On our upcoming visit to ECH…
Here in the Bay Area, there are a couple really common places to have your kids. And by ‘have’ I mean ‘give birth to’. El Camino Hospital, or ECH, is one of the more common ones. It seems to have the right combination of good facilities, good doctors, and is close to our home, so we don’t have to go far when the time comes.
So, we’re planning our second stay at ECH. For those of you who don’t know me — this means we’re expecting our second kid! Huzzah!
Although, I’m sure its going to be different the second time around. Mr. B is going to be 20 months old when the little one arrives, and we’re certainly going to have our hands free for a little while. But, I still can’t help thinking: What would I like to do differently? How could the process have gone more smoothly? What should I have done differently?
With Mr. B around, I’m not really sure how things are going to work out. I don’t think I’ll be sleeping at the hospital like I did last time — since I’m not sure that Mr. B would really understand whats going on and what’s needed of him.
Do any of you out there have ideas about how to make the ECH experience as good as it can be? Are there any tricks? Here are the things we learned on our stay:
- The weird refrigerator-looking thingy is actually full of warm blankets for mommy & baby
- If you don’t like your delivery nurse, then you can kindly ask to see another.
- Nurses seem to be on 4 or 8 hour shifts anyway, so you’ll likely have several nurses.
- It’s unlikely that your wife’s doctor will actually be there for the birth. Get yourself mentally prepared to have a doctor you’ve never met come in, deliver your baby, and walk out.
- They’re going to give your kid a pacifier unless you really tell them not to, and even then, they may still do it. (Mr. B came back from the nursery with a pacifier in his little cart several times…)
- That baby heart rate monitor thing is a huge pain in the ass. You can ask for a wireless version, and if it’s not in use, they’ll bring it in for you.
- The most comfortable place for dads to sleep is likely out on the couch, not in the room. This is especially true if you’re not in a private room.
- Your new kid will be visited by several pediatricians while you’re in the hospital. This is a good time to figure out who you like, and think about choosing them as your regular pediatrician, if you don’t have someone already lined up.
- Jaundice is common. Ugh. I could go on and on about this one.
- Hospital food isn’t as bad as you thought, but it does get tiring pretty quickly. The best entrees at ECH were the Indian food selections.
- Lots of other advice for Moms to be that I don’t really feel like it’s appropriate to share here…
What about dealing with the second kid? How’d you handle that? Were there grandparents involved, or did you do it by yourself? Inquiring minds want to know!
