Topic Archive: hospital

March 11, 2012

Top 10: Things To Do in the 3rd Trimester

Currently, I’m 27 weeks with my third child, a boy.  His two sisters are quite excited, although I’m not entirely sure that my soon-to-be middle child understands what’s going on, other than noticing that there is less “lap space” to sit on Mommy for bedtime stories.  I feel huge.  Really huge.  Already.  And based on my past two healthy deliveries, I’m more likely to deliver right around 39 weeks, but of course, this baby could throw me for a loop by arriving much sooner or making me wait way past my due date (which is late May).  So while I still have the energy, clarity, and motivation, I have decided to create and tackle a “must-do” list of tasks for this final (and most challenging) trimester.  Though I only list ten below, don’t ever think even for a nano-second that my list could be so simple and easy.  This is a blog post, not a manuscript for the latest parenting how-to book.  I could easily list more, but I’ll let all of you helpful readers crowd-source more “to-do”s that I probably haven’t considered!  But I’ll be grateful nonetheless for your input.

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Episode 256 | March 6, 2012

Know Your Rights! Routine Hospital Procedures For You and Your Newborn

You’ve chosen to have a hospital birth. What are the routine hospital procedures for both you and your newborn after childbirth? What steps are mandatory and what choices can you make to ensure a more natural experience? OB/GYN Dr. Robert Biter discusses important options available to you and your baby. Plus, PregTASTIC’s host and producer, Sunny Gault, says goodbye to the show and to fans. (more…)

Episode 255 | March 6, 2012

Know Your Rights! Routine Hospital Procedures During Labor and Delivery

While there are many birthing options available for soon-to-be moms, many choose to give birth in a hospital. And while there are some standard procedures, you still have choices about the type of care you want. Today OB/GYN Dr. Robert Biter explores what options you have during labor and delivery, to help ensure the best experience for both you and your baby. (more…)

December 12, 2011

Surviving Bed Rest: The Wait

You’re on bed rest. Look on the positive side. You’ll have lots of time to sleep and relax. Not quite! While you will have lots of time to relax, sleep is another story. If you’re on continuous fetal monitoring, someone will probably have to sneak in to realign the monitors whenever you or the baby moves too far and gets it out of alignment. You’ll have someone come in to check your vital signs every few hours. You’ll have your IV bag changed or be given oral medications. If you don’t have an IV bag attached, someone will have to come by to flush the line to make sure it still works. And let’s not forget about the various alarms, hallway noises of doors banging and the staff talking, neighborhood noises, delivery trucks coming to the hospital. The list is endless!

Every day, in addition to all those visits by the nurses, you will probably get a checkup from your assigned OB and maybe also a perinatologist. The NICU doctors might come by. You might meet someone from Admissions to discuss how you will pay. Perhaps you’ll get an intro to physical therapy so you can do bed exercises. A nutritionist might give you your daily menu, a sociologist will talk to you about the potential life with a baby in the NICU. Yet another endless list. All of these things are important, but all of them will keep you from having an uninterrupted schedule. Accept that and go with the flow, and you’ll be fine. If you’ve already had a baby, you remember those months of interrupted sleep. If you haven’t this could be a rough adjustment. Remember that you don’t have to do this forever—just long enough to let that baby bake a little longer. (more…)

December 2, 2011

Surviving Bed Rest: Self-Preservation

A big thing to remember while on bed rest is that even though the nursing staff is taking wonderful care of you around the clock, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be your own advocate. They know the important questions to ask, but they don’t know what’s bothering you if you don’t tell them.

The gel used with continuous fetal monitoring caused me to break out in a rash. I knew I felt itchy and should have told the nurses sooner, but I waited until the next time we moved the monitors and actually saw the redness. Since I waited too long, it took another day or two for the alternative cream and hydrocortisone to improve things. Even the “baby” soap they provided at the hospital dried out my skin. If you have any skin sensitivities, make sure to bring soaps, etc. from home so you won’t get an uncomfortable surprise. (more…)

November 20, 2011

Surviving Bed Rest: Arrival at the Hospital

First of all, I’m no expert on bed rest. I’m not a doctor, a nurse, or a researcher. All I can tell you about is my particular bed rest at my particular hospital. Maybe this can put some things in perspective for anyone who is about to go on bed rest or for the friends and family of someone who’s already there.

When you first get to the hospital it might be an obvious emergency or it might just be to check on something of concern. You’ll probably get hooked up to equipment to measure your vital signs (a blood pressure monitor or a clamp on your finger that checks your pulse) and a fetal monitor to track of the baby’s heartbeat and your contractions, even if you’re just having Braxton Hicks. These fetal monitors are the same ones usually used for normal delivery. For a term baby, you can just plop them right on. If your baby is preterm, it might take some searching to find the heartbeat, and every time you or the baby changes position, a nurse will have to hunt around to find it again. I hope you like lying really still. The nurses and doctors are going to track heartbeat accelerations and decelerations. Both will happen. They might not have time to explain to you the types of accelerations and decelerations that are good versus which are bad, but if you’re around for bed rest they will have time to answer these questions. (more…)

November 17, 2011

Surviving Bed Rest: The First Two Weeks

Two weeks. That’s how long I’ve been in the hospital. Every time I’m on PregTASTIC, I start my introduction by saying I work for a medical device company. I love medical technology and all the ways it can help people, and I don’t ever want to have to use it. Ever. It should be there if you need it and invisible if you don’t. But sadly, I need it. Two weeks ago, when I was a day under 27 weeks pregnant, my water broke. Hello freak out. We rushed to the hospital, were seen by a million doctors and nurses, and were seriously concerned I would go into labor. I didn’t, thankfully.

Preterm premature rupture of membranes means there is now a much greater risk of infection for me and for the baby. So we’re under constant observation, and I’m not going home. If all goes well and I don’t go into labor or exhibit signs of infection, I am looking at a total of 7 weeks in the hospital before they induce. That’s the best-case scenario; I’d much rather be sitting on my butt in the hospital for two months than visiting the NICU for longer. (more…)

September 9, 2011

Where to Give Birth

People that know me but aren’t familiar with my upbringing probably guess I’ll be opting for some sort of all-natural, unassisted, watery home birth experience. It’s true that I value doing most things as naturally as possible. However, I will not be giving birth at home. I’m not planning on going quite as far the other direction as a planned c-section, induction or even planning on having an epidural, but I do plan to give birth in a level three hospital attended by an obstetrician. Here’s why.

Growing up I had experiences that most kids haven’t had because of who my dad is. My dad is a high-risk obstetrician, a.k.a. maternal-fetal medicine specialist or perinatologist. He was very busy during my childhood and he wanted my brothers and I to understand that the reason for his frequent absence was the very important work he does.  His job is to save the lives of moms with pregnancy and birth complications and their pre-born babies. (more…)