Hospital food

[Liberty5_3000]

I just started realizing that food might be an issue in the hospital after my son is born. I only remember things like lunchmeat sandwiches, "broth", juice/pop, and jello being part of the menu last time, but I didn't care as much then. Now I'm to the point that those things wouldn't even agree with me even if I wanted to just try and eat what they offer. What things will they have that I could compromise on and does anyone have any suggestions of what I could maybe ask my mom or someone to bring in for me this time? And do you think a hospital would have any problems with someone walking in with like a half gallon of milk?

[lach]

I assume you're talking about in the recovery area? I think most L&Ds don't let you eat much.

My hospital had a kitchenette in the recovery wing, with a refrigerator you could use. You just had to write you name and room number on the food. They had a microwave and a toaster oven too.

But I'm sure it entirely depends on the hospital. If you take a tour, you should ask. If there's no tour, just call and ask.

[AustinMom]

What the hospital doesn't know you are eating, doesn't hurt. I don't know where you would store the milk to keep it cool, but I'm pretty sure the cafeteria has milk in it. My inlaws brought me Quiznoes after my cs (a day or so after) and I was VERY thankful.

If you have a cs, they say you should be on a liquid diet till you are able to pass gass, why I don't know.

I remember it was all nasty, cold soups and pastas, processed foods, simple carbs, not a lot of nutrition, which to me is weird because after childbirth, that is when your body needs it most. I had to actually ask them for something healthy, and all they could bring me was an apple. yeah, crazy.

I'd bring your own food, or have someone bring it to you.

[Arduinna]

My husband had major surgery last year and I was really surprised at the choices available for his stay. They basically ran it like a restaurant where you ordered what you wanted off of a pretty substantial menu.

No one should question food being brought in to you. I've brought take out and bagged groceries before. No one said a thing.

[Liberty5_3000]

Originally Posted by AustinMom

I don't know where you would store the milk to keep it cool, but I'm pretty sure the cafeteria has milk in it.

Haha, you just made me laugh at myself because I wasn't envisioning storing a half gallon of milk, I was envisioning chugging it down desperately because I practically live on raw milk and I don't know what I'll do without it. I guess I'm a little unusual

[blueridgewoman]

We had great food where I delivered my daughter- more meat and potatoes like stuff. The morning after she was born I had a big veggie omelet and some roasted potatoes and some fruit. Now, I'm sure there was canola oil in there somewhere, but....

Any chance of you asking the hospital in advance? Are you doing a tour, for instance? Or do you know someone who has delivered there?

[lach]

Originally Posted by AustinMom

If you have a cs, they say you should be on a liquid diet till you are able to pass gass, why I don't know.

I ate normally starting that day. If you have a C Section, my advice is to start eating prunes ASAP!

Originally Posted by Arduinna

My husband had major surgery last year and I was really surprised at the choices available for his stay. They basically ran it like a restaurant where you ordered what you wanted off of a pretty substantial menu.

No one should question food being brought in to you. I've brought take out and bagged groceries before. No one said a thing.

This was what my experience was like, too. With dinner they'd bring you the full menu for the next day, and you could pick whatever you wanted off a pretty long list. You could pick a main dish, up to three side dishes, up to 2 drinks, a dessert... that sort of thing. I'm vegetarian and they had a special vegetarian menu. The macaroni and cheese was particularly good!

But yeah they don't care if you bring in your own food. I guess they might have rules about nuts? So many places do these days. But otherwise you shouldn't have a problem.

[Mama Lo]

Originally Posted by Arduinna

My husband had major surgery last year and I was really surprised at the choices available for his stay. They basically ran it like a restaurant where you ordered what you wanted off of a pretty substantial menu.

No one should question food being brought in to you. I've brought take out and bagged groceries before. No one said a thing.

This is how it was during my stay. I ordered off of a menu and was allowed to order 2 of every category, 2 dinners, 2 drinks, 2 sides, 2 desserts.
They never questioned us about anything being brought in either. They really didn't care what we did at all. It was more like a hotel room than a hospital room

[Nan'sMom]

Originally Posted by lach

I assume you're talking about in the recovery area? I think most L&Ds don't let you eat much.

I think different hospitals have different policies. I also think you can sneak food if needed.

[stephienoodle]

Originally Posted by blueridgewoman

We had great food where I delivered my daughter- more meat and potatoes like stuff. The morning after she was born I had a big veggie omelet and some roasted potatoes and some fruit. Now, I'm sure there was canola oil in there somewhere, but....

I gave birth at the same hospital blueridgewoman did. I've got a ton of food allergies and I had no confidence that they'd be able to accommodate them properly. I brought a full cooler and didn't eat a bite of hospital food during the entire stay. They actually had a mini-fridge in the postpartum room, so I was able to put food in there for later. I was *very* glad that I brought my own food... even though they supposedly were accommodating my food allergies, each meal was not safe for me to eat.

If you're really worried about them accommodating your food needs, call and talk to them about bringing your own. If you can go with food that is ok to eat cold, it might be easier... and you can freeze things if necessary and gather them in one bag in the freezer so they're ready to go at a moment's notice. You can also have liquid diet foods (bone broth!) ready to go in case of c-section.

If you want to try and make a go of the hospital food... go scope out the cafeteria before the baby comes. Try and eat a meal or two there... it should give you an idea of what they might be able to do that will work for you.

[Liberty5_3000]

Okay, thanks! I feel a lot better now. For some reason I was imagining bringing food into a hospital being as difficult as into an airport or something. I've heard enough about the hospital to feel this probably won't be an issue there if it isn't at other places.

[cristeen]

When I was in the hospital, I got 2 meals in 3 days provided for me, and DH was out of luck. So bringing food in is not a problem - we had to have it brought in so he could eat, but we made sure enough was brought for me too. But don't rely on what they're offering - a dry turkey sandwich on white bread, "chicken noodle" soup that tasted like it was out of a can, and an iceberg salad was lunch the first day. I was offered a can of 7up (with HFCS) to deal with mild nausea, and I got microwave reheated pasta as my first post-partum meal... and this is in CA where we have fresh food available year-round.

So every hospital is different, but I can't imagine any hospital giving you crap about bringing in food. Heck the Chinese delivery place we use says right on their menus that they deliver to hospitals.

[Laniemama]

I would def. bring your own food in, no matter what! I'll be bringing in our own food w/ a small cooler when my ds has to go in for a surgery. They offered him goldfish crackers and jello last time, for "recovering"! Then had a hot dog and french fries for dinner, it makes me sick thinking of it now!! Its my body, my baby, I will eat what I want and I will birth how I want. Another of the many reasons we had a home birth!

[NoTiGG]

It seems like with the amount of money involved in healthcare spending thousands of dollars for overnight there should be these grand opulent healthy meals. Instead what you normally find is cafeteria quality prison food basically.

It is a slap in the face to Hippocrates who said let food be thy medicine

[PreggieUBA2C]

For my first c/s, the first 'meal' they brought me was 'broth' from a can. It was cold, and nasty. I didn't eat/drink that.

Then for dinner, I had to ask what the stuff on my tray was. Then I had to ask, "Are you sure?" because it didn't have any qualities that would normally be attributed to chicken and potatoes. I couldn't even swallow the first bite. I cannot eat food dyes either, so even the jell-o was out. My dh brought me Quiznos too and I was so glad. I had no digestive problems and nobody had even said that I have to take only liquid, so I didn't at any point.

They forgot to bring me breakfast altogether the first day following my early surgery, so I didn't know to just ask dh to bring me some food for lunch because the 'food' there only had a vague appearance of something that some people may think is for consumption.

With my second c/s, I didn't eat anything from the hospital either.

I'd definitely bring my own food!!! I even bring my own salt to restaurants when we occassionally go out for a meal. I wish I'd planned for bringing my own food. A cooler full of food would have been great!