Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Tour of Birthing Center

We had another doctor's appointment yesterday morning. According to our calculations, I am 33 weeks, but according to the doctor, I am 34 weeks. Either way, everything is looking good and our next appointment is in two weeks.

Last night, we also had a tour of the new birthing center at Maine Medical Center, where I will be having Kaitlyn. The center is brand new, it just opened at the beginning of September. It is it's own separate wing of the hospital and has it's own security desk. When I arrive at the hospital, Kevin and I have to show ID and will get "mom" and "dad" stickers until we are checked in and issued wrist bands that will correspond to the baby's. If anyone comes with us or comes to visit, they also have to show ID and will receive "visitor" stickers with their photo on them.

The first floor of the center is the prenatal unit. This is for women with pregnancy complications who need to be admitted before they go into labor. The third floor is the NICU.

The second floor contains triage, the labor and delivery rooms and the ORs. When I arrive, I will be checked into one of the private rooms in triage where I will be accessed to determine if I am in active labor or if I am going to be sent home for a false alarm. All of the triage rooms have private bathrooms and flat screen TVs. If I am in active labor, I get walked across the hall to the labor and delivery rooms. All of these rooms are private rooms with private bathrooms and showers. Each of the rooms also have Jacuzzis, birthing balls, flat screen TVs, and CD players. The lighting in the rooms can be dimmed and massage therapy is offered. There is also a couch that can be made into a bed for Kevin. Kaitlyn and I will stay in these rooms until about two hours after delivery.

After we leave the labor and delivery room, we head up to the fourth floor where the mother and baby rooms are as well as the nursery. Maine Med keeps mothers for 2 days after a vaginal delivery and 3-4 days after a C-section. Kaitlyn will in all likelihood be in the room with me. There is a nursery, but this is for babies who need special monitoring, but aren't sick enough for the NICU. All healthy babies stay in the room with their mothers. Again, there are private rooms and bathrooms. These rooms have flat screen TVs, DVD players, CD players and Wi-Fi. So, we will be able to get Kaitlyn's first photo up on the blog within hours of her birth! There are couches in these rooms as well, and the nurses will bring pillows and blankets, so Kevin will be able to stay in the room with us if he wants to! I won't have to eat nasty hospital cafeteria food either! The birthing center employs its own chef and has a room service menu. My food is charged to the hospital bill and insurance. If Kevin wants to order off of the menu, it costs $5 for breakfast and $7 for lunch or dinner. If we choose to, we can also order takeout as long as dad is willing to go down to the security desk to pick up the food.

All in all, we are pretty excited as the center is great! Now if only I can get over the whole fear of labor!

1 comment:

Sharon G said...

WOW...things have chnaged a lot at MMC since I had Hannah!!! I was in a cramped room with a shared bathroom. Craig slept in a chair when they induced me. Needless to say, it wasn't the most comfortable place. You're in good hands though...the Drs and nurses were wonderful!!!