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Sunday, November 22, 2009

Hospital birth tour

To this point I have said I plan to labor at home to the best of my ability at which point I will transfer to the hospital I have chosen to deliver our beautiful son. And while that is still the case, after our hospital tour today I am not as scared to go in a little earlier.

I have previously given birth at St. Vincent one of the biggest hospitals in the area, which has the largest labor and delivery (L&D from here on out) units in the Pacific Northwest. It was fine (if you don't count how long I was in labor the lack of actual support from the staff and ALL the medical intervention that was forced given to me.) I would not recommend that hospital to most of my friends. The Dr's and Midwifes and most of the nurses were competent and nice, some were even great. (if you still read- you know who you are. :)

But I am actually excited about going to Kaiser Sunnyside to give birth.

When we were pregnant with Grayson we asked about a hospital tour. We were told there was a tour but it was a video and the tour stopped outside the L&D doors. WHAT?! How does one tour the L&D from a video? I for one was not satisfied with that. Zack and I showed up one day when I was pretty sure our midwife was going to be there and asked her if we could have an informal tour, which she gave us. We skipped the video.

Kaiser Sunnyside, ah Sunnyside. The tour is a TOUR! You meet in the lobby and the guide walks you all around the newly remodeled spaces. We went into the L&D and postpardum unit and everything in between. Here is what a L&D room looks like:

minus all the lamps and fake flowers. The guide said they have birth balls (we had to take our own, the other hospital said the "probably" had one but had "no idea where they were"- um okay. ) and squat bars for use with the beds. (other hospital didn't offer these to our knowledge)
Yay! She also said they will let you birth using the squat bar or whatever is MOST comfortable for YOU! I am in awe and shock. I almost cried. I knew the Sunnyside had a lower Csection rate (24% vs 34+% at the other last I checked) and that it was more of a freestanding birth center feel but I was pleasantly shocked!

The staff that greeted us was friendly and warm. And it was so quiet! That was one thing that really stood out to us. Other hospital delivers more than 6000 births a year. Sunnyside is closer to 2000 a year. It was lovely quiet. No hustle and bustle.

There is a fridge in everyroom and a jetted walk-in soaking tub for mommy use. Lovely! And smaller baths/showers in most rooms. I think best of all for Zack is there was NO air duct above the "partner" bed. :) He hated that about the other hospital. It was miserable. Mostly cold air blowing right in his face any time he tried to sleep.

The only downside I can see is that SS is on the other side of town, about 45 minutes away without traffic. :(

Anyway, I am very excited to deliver this little guy and not one bit scared. I KNOW my body and baby can do this. We will do great! Now if I could just find a doula (still have no solid leads! RUTH CALL ME!) And if I could talk him into staying in there through January so I can work a little longer. I am not ready to not have any money coming in. :( Hopefully Zack gets a job quickly!

Wish me luck!

7 comments:

rae ann said...

you should call my friend annemarie. she's a doula and a massage therapist. she's super fun and easy to be around and i would invite her to my birth in a heartbeat. you can reach her at: aabneuman at gmail dot com

also, a friend of mine delivered at KSS and it was great! the facility was awesome and the rooms were huge! it sounds like you made a really great choice! good luck!

Sarah @ BecomingSarah.com said...

I'm wishing you lots and lots of luck! I just spent awhile catching up on your blog, so I'm also sending warm wishes Zack's way; may he find a job soon.

It sounds like your tour was so nice. Ours was lame. I learned more about L&D when I was 9 cm dilated than I did on the tour lol.

Anonymous said...

Oh no! St Vincents was so close for me ;) heehee. I can't wait to hold that little guy!!!!!!!!

Corie

BelleZimet said...

That's great!!!!!! It looks and sounds awesome.

eireann said...

i only recently switched to kaiser and then reluctantly. nor was i thrilled when i found out i was pregnant and knew i would be delivering at kaiser (and having all my prenatal care there). i am still not 100% sold on everything about kaiser, but i was very satisfied with the care i got when i had hannah.

that said, our kaiser did not have as nice of rooms as those. nor did they have birthing balls. i am betting KSS L&D is relatively new? also, if your kaiser is like ours here at south sac, they will move you to a recovery/postpasrtum room after hotdog is born, which is much smaller and does NOT have a comfortable bed for zack. all they had was pull-out recliners (the blue chair in your photo) and i heard that roseville (newly opened and MUCH nicer than south sac) does not either. from our l&d tour at south sac, we were under the impression that we would be in the one room with the larger window seat/bed the entire stay, and we were not.

not trying to rain on your parade at all. it looks like you have made a great choice and as i said overall i was very happy with the care i got. they were very kind and respected my desire to labor naturally as long as i could handle it and did not quibble when i wanted drugs, or to be in the shower, or when i needed more pain meds afterwards, or when i wanted to be with hannah when they did her heel stick and her hearing test. it was a positive experience and i hope you have a positive experience too.

(sorry this is such a long comment! :) )

Amy H said...

Looks really nice! Everything you wrote reminds me of Tuality, actually, which is where I had both my kids.

Jaimey said...

Rea- I emailed her. Nothing so far. Thanks for the referral!

Sarah- I imagine I will learn a lot at that point too. :)

Corie- sorry. You may not even get to visit, depending on if they change the rules between now and then. At this point its only 4 including spouse, the entire time you are there... If I have a doula and Zack and Marie the masseuse that leaves one. I'll keep you posted. :)

Erin- nope not raining. We saw the PP rooms as well. Nice but you are right not as big or nice. The L&D there is only 2-3 years old. ALL new wings. Overall very nice. Zack has a bed in both though.