THE HOSPITAL STAY AFTER THE BABY IS BORN

So, you've survived the hospital admittance and you have gotten the delivery out of the way. Now you get to enjoy your wonderful stay in the hospital after the baby is born. Most hospitals now allow you to keep your baby with you in your room at all times if you're capable of caring for him or her. Meaning, as long as you are not feverish or high on painkillers. haha. Give yourself the option of keeping the baby with you or letting the nursery staff care for them while you attend to a quick bath or sleeping for a 45 minute nap. One of the most common fears of new mommies is about turning their babies over to the care of the nursery, in fear that the nurses ond duty secretly go against your insistence on breast-feeding and will disregard all orders and sneak some formula into the little one when the viewing room shades are drawn. It does happen I've been told but not all of the time. Some times babies are just given sterilized water from a bottle when they seem to need help quieting down because they understand the last thing they need is a baby not hungry when the mother is trying to get the hang of the whole nursing thing.

A good justification for rooming in is to get to know your baby and to practice your mothering skills with the safety of a medical setting. This is a very wise and pragmatic choice, especially if you allow yourself to send the baby back to the nursery fro a few hours if the responsibility is still too much for you. Just watching your baby sleep is a miracle, perfect and dumbfounding. You can watch her breathe or flutter her eyelashes with fascination. And don't forget the smell! The smell of a newborn is the most perfect smell that you can never get enough of. It is intoxicating.

Like a good hotel or a cruise, your hospital will probably offer other services or activities to make your stay more fulfilling. As soon as you are coherent, ask a nurse whether they offer any infant care classes and if they do, limp yourself down to one. At this point you probably don't even know what questions to ask but the professionals what answers to give you even if you don't know you need them. If daddy can come too, better yet still, especially if he is going to be there to carry out his weight in this parenting thing.

If you intend to breast-feed your baby, you might find the assistance of a Lactation Specialist very valuable. Don't be surprised if nursing is much more difficult than you imagined it would be. It can be as frustrating as learning how to ride a bike and much more painful. Thank goodness there are specialists that can help you. These people will also give you their number to call after you've gone home because some of the most exciting breast-feeding emergencies occur long after you've checked out of the hospital.

Another hospital service that you may enjoy is their photographer who takes those adorable newborn photos. They are wonderful to have because your newborn will never look that way again. The pointy head, the splotchy skin and swollen eyes will disappear. If you choose to not use this service that's okay too. Your newborn will much more adorable in a week! Before you leave the hospital be sure to ask them if they have a 'hot line' that you can call if you have questions or concerns after you get home. Most hospitals and birthing centers have advisers taking phone calls 24 hours a day to help new parents. Not every 'emergency' requires a trip to the pediatrician. Sometimes reassurance and a bit of advice is all you really need.

There is no way to predict how you will feel about having visitors after the baby is born. Some love having people come by and other women feel anxious, overwhelmed or disappointed about their birthing experience. The last thing they want at this moment is to have to put on a party face and amuse guests. There's a lot of expectation leading up to delivery and when it's over some women just feel exhausted. THIS IS YOUR TIME! IF YOU DON'T WANT VISITORS, DON'T ACCEPT THEM! They will get over it.

Before you check out, take some time to ask someone with authority which 'stuff' you are allowed to take home with you. Be assure that all the toiletries, will be billed to you whether you use them or not, so take them. Some of the most immediately valuable supplies that hospitals often provide a donut pillow to sit on, throw that sucker right into the suitcase without even asking permission (it's not the greatest thing to go and buy at the drugstore). Also ask if you can take home the little T-shirt and blanket that he wore in the hospital because they make good keepsakes. Diaper bags, etc are also common giveaways. The most important thing to take home with you, besides the baby is the nasal aspirator. That's the blue little rubber bulb that you use to suck mucous out of the baby's nose. It's a wonderful little thing since the baby can't blow his nose or sniff yet. You can buy one at the drugstore but the hospital one is usually better. You also may want to stock up on the obstetrical pads that nurseries use to clean the baby during a diaper change. You may or may not know that you don't use diaper wipes on newborns because the chemicals are too irritating to their skin. a clean washcloth that has been dipped in tepid water works great too. If your baby is a boy and has been circumcised, you will also need a good supply of gauze squares to protect him until he heals. You can easily get these at the drugstore but sometimes with a new baby it's tough to get to the store and if you didn't think of this before hand...it's just some thing you need.

There's also, of course a ton of paperwork to take care of before your bundle of joy can enter the real world. The delivery doctor will begin the process of registering your tiny human when he fills out the certificate of live birth. Then, later, when you are in your room, several papers will be given to you to fill out. Some of this can be taken home to do so if you want, just ask someone which papers NEED to be filled out while you're there. Don't forget you also need to get a Social Security number for your baby. Instead of going to the nearest federal building, sometimes the nurse can give you the forms you need. Next stop...home!

IN THE HOSPITAL

Hospitals are scary and by far the least favorite place of most people....unless you're a doctor, nurse or in the field. There are endless hospital procedures and rules that to us seem ridiculous but to those enforcing those rules aren't silly at all. Certain people handle certain things. Food people handle food, Laundry people handle nightgowns and housekeeping handles vacuuming at the one time you find to sleep. Please don't ask the anyone else to bring you food or ice chips besides the designated person. It just wont make it to your mouth and you'll just frustrate yourself by having to ask again. The nurses are the backbone of the hospital. They are wonderful angels that seem to have a halo glowing around their heads as they help you walk to the bathroom, they know where to put ice packs and give you a run down of what you need to do to get you through the first two days as a mother. If you need to vent and feel the need to be bitchy, take it out on anyone except the nurses. You need them! The baby starts to cry, ring for a nurse. Your stitches hurt too much to bend over the isolate to change the baby's diaper? A nurse can diaper a squirming baby in a blink of an eye. Can't get the baby to feed off both breasts instead of just one? Call the Lactation Specialist. They'll fix it. (You may not like it, but they'll fix it). In desperate need of fresh ice for that pack you're keeping between your legs to relieve the soreness and swelling from all that stretching and stitching? Politely ask the nurse...they understand and they will help.

An important thing to do no matter how busy you are or how silly it seems to you is sign up for the tour of the maternity ward. This tour will give you the important knowledge of how to enter the hospital when you are laboring and how to proceed directly to the relative calm of the labor and delivery ward from the emergency room. And please, make sure all your paperwork has been done in advance. Let me repeat, MAKE SURE YOUR PAPERWORK IS DONE IN ADVANCE! Your obstetrician's office will probably give you a simple little pre-admission form sometime in your second trimester. They will then forward it to the hospital for you or tell you how to send it in yourself. It also wouldn't hurt to call the hospital about a week after submitting this form to make sure they received it and ask if they need any additional information.

After check-in there are generally two paths into a delivery room. The one you take is largely determined by whether your doctor has admitted you into labor room after examining you in his or her office or if you have come directly to the hospital without first being examined by your O.B. If you haven't been examined prior sometimes you will be examined in a holding area called triage. If your labor looks like it is progressing toward a dilated cervix, you will be awarded a labor room. It it is questionable or if your cervix is still tightly closed you might be sent home for a few hours to see if anything develops.

Your labor room also may be decided by your insurance, timing and who knows what other deciding factors. You may be in a quiet room all alone without even a TV after or you could be a nicely remodeled facility with windows, a TV, a telephone and even a chair for your guest. If you hae a scheduled C-section or any complication then it's right to a surgical suite for you.

One major difference between delivering vaginally and by C-section is that, since the C-section is a major surgery, you will need tos pend some time in a recovery room where surgical nurses can monitor your blood pressure and other vital signs. After a couple hours you will be moved again and this is where you get your room on the maternity ward where you will get to know your baby and recover for a couple of days before entering the real world. Even if you delivered vaginally and without incident in a birthing room, you'll be moved shortly after.

Maternity wards are called the happiest place on earth. There's nothing but beautiful babies lined up in plastic bassinet like beds and wrapped up tight. There may be a more traffic on this ward than you would normally like but everyone is happy and loving and don't' be surprised at the grand parents that will stop to see your baby as well as every other little miracle. When you are feeling up to it, take a stroll down to the nursery windows where they are lined up peering at the babies and you'll practically get a standing ovation as you point your little angel out in the crowd. This is a rare moment in motherhood where everything is perfect and sweet.

There are private and semiprivate rooms for new mommies. If you think you're going to do a lot of random entertaining keep in mind that privacy is scarce even in a private room. Someone can come in at any time to check your pads and stitches no matter what you're doing. There are a few things you can bring with you that may make you feel more at home like a special pillow that doesn't smell like hospital disinfectant, a blanket can be helpful too. A bathrobe and some slippers are essential. Bottled water is another luxury you may want to bring a long. The water they leave in those little pitchers taste just like the plastic it is sitting in. You will need a lot of water, especially if you're breast feeding so ask someone to pick you up a six pack. Another essential...your hairdryer. Presentable, dried hair just makes you feel refreshed and more important. This has nothing to do with taking a million photos in the next 24 hours. We all know you just feel better if you can dry your hair rather than leave it wet or dry it with some garbage dryer that barely blows any air. Lip balm is the last essential ingredient to your hospital stay. You will get chapped lips but remember to bring the balm that doesn't smell all juicy and rosy. Babies are sensitive to smells. Do not bring candles, jewelry, toiletries in glass containers or your favorite pair of jeans (sorry, they will not fit yet!).

In most cases even after a C-section you will have some time right after birth to count your baby's fingers and toes and introduce yourself. the delivery room nurse will usually weight and measure the baby in your presence, often while your doctor is doing any necessary repair work on you. Then, the baby disappears. The daddy usually goes to the nursery, the obstetrician goes home to sleep and the nurse moves on to to see other laboring woman. The primary function of the nursing staff is to observe he baby for the first few hours after this or her birth. Statistically, the most serious health problems that are not identified immediately after delivery will become apparent within the first twenty four hours of life. The baby will be given a bath and then given the standard issue uniform of newborns and then swaddled in a blanket. They will also be given antibiotic drops in their eyes. This is done to kill any stray bacteria that the baby may have picked up as he exited your body. They also receive identification bands in the nursery. After all this, the baby will be put into a clear sided plastic bassinet and parked alongside all the other new babies. Tomorrow we'll continue and talk more about your room and board stay in your luxury sweet at the hospital.