32 Weeks, 2 Days (Jul 11 2010)
L&D Tour Episode
Yesterday turned out to be a pretty eventful day. We had signed up for the labor & delivery wing hospital tour, which was supposed to start at 10:00. I hadn't slept well the night before (this is becoming more and more common as time goes by), so I slept late and didn't wake up until almost 9:15. In the rush to get ready and out the door, there was no time for a good breakfast. I grabbed a bottle of cranberry juice and planned to eat after the tour.
Fortunately, we arrived at the hospital on time, and some food was provided: fruit salad, cheese danish, various juices. Tracy, the nurse educator who taught the childcare and breastfeeding classes we attended last month, was also going to lead this tour. I really like her because she is honest, friendly, and experienced. Tracy talked through some general information while we all had a chance to eat:- After 25 weeks, any emergency health situations should be addressed by L&D, not the normal emergency room.
- There is no need to pre-register the stay at the hospital. Just go to L&D and the paperwork will be filled out later.
- No eating or drinking is allowed during labor and delivery, except hard candy and ice chips.
- Generally, the hospital stay will last 48 hours after the baby is born, 72 if it's a c-section.
Then we started the tour in triage (where nurse practitioners or residents examine you to see if you're ready to be admitted), followed by a visit to an actual labor and delivery room. It's a fairly large room with large windows, a bed, a couch and a chair, a TV, a separate bathroom with toilet and shower (yesss), and some medical equipment (computer screens, small baby warming area with set ups for oxygen, etc.) There was lots of wood paneling (I assume it shields the scarier-looking medical supplies), and in the mid-morning light, the room looked quite cozy.
While our tour group stood in this room, Tracy described the labor & delivery process, fetal monitoring and pain medication options, what happens right after the baby is born, etc. We had been standing for perhaps 20 minutes when I started to feel hot and tingly and sick to my stomach. I found a stool and sat down for a minute, but then it was time for the tour to move on to a postpartum room. I stood back up a little shakily and we started down the hall. At this point, I started getting tunnel vision and was sweating, so I turned to Will and told him I wasn't feeling well and thought I might throw up.
He found me a chair and I sat down. After about 5 minutes of resting, I felt somewhat better. Meanwhile, the tour had continued, leaving us behind. We considered trying to meet up with them but decided instead just to go home. Thinking that the episode was caused by a blood sugar surge (fruit, cheese danish, cranberry juice) and subsequent crash, Will made me some eggs. After that I felt much better.
Baby Preparation / Nursery Progress
I decided to spend the afternoon sorting through the baby preparation information/lists I had amassed, and get some major purchases made. I've been having lots of baby anxiety dreams lately -- I'm hoping that I can at least move past the "We don't have any diapers" dreams.
We bought this dresser/changing table from Pottery Barn Kids. We also bought a good amount of stuff from Amazon, including a changing pad and this cover.
I also forgot to mention that last weekend I finished Dana's baby quilt. For the first few weeks/months of her life, she can't have a bunch of stuff in the crib with her, so the quilt will be hung on the wall above the crib. Once she is old enough, we'll take it down and it will be her blankie.
