My Week

What a busy week! Almost everyday there's something. First it's completely back to routine after the Pesach holiday (kids returned to school last Wed after an almost three week vacation, so this is the first "real" week..), and my mother returning from a very long vacation in New-Zealand (my father returning in the next few days) and doing an L&D hospital tour, and seeing the nurse that now is once in two weeks (well actually this was/will be last/next week, not this week, but still feels packed [and I think it's time to make an appointment at the dr.]), and the specialist I have to see (an endocrinologist because of a slightly elevated TSH. I am not worried, just another thing to do..), and the SMC meeting next week.... oh, and started doing perineal massage this week. Full :-).

As for the tour I had yesterday - I was very pleased. First I got conformation to what I already knew, that they go with you on a natural birth, their aim is to please and if natural is what you want they will let you have it and not try and push you towards unnecessary medical interventions. Yes, there's no natural birth centre and the delivery rooms are quite small, but I think the human material is more important!
It was also good to see the place and know where the hospital is actually located, where the wards are and to get an overview of what happens when you come to deliver.
A slight minus was her (the midwife who gave us the tour) telling us that while they are all for homing, they cannot guarantee it. They will not put a woman who doesn't want rooming with one who does want it, and if there's a shortage of rooms, well.. (and I do take into account that the majority of women using this hospital, which is located in an ultra religious town, do not want rooming. Please let them have two or three quite nights before they go back to their seven, eight, nine, ten kids!). But if this is going to be the only big disadvantage, well, I think I'll live with that :-).
I liked how they are very strict with visiting hours. Upon entering (and putting my bag on the desk for a security check, so he probably didn't see my belly) I was asked where I was headed. When I said to the L&D he wouldn't let me in as it wasn't visiting hours. I then explained I'm for the tour, but it was nice to know. I do hear stories about other hospitals who don't force the visiting hours, and you might want to rest but your roommate still has visitors...
And I liked that it isn't a learning facility. No residents coming in every few minutes (making one of the most private events into a train station) and no poking their hands into my hooohaaa! Actually she said a doctor will come in once (and even then not necessarily do a physical check) and that could be it! I do not want a doctor at my birth.

At the first part of the tour, when the midwife was explaining stuff, I was thinking of doing a tour at another hospital. Namely the one near my house. A big and very good hospital (except, while they do have a natural birth centre [and charge quite a lot for it], their orientation is very much medical, so I am not even thinking of going there.) Anyway, I was thinking of going there to confirm what I do like at "my" hospital, and just to see a different perspective. But then we went into the nursery with all those day old babies, and.... Yeah, I'm probably hormonal and very emotional and my eyes get watery over almost nothing, but what a flood I had in that nursery! Couldn't stop myself, just felt like it was too much. I think I do not want to see a real (as opposed to a picture/photo of, that's somehow different) one day old baby until I come in to deliver mine! So I think I'll pass on another tour. Anyway as I said, I am more than pleased with them.

And I'll end with this interesting thing I've read. A short passage about psychophony (according to the text, a scientific field dealing with the human body as receiver and transmitter of sound). They say that the human voice is better received than electronic music, and that the pelvis is the best receiver, beeing like a big radar that absorbs sounds. So, according to this theory, the reason why baby moves head down, is to be closer to this big sound receiver. They say that in cultures where it is common and popular for the mother and the people around her to sing, it is more widespread for babies to be in a head-down position. But in our industrialized western society, with all this music from electrical appliances that we hear, that there is a big increase in breech position. An interesting theory, which makes me talk (they talked about the importance of talking to baby too) and sing all the more :-).