I am here in an unaccompanied status. I was told not to come since healthcare would be available to me only on a space available basis (the usual drill) but once I arrived (at 18 weeks) and was put into the women's health system, I was in it for the duration and didn't have to battle for every single appointment. While I've had a more difficult time getting in to pediatrics, Dr. Burns is phenomenal and has seen Quinn anyway.
I did not attend the 121/Storks Nest orientation tour and in hindsight, I don't think I missed anything. I was hoping for a natural birth and by chance met with the midwife (Jenny Lee) for both my 36 and 38 week appointments. I think they like for you to meet with as many different providers as possible since there's no telling who will be on shift when you actually deliver.
I took the bus up for my 38 week appointment at the 38 week and 3 day mark. I had no intentions of checking into the Storks Nest that day and even though the midwife told me I had ZERO signs of impending labor, for some reason I changed my mind and decided to stay. I consider myself pretty tolerant of substandard conditions- pretty easy to please and not one to complain and while I never issued any kind of formal complaint, I will say that the Storks Nest was horrendous. Without exaggeration, my room temperature was below 60 degrees and I had to keep the door open just to allow some heat in from the common hallway. There was a communal bathroom with one shower and two toilets, simply not sufficient for 6 pregnant women. And I won't even go into the decor...it was scary, but the big issue here was the lack of climate control. That very night my water broke and I was fortunate enough not to spend a single night there.
The girl across the hall ruptured her membranes at the same time, so we rode together in the ambulance the 300 yards to the hospital. Since my water broke and I was still showing ZERO signs of labor (aside from the membrane rupture) I didn't get the natural birth I was planning on. I did, however, feel that I was adequately briefed on my options for induction and pain management and was able to make informed decisions about the process. Overall, I was very pleased with the level of care at the hospital. The staff was friendly, attentive, and knowledgeable, even through shift changes--even when I didn't necessarily know their names. There were only two of us in the ward that night, so I suppose it could be different with more patients, but I know they don't have a very large capacity and occasionally send people downtown. FYI, I shared a recovery room with the other new mom, even though there were two other rooms- fortunately she was nice! There was also no place for the hubbies to sleep if they wanted to stay the night...my husband squeezed in the bed with me.
As far as breastfeeding support went, my nurse came in every few hours to wake me in order to feed the baby. She showed me different positions and offered suggestions on how to rouse the baby in order to eat those first few days. She also observed to make sure the baby had a good latch. They consistently asked how the breastfeeding was going but didn't insist I complete the chart (#/time of feeding sessions, # of diapers, etc) until day two. I was released not quite 48 hours after delivery.
Tips to bring with you to the 121...warm clothes for the storks nest, calling cards (their vending machine was down), and black undies! Another FYI, if you're a one cell phone and one VOIP household like we are, you can rent a cell phone by the week at the Dragon Hill Lodge. There was no phone in my Storks Nest room, so needed a way to alert the husband that the baby was coming.
Things I wish I'd known...I think people don't tell you a lot of stuff about the late stages of pregnancy and/or delivery because then we'd never go through it! Really, it wasn't that bad :) But as far as breastfeeding goes, and certainly everyone is different...I wasn't expecting the vast difference in milk production between my left and right side. I've stuck with it, and now just affectionately refer to them as "slow flow" and "fast flow". I also didn't know what kind of feeling to expect with "let down" and didn't experience that feeling until more than a week or two after his birth. And finally, I wasn't prepared for the amount of milk that would be leaking through breast pads, bras, shirts, and even then STILL dripping from my body. Two months later, I am still experiencing this phenomenon- it's certainly better with an established appetite and I realize there are things to do to stop this let down, but applying pressure to the nipple/areola is uncomfortable for me, so if I'm at home, I just let it go (or flow, that is, into a cloth that I stuff into my bra- glorious, I know!)
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