Surprising Decision

We visited our second hospital last night. The first visit went really well. In fact, I was surprised how much I liked it. I've had several friends deliver at Hospital 1, but visiting them, I didn't like the rooms as much and it didn't feel as cozy. I'd also heard some things about them being less supportive of skin-to-skin contact after birth, not having as good lactation consultants, and babies being "taken away to the nursery" regardless of mom's wishes. Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised to see that the rooms were much nicer than I remembered, the tour guide, a nurse with 30+ years of experience at that hospital in the maternity unit, consistently emphasized the importance of bonding time, and the discussion that the baby can be with you as much or as little as you like. It's true that you have to change rooms a couple times, but the thought of that doesn't bother me too much. The hospital also had lots of nice amenities including kitchenettes in each ward to get food 24 hours a day. They also have meals on demand. It seemed like DH could also be comfortable there. I've since heard that the lactation consultants at this hospital are very good which makes me feel better. I'm nervous about breast feeding and think I will probably need strong support. Finally, the NICU at this hospital is the highest rated in the region.

Hospital 2, where we visited last night, is where I was SURE I wanted to deliver. I went in with a super positive attitude ready to fight DH for my right to deliver here. The tour started with a little presentation by a doula. I swear this didn't color my impression of the facility, but this woman was SO annoying. She just didn't come across as confident, knowledgeable, or as a very good salesperson for the hospital. Luckily though I had already done some research before going. Now this hospital is more known for encouraging/supporting med free childbirth, breastfeeding, etc. It was interesting listening to her say they would support it being "however I wanted" meaning they would give meds and such if I wanted them. Clearly they are not opposed to the reputation they've acquired. We toured the maternity areas next. This hospital is much smaller and all areas (L&D, Recovery, Nursery, Postpartum, NICU) are all on the same floor and connected by a single hallway. The rooms themselves are lovely with hardwood floors and cozy paint. The norm here is for the baby to room in with mom MOST of the time, but they do have a nursery and there was a baby in it last night. So precious. It was a girl with one of those little hospital hats with a bow on it. Anyway, they have some nice amenities, but not as many as Hospital 1. I also think DH could be comfortable here, but I don't think there are AS many options for him. Finally, the NICU is SLIGHTLY lower accredited than Hospital 1, but the facility has a partnership with the local children's hospital for any extreme cases.

So, after the visit, the decision was clear to me. Despite my pre-conceived notions, I just feel that Hospital 1 is the place for us. DH was great and said I really should choose whatever makes me happiest, but I think this is the right decision. I'm sure there will be more surprises as we go through this whole process, but for now, I'm just pleased we have a hospital.

I'm sure some of the things I'm looking at are not actually important, but at this point in my life, I don't know what I really NEED to have a baby, but I do know what I would look for to make MYSELF comfortable so I've decided to make this decision based on what I do know.