people who don't want to know the gender of their child, she was very good with avoiding the "gootlies" area. She did however investigate that end while I kept my eyes shut (honest), and typed on-screen the results, and took a photo. That print out went directly into an envelope, was sealed, and is now on it's way to one trusted soul who has promised Baby about a year's worth of actual gender specific clothing. All this happened while I was still covered in slowly cooling jelly, laying on the table.
Baby weighs about 14 ounces... as I told my mother on the phone, "I've eaten steaks bigger than that." But it's amazing to think that this particular steak already has fully functional organs (minus lungs) and can hiccup, kick, and startle just like a regular, outside the womb baby.
The ultrasound technician said that baby looks perfect for where s/he should be, and that s/he was "very fun"; one moment when she was trying to get a look at something and Baby rolled right over, mooning us.
Life is fabulous!
Monday, March 3, 2008
Statistical Goodness 3.0
Weight: 154.5 lbs (growing pleasantly, although 3 lbs of that is probably a bag of organic Oreos I blew through in about 5 days)
Hips/Belly: 40 inches
Waist: 31.25 inches
Bustyola: 37 inches
(awww, no new development there)
4: estimated and exaggerated pounds of mucus I've coughed up from stupid cold
3: times I've broken my Lenten fast and had a burger, because somehow I thought that starving myself of beef was making my cold last longer
3: number of pairs of maternity pants I'm holding steady with... refusing to buy more until 6 months, when I can justify a pair of cute jeans, and by then it might be warm enough to go for the "convertable capris" for 29.98 (+ 30% discount!)
15: times I've almost bought the French wool teddy bear daddy/baby set at Motherhood (their names are Emile & Emilien!) and decided against it
Hips/Belly: 40 inches
Waist: 31.25 inches
Bustyola: 37 inches
(awww, no new development there)
4: estimated and exaggerated pounds of mucus I've coughed up from stupid cold
3: times I've broken my Lenten fast and had a burger, because somehow I thought that starving myself of beef was making my cold last longer
3: number of pairs of maternity pants I'm holding steady with... refusing to buy more until 6 months, when I can justify a pair of cute jeans, and by then it might be warm enough to go for the "convertable capris" for 29.98 (+ 30% discount!)
15: times I've almost bought the French wool teddy bear daddy/baby set at Motherhood (their names are Emile & Emilien!) and decided against it
Thierry Henry or Mia Hamm?
I think I got my first booting in the ute by Spampy baby, during my RCIA meeting on Sunday morning. It was a relatively quiet and still atmosphere, and I didn't have much digestional excitement happening, and suddenly, from inside... "whump." I looked around - tiny earthquake on an forgotten Dayton fault line? New sort of gas? God Himself poking my internal guts with an ethereal finger?
Later, in church, I got the feeling that there was some swimmy-swimming sort of activity happening down there as well. It's time, according to all sources, to be feeling Baby. S/he's still small enough to have plenty of wiggle room inside the womb, but big enough to be making some waves.
Later, in church, I got the feeling that there was some swimmy-swimming sort of activity happening down there as well. It's time, according to all sources, to be feeling Baby. S/he's still small enough to have plenty of wiggle room inside the womb, but big enough to be making some waves.
eBay Baby and the Belly
Well, our package arrived and last night we spent a few minutes with headphones on, pushing that "gently used" Bebe Sounds listening thingey into my belly and clicking. The device itself looks like a combination of a giant computer mouse and the baby monitor they use in the movie "Signs" to hear the aliens. Aptly, that's what we would do - hold, click, and hear aliens. So far we're not sure what all they're saying.
There is a gush-gush-gush sound that is probably my placenta, as it's much louder on one side than the other, and then aways off in the distance you can hear my heart beat. As for whether we can hear baby, we're going to wait and try again under less rushed circumstances. The instructions advise above all being patient, while a quiet room, 4 hours since last meal, and being at least 5+ months along are it's other suggestions for optimal baby hearing goodness.
But as far as indicators of baby's health and all, the new snowplow of a belly I'm beginning to push out in front of me says all is well. Today I'm at 20 weeks and 2 or 3 days, and it's either a compliment to how I've been dressing myself or it's a baby & uterine growth spurt, because the staff of Motherhood has collectively been amazed at my sudden baby bumpiness. Yesterday I wore a sweater over another tighter, sheer white sweater... and once we were preparing to close, I took the bulkier one off. Coworker Linda's eyes about popped out of her head. "Loooooook at you!" She then laughed and told me, while making me promise to tell my husband she had noticed, that "your boobs are jigglier too."
So for comparative goodness, I shall put together a Statistical Goodness and see where this belly actually is, size-wise. Tomorrow is our 20-week ultrasound. Smile and wave, Spampy... I wonder if s/he'll be a thumb-sucker like his/her mom was for so long?
There is a gush-gush-gush sound that is probably my placenta, as it's much louder on one side than the other, and then aways off in the distance you can hear my heart beat. As for whether we can hear baby, we're going to wait and try again under less rushed circumstances. The instructions advise above all being patient, while a quiet room, 4 hours since last meal, and being at least 5+ months along are it's other suggestions for optimal baby hearing goodness.
But as far as indicators of baby's health and all, the new snowplow of a belly I'm beginning to push out in front of me says all is well. Today I'm at 20 weeks and 2 or 3 days, and it's either a compliment to how I've been dressing myself or it's a baby & uterine growth spurt, because the staff of Motherhood has collectively been amazed at my sudden baby bumpiness. Yesterday I wore a sweater over another tighter, sheer white sweater... and once we were preparing to close, I took the bulkier one off. Coworker Linda's eyes about popped out of her head. "Loooooook at you!" She then laughed and told me, while making me promise to tell my husband she had noticed, that "your boobs are jigglier too."
So for comparative goodness, I shall put together a Statistical Goodness and see where this belly actually is, size-wise. Tomorrow is our 20-week ultrasound. Smile and wave, Spampy... I wonder if s/he'll be a thumb-sucker like his/her mom was for so long?
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
eBay Baby
I'm waiting to make an eBay sniper bid on a stupid Bebe Sounds Prenatal Heart Monitor so I can be like Tom Cruise and stalk my baby in-vitro... and of course to play it songs through the sounding board of my belly.
Had to kill 3 minutes somehow. Damn, I type so fast...
Arrrgghh, panicked and bid more than I intended. Hopefully this on eBay doesn't cost more than a brand new one at Motherhood, with my discount! I am pretty comfortable in the knowledge that I think this is the fiddy dollar gift set version...
"gently used"
Now at least I have done what I always tell the customers to do when they bitch about something being too expensive... go find it on eBay. Yee haw.
Had to kill 3 minutes somehow. Damn, I type so fast...
Arrrgghh, panicked and bid more than I intended. Hopefully this on eBay doesn't cost more than a brand new one at Motherhood, with my discount! I am pretty comfortable in the knowledge that I think this is the fiddy dollar gift set version...
"gently used"
Now at least I have done what I always tell the customers to do when they bitch about something being too expensive... go find it on eBay. Yee haw.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Statistical Goodness 2.5
Holy Guacamole! I was initially a little worried that I wasn't putting on any weight. After coming back from Michigan, I suddenly bounced from about 151 to ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY EIGHT POUNDS, per my own scale. Then at Wednesday's doctor appointment, the official doc scale told me 159.
I almost shat. But didn't, and I suspect that this is also the reason for the weight gain - another unpleasant bout of preggo constipation. Thanks, intestines... thanks, hormones. It's been fun. Luckily nature has resolved the issue and I'm now back on track, weighing in at 153 on my own scale at home (the one that I thought was stuck at 151).
I almost shat. But didn't, and I suspect that this is also the reason for the weight gain - another unpleasant bout of preggo constipation. Thanks, intestines... thanks, hormones. It's been fun. Luckily nature has resolved the issue and I'm now back on track, weighing in at 153 on my own scale at home (the one that I thought was stuck at 151).
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Family Beginnings...
Look! It's a very happy me after orientation at the Family Beginnings Birthing Center, Miami Valley Hospital!
Actually this is a amused and well-fed me on Sunday morning in Michigan, as the two inches of ice that had encased our car slowly melted outside and as Jesse reheated biriyani that made our jackets and any other unwashed or unwashable garments (shoes! purses! arrgh!) stink to high masala hell.
I didn't have a photograph of our initial reactions after orientation, so I'm sliding that in as a sub. It's election time, who needs truth and ethics?
Anyway, let me tell you about this place.
After joining the midwives' and Dr Guy's practice at MVH, they handed me a pile of brochures about the hospital, baby making and baby health, and Family Beginnings. Lots of googling "Birthing Center" and "Dayton" had already led me to know of it's existence. After my first prenatal appointment, I was encouraged to give them a call... which I subsequently forgot about until my second appointment. With this cozily situated somewhere on my list of things to do (sort of like "hire a DJ" on my wedding to-do list... and see how far that got me!) but not actually anywhere in my brain, life carried on.
Only later did I notice in a magazine the statistic: more babies are born in the month of July in the US than any other time of year. Suddenly, visions of well prepared mothers laboring in my bathtub, with my birthing ball, eating my snacks, surrounded by family, all cozy in the caring confines of Family Beginnings filled my head; the obvious alternative was that me and other mothers who put it off would be screaming and squatting in a ditches along the lousiest stretches of road in Dayton... mine would be Smithville Road, while we're identifying worst case scenarios, probably while their husbands played golf in shirts that still smelled like biriyani masala... but I digress. This slightly exaggerated thought made me call and take the first possible orientation appointment available, February 19th. The woman manning the phones there is a sweet and patient thing with an accent of sub-Saharian African origin, and let me tell you - this babe will talk at her own pace no matter what.
Me: (after a long list of yes/no questions to determine that my pregnancy is low risk)
So what do I have to do? Are tours available?
Lady: J'you will haveah do come for an ohreehentashion....
Me: (Sort of interrupting) Okay...
Lady: ...anduh we havah ohreehentashion hin hevenings, six surty un-teel seven surty...
Me: (obviously eager to sign up) Okay...
Lady: ... abailable openings are fo Feb-a-uary h'nineteensh, Feb-auary twentayseex, Mawrch farth...
Me: I'll take the first one, Feb 19th?!?
Lady: ...Mawrch aighteenth, Mawrch twentayfeefth, Apebril first, Apebril aighth, Apebril fivteenth, Apebril twentayninah, May seex...
Me: Can I take the first one, please?
Lady: ... anduh May dirtheenth. (pauuuuse.) Whichuh one j'you wooood likeuh?
Needless to say, two nights back we were there, albeit late, to hear a kind nurse (who looked like a chubby Carrie Heffernan/Leah Remini) patiently read the entire low down to a room full of Saby, myself, and probably 3 or 4 other nice responsible looking couples and a few ladies (also nice looking) on their own. The approach brought us through the regular Maternity rooms, which appear to be very nice, but once you step through the double doors that separate Family Beginnings from the rest of the ward, it's like stepping into a Country Inn and Suites. There is a common kitchen and family room area, stocked with rockers, recliners, couches and the all important TV. I almost expected a self-serve waffle station. Then down a little corridor filled with photos of previous happy families born there, are three birthing suites. They have the typical hospital, red plastic room numbers on the outside, but once you're inside it's like a little bed and breakfast.
We were impressed to hear they do NOT have hospital beds - each of the three rooms is equipped with a queen bed, in which both you and your husband can sleep after the birth, a crib for baby, a changing table, cd player and a flat screen tv with DVD player, and a blanket warmer. The bathroom, which is about as big as our bedroom at home, is stocked with the most fabulous TUB ever:
Oooooh, TUB. What a beautiful sight. Us Schaefer girls are bath-takers, much to the disdain of my dear husband, who is too big to fit into a tub and therefore does not understand the joy of soaking oneself up to your chin in hot water. This tub is big enough for me, dear husband, a medium-sized farm animal, and whichever midwife is on duty that night. Not that I'm going to have a goat with me come July, or even invite anyone else in, but I can't imagine that the big beautiful bathtub in my Family Beginnings suite will remain unused once it comes time for Mrs. Lina George to give birth.
Other things Mrs. George loved about Family Beginnings:
FOOD!
Short of actually having that waffle station I mentioned, they, unlike most hospitals today, allow mothers in labor to eat. Not just eat, but eat whatever they want. I'm sure if I were in the tub, dilated 4 centimeters, and asking for a plate of baby back ribs they might protest, but for all intents and purposes it is allowed. Which was one of my biggest issues with a regular hospital birth. Let's see... for 14+ hours I'm going to be extremely uncomfortable, pushing my guts out, and then not be allowed to eat? And all this while not only in labor, but still harboring another living being withing the confines of your physiology. Not eat!?!? I couldn't hack more than three hours of just sitting still without at least a snack. Screw that, maaan!
DVD player and flat screen tv in every room.
Hello, dvds of Sunrise Planet/Sunrise Earth from the Discovery Channel. (hint - this is something that doesn't come on the registry list at Babies R Us, but still something I would love and appreciate as a gift.) Hello, happy hubby watching his reruns of King of Queens after he can no longer handle any more of seeing my distended belly underwater in the tub.
Nurses with a sense of humor.
After reading about the tub from the list of regulations, the nurse who looked like Carrie Heffernan noted that husbands are welcome in the tub, but must bring their own bathing suit. Yikes!
Needless to say, I am actually excited, as it's beyond exactly what I wanted. We're the first ones on the list for the childbirth classes offered at Family Beginnings come June. The environment and attitude there are both phenomenal and it sort of rubs off on you. Definitely good vibes! And I don't think they'll laugh at my birthing chair :-)
Actually this is a amused and well-fed me on Sunday morning in Michigan, as the two inches of ice that had encased our car slowly melted outside and as Jesse reheated biriyani that made our jackets and any other unwashed or unwashable garments (shoes! purses! arrgh!) stink to high masala hell.
I didn't have a photograph of our initial reactions after orientation, so I'm sliding that in as a sub. It's election time, who needs truth and ethics?
Anyway, let me tell you about this place.
After joining the midwives' and Dr Guy's practice at MVH, they handed me a pile of brochures about the hospital, baby making and baby health, and Family Beginnings. Lots of googling "Birthing Center" and "Dayton" had already led me to know of it's existence. After my first prenatal appointment, I was encouraged to give them a call... which I subsequently forgot about until my second appointment. With this cozily situated somewhere on my list of things to do (sort of like "hire a DJ" on my wedding to-do list... and see how far that got me!) but not actually anywhere in my brain, life carried on.
Only later did I notice in a magazine the statistic: more babies are born in the month of July in the US than any other time of year. Suddenly, visions of well prepared mothers laboring in my bathtub, with my birthing ball, eating my snacks, surrounded by family, all cozy in the caring confines of Family Beginnings filled my head; the obvious alternative was that me and other mothers who put it off would be screaming and squatting in a ditches along the lousiest stretches of road in Dayton... mine would be Smithville Road, while we're identifying worst case scenarios, probably while their husbands played golf in shirts that still smelled like biriyani masala... but I digress. This slightly exaggerated thought made me call and take the first possible orientation appointment available, February 19th. The woman manning the phones there is a sweet and patient thing with an accent of sub-Saharian African origin, and let me tell you - this babe will talk at her own pace no matter what.
Me: (after a long list of yes/no questions to determine that my pregnancy is low risk)
So what do I have to do? Are tours available?
Lady: J'you will haveah do come for an ohreehentashion....
Me: (Sort of interrupting) Okay...
Lady: ...anduh we havah ohreehentashion hin hevenings, six surty un-teel seven surty...
Me: (obviously eager to sign up) Okay...
Lady: ... abailable openings are fo Feb-a-uary h'nineteensh, Feb-auary twentayseex, Mawrch farth...
Me: I'll take the first one, Feb 19th?!?
Lady: ...Mawrch aighteenth, Mawrch twentayfeefth, Apebril first, Apebril aighth, Apebril fivteenth, Apebril twentayninah, May seex...
Me: Can I take the first one, please?
Lady: ... anduh May dirtheenth. (pauuuuse.) Whichuh one j'you wooood likeuh?
Needless to say, two nights back we were there, albeit late, to hear a kind nurse (who looked like a chubby Carrie Heffernan/Leah Remini) patiently read the entire low down to a room full of Saby, myself, and probably 3 or 4 other nice responsible looking couples and a few ladies (also nice looking) on their own. The approach brought us through the regular Maternity rooms, which appear to be very nice, but once you step through the double doors that separate Family Beginnings from the rest of the ward, it's like stepping into a Country Inn and Suites. There is a common kitchen and family room area, stocked with rockers, recliners, couches and the all important TV. I almost expected a self-serve waffle station. Then down a little corridor filled with photos of previous happy families born there, are three birthing suites. They have the typical hospital, red plastic room numbers on the outside, but once you're inside it's like a little bed and breakfast.
We were impressed to hear they do NOT have hospital beds - each of the three rooms is equipped with a queen bed, in which both you and your husband can sleep after the birth, a crib for baby, a changing table, cd player and a flat screen tv with DVD player, and a blanket warmer. The bathroom, which is about as big as our bedroom at home, is stocked with the most fabulous TUB ever:
Oooooh, TUB. What a beautiful sight. Us Schaefer girls are bath-takers, much to the disdain of my dear husband, who is too big to fit into a tub and therefore does not understand the joy of soaking oneself up to your chin in hot water. This tub is big enough for me, dear husband, a medium-sized farm animal, and whichever midwife is on duty that night. Not that I'm going to have a goat with me come July, or even invite anyone else in, but I can't imagine that the big beautiful bathtub in my Family Beginnings suite will remain unused once it comes time for Mrs. Lina George to give birth.
Other things Mrs. George loved about Family Beginnings:
FOOD!
Short of actually having that waffle station I mentioned, they, unlike most hospitals today, allow mothers in labor to eat. Not just eat, but eat whatever they want. I'm sure if I were in the tub, dilated 4 centimeters, and asking for a plate of baby back ribs they might protest, but for all intents and purposes it is allowed. Which was one of my biggest issues with a regular hospital birth. Let's see... for 14+ hours I'm going to be extremely uncomfortable, pushing my guts out, and then not be allowed to eat? And all this while not only in labor, but still harboring another living being withing the confines of your physiology. Not eat!?!? I couldn't hack more than three hours of just sitting still without at least a snack. Screw that, maaan!
DVD player and flat screen tv in every room.
Hello, dvds of Sunrise Planet/Sunrise Earth from the Discovery Channel. (hint - this is something that doesn't come on the registry list at Babies R Us, but still something I would love and appreciate as a gift.) Hello, happy hubby watching his reruns of King of Queens after he can no longer handle any more of seeing my distended belly underwater in the tub.
Nurses with a sense of humor.
After reading about the tub from the list of regulations, the nurse who looked like Carrie Heffernan noted that husbands are welcome in the tub, but must bring their own bathing suit. Yikes!
Needless to say, I am actually excited, as it's beyond exactly what I wanted. We're the first ones on the list for the childbirth classes offered at Family Beginnings come June. The environment and attitude there are both phenomenal and it sort of rubs off on you. Definitely good vibes! And I don't think they'll laugh at my birthing chair :-)
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