What was the BEST part of your hospital birth?

[Emilie]

I am wondering the best part about a hospital birth- what you were most pleased with during your hospital; birth.

[tinyshoes]

meeting my baby!

[maxmama]

Not being dead at the end of it (I had severe preeclampsia/HELLP syndrome).

[GooeyRN]

The one RN. Her name was Paulene. She was so kind. All of the nurses were great, but this one really stood out. She really worked with me to try and get my baby latched on. (my baby was not a preemie by definition, but showed signs of prematurity, no I was not induced or c/s. Baby was also lethargic from jaundice) She fought with the doc to get me an extra day stay, so I could meet with the LC. She hooked me up with a finger feed system. She hooked me up with a breast pump. She was so helpful. We roomed in, so baby never left me. No one even tried to take her out of the room. Everything that had to be done was done with me right there. DH was allowed to stay overnight with me, and they had a pull-out bed for him. Dietary catered to my vegetarian diet. Someone from dietary came to ask me each day what I would like for my meals. I got to labor in the jacuzzi tub, use the birth ball, walk freely. It was up to me how often I was on the monitor, until late labor when there were some problems. It was a great experience. I will deliver there again.

[desultory]

Getting to go home early after my last c-section. My midwives ok'ed me and the babe for release after 2 days.

[Eman'smom]

Pretty much everything (I'm a huge homebirth fan but hospital births can be great too). EVERY one of my wishes was respected, I didn't have an iv, I wasn't offered drugs, I waterbirthed, breastfeed early and often, cosleep, didn't raise an eyebrow at refusing eye ointment, circ we roomed in. With dd, ds stayed with us most of the time.......

The nurses and midwife really offered us our privacy and were totally cool with everything we wanted.

[PGNPORTLAND]

I had a great experience too. I have to say the best part was pushing out my baby in the operating room. there were some concerns about sophia's heartrate and they were preparing me for a C-section. I remained calm and spoke up and said that I felt like pushing and they said "go ahead". she came out in three pushes! : I had my prenatal care with residents of the university hospital I gave birth in. the primary resident I saw throughout my pregnancy was wonderful and I was so happy she was able to be present at sophias birth. she had gone home at the end of her shift to sleep but came back as soon as I was dialated. It was very important to me to have a trusting relationship with my doctor and in the end it really paid off as I was able to feel safe and calm when I needed to focus.

There were other great things too. when I first got to the hospital, I was seen by an intake nurse who I had talked to on the phone. she answered all my questions and I felt very comfortable with her. unfortunetly she was going off shift and would not be able to remain with me through my labor. Not only did she set me up with a labor nurse who was equally awesome but she (the first nurse) called my hospital room FROM HER HOME the next day to find out how my birth went and how I was doing. Throughout my labor and delivery I made all the decisions and felt very listened to and supported.

I guess the third great thing was the breastfeeding support I received. I got help latching sophia on minutes after her birth, at my request, then a nurse came and helped me pump my colostrum as sophia was a bit early and jaundiced so sleepy and slow to latch on. I was really a bit clueless as I hadn't been planning to pump at all, but the nurse go me all set up and got my dp involved in cleaning and assembling the pump equipment. my baby got my colostrum (they called it liquid gold) and I was also set up with a lactation consultant who I saw twice before I left the hospital. I had a great start to my breastfeeding relationship.
I, too, would love to deliver there again. I couldn't have asked for a better birth experience. thanks for starting this thread. writing this down really brought back all the wonderful memories for me and affirmed my happiness in my experience.

pauline

[traceface]

A couple of the nurses who were so kind and gentle with me and I felt they were compassionate about my being separated from my new baby for the 1st 24 hours and crying a lot

[<<>>]

Leaving :

[<<>>]

Ok, at the time, when I didn't know better I was thankful that...
-I didn't get the episotomy they said I would need.
-that they let me room in
-I was allowed a birthing ball and rocking chair.....

My third was a homebirth and I had a lot more "best parts" for that birth...and it was twice as long.

[Viola]

The best part of mine was after the birth when I was on the maternity ward for 2 days. It wasn't as comfortable as home would have been, but my husband was there in the room with us for 2 days, and the nurses were very kind and caring. They acted like I had done something noteworthy, giving birth, you know? Maybe I'm just needy, but I felt very lonely and disconnected on the day after I had my homebirth, because my husband took our 4 year old and went to run errands. I got up, got dressed and went downstairs because I wasn't sure what else to do, and it didn't seem right to stay in bed. Plus my nephew was downstairs and even though he is very reticent and stayed in his room most of the time, he did come out briefly to watch tv or whatever, so at least I had him. I really wanted people around me, sharing in the joy.

[Persephone]

The fact that my ctx started on their own after the Cervidil at 3 mins apart, so I never had to have Pit.

Oh, and Kelly, my nurse during the second part of my labor. I never felt particularly close to her, but she worked with me, and she saved me from an epidural (I requested one at 4 cm, after two hours of labor, because of something my crappy midwife said, and she recognized that I was moving fast, and my plan to push after the epi wore off wasn't gonna happen- so she suggeted Nubain, which helped a ton (not to relieve the pain, it did nothing for that, but I relaxed, and dilated from 6-10 cm in another hour, and had the baby.) Kelly, and the rest of the nurses are angels. You RNs are amazing, and completely underappreciated women!

[earthmama369]

With dd's birth, she was a little early and we hadn't written our birth plan yet, were still researching options . . . my water breaking and contractions starting right up was a big surprise! But even without a written birth plan, they were so encouraging through 18 hours of labor. I never once heard the word "C-section" mentioned. Nurses regularly encouraged me to sit on the ball, take a shower, walk -- and walk, and walk -- around the wing. They didn't even blink when they walked in on my husband helping me with nipple stimulation! (Which is good, because we tried that for 4 hours. Ouch.) The doctor encouraged me to touch dd's head as she crowned and see her in the mirror, dh cut the cord, and dd came right up on my chest to bond and nurse, per standard hospital policy. They gave us all the time we wanted before offering to weigh and measure her.

With ds's birth, this time with a written plan, I again labored as I wanted, this time in a tub we rented and brought into the hospital. I went in for an NST at 41 weeks, already in labor, and went home to labor for a few hours before going back in. When I came back, they skipped the 20 min. monitoring and after a quick listen to ds's heart tones I went right into the tub and stayed there. Every once in a while our doctor would peek his head around the door and ask how things were going. A couple times he or a nurse came in and checked ds's heart tones, but they were really good about waiting for the right time in a contraction and maneuvering around me instead of asking me to do anything. And when we hit sudden (and very unexpected) complications, they went from hands-off to hands-on in seconds and helped me get him out and got him revived very quickly. They hit that balance I needed -- hands off while everything was going well, and responding quickly and appropriately when needed. And even after the crisis they were still respectful of our birth plan and double checked pretty much everything with us.

(. . . And no, this wasn't one of those emergencies that "wouldn't have happened if we'd opted for a homebirth." It's OT, but boy am I getting tired of that attitude.)

[PGNPORTLAND]

Originally Posted by earthmama369

With dd's birth, she was a little early and we hadn't written our birth plan yet, were still researching options . . . my water breaking and contractions starting right up was a big surprise! But even without a written birth plan, they were so encouraging through 18 hours of labor. I never once heard the word "C-section" mentioned. Nurses regularly encouraged me to sit on the ball, take a shower, walk -- and walk, and walk -- around the wing. They didn't even blink when they walked in on my husband helping me with nipple stimulation! (Which is good, because we tried that for 4 hours. Ouch.) The doctor encouraged me to touch dd's head as she crowned and see her in the mirror, dh cut the cord, and dd came right up on my chest to bond and nurse, per standard hospital policy. They gave us all the time we wanted before offering to weigh and measure her.

With ds's birth, this time with a written plan, I again labored as I wanted, this time in a tub we rented and brought into the hospital. I went in for an NST at 41 weeks, already in labor, and went home to labor for a few hours before going back in. When I came back, they skipped the 20 min. monitoring and after a quick listen to ds's heart tones I went right into the tub and stayed there. Every once in a while our doctor would peek his head around the door and ask how things were going. A couple times he or a nurse came in and checked ds's heart tones, but they were really good about waiting for the right time in a contraction and maneuvering around me instead of asking me to do anything. And when we hit sudden (and very unexpected) complications, they went from hands-off to hands-on in seconds and helped me get him out and got him revived very quickly. They hit that balance I needed -- hands off while everything was going well, and responding quickly and appropriately when needed. And even after the crisis they were still respectful of our birth plan and double checked pretty much everything with us.

(. . . And no, this wasn't one of those emergencies that "wouldn't have happened if we'd opted for a homebirth." It's OT, but boy am I getting tired of that attitude.)

earthmama: ITA with what you said at the end there. I feel the same way.

[snowbird25ca]

This is going to sound funny perhaps, but my favorite part of dd's birth is still the 25 mins or so leading up to her arrival and the first minute afterwards.

I'd been checked and was at 6cm's and 10 mins later kept telling them I felt like pushing. I was laboring on my hands & knees, so didn't see the look on the nurses face, but she finally with a huge attitude in her voice checked me again & said "um, I think I better call the dr."

Then my dr. arrives and is talking to dh about how long it'll be before I'm ready to start pushing/deliver (I had a bit of a lip,) and I announced to the room "here comes the baby" and my dr. walks over & says "she's not kidding, I can see the head." Again I wish I could've seen the look on my dr.'s face since I was still on hands & knees. My dd crowned while my dr. was trying to get her gloves on...

It's been 2 yrs and I still laugh when I think about it. I was amused even right then in the moment.

Overall I really couldn't complain about my experience, my birth plan was followed & I wasn't hooked up to monitors after the initial strip when they were deciding if they should admit me... they tried, but I didn't hold still enough & the sensors kept moving.

[2sweetboysmom]

Ds1 (then 2years old) comming in to see me and his baby brother about 20 minutes after delivery. We have a couple of great photos that I absolutely cherish. www.piferfamily.myphotoalbum.com Also talking the nurses into letting us leave 4 hours early!

edited to add my photo link

[onlyboys]

I enjoyed the drive with my husband the most. It was just us, he was driving, I was contracting and smiling and thrilled that we were going to meet our newest! My kids came later (after triage, etc) so we had some time for just us.

[hookahgirl]

The food!! It was great!
I had some great nurses too, even the student nurses were so sweet!
(Not everyone has student nurses, I gave the "okay" to let them examine me. Over and over again Didnt want to scare you into thinking everyone has them!)
And the fact I could push a button and a nurse would come and say; "No Whitney, there is nothing wrong with your DD" every hour or so My mama instinct was going nuts and every peep scared the hell out of me LOL SO it was nice to have people there to tell me I was doing it right!

[boscopup]

My nurse bringing me a bowl of Trix at 2am when I was up on my post-birth high (baby was born at 7:37pm). DH was sound asleep on the couch, baby was in the NICU (29 weeker), and I was just AWAKE and HUNGRY (and no, food had not been withheld at any point in my labor... I actually ate a normal beef-filled dinner at the very start of labor, and only labored 2.5 hours).

[dharmama]

with my first....finding out that i was already 10 cm when i arrived!! pushing a button and having a sweet nurse come sit and talk wth me after dd was born (while dh snored on the floor). dancing to "i knew i loved you before i met you" in the hallway with my tiny new dd tucked into my bathrobe.

with my second....everything!!! it was amazing in every way!!!