Hospital tour and other silly things

We went for our hospital tour yesterday.  I have to say, while I hate hospitals, and really didn't want to (ideally) give birth in one, this one is pretty nice.  They did a huge remodel in the last two years, so it has a nice, new, clean feeling (for a hospital, of course).  There's a room with a big hydrotherapy tub that looks awesome, the birthing suits are huge and really nice.  They are well equipped - squatting bars, birthing balls and stools, beds that contort into all the shapes and heights, pull out couch and chair, shower, etc.  I have to say, I was impressed with the room.  They typically let you stay in there for an hour after the birth, then you get moved to either a private, semi, or ward (4 beds) room.  We will be looking at upgrading to a private room (insurance will cover a semi, but with two of us, and two babies, a private room, especially after giving birth sounds worth the splurge) for my stay.  Typically for a vaginal birth they keep you 24-36hrs after, post c-section is usually 48hrs.  The hospital is nice and close, 15 mins drive door to door.  The nursing staff recently went through a lot more training apparently, and they have 1 to 1 coverage during labour. I've heard fantastic things about the staff, so that's a real plus.  Overall, things looked as good as it gets, being a hospital and all.  I do still wish I could have had the option of a home birth, but I'm letting go of that.

We didn't get to see the c-section facilities of course, but apparently they do a good online video tour, so I'll check that out and the NICU.  H looked a tad faint, haha, he is not a fan of hospitals.  For me, it was a bit surreal to be doing a hospital tour, imagining that in just a couple of months, we will be meeting our babies there.  And also that these babies have to come out!  I digress.  I also pre-registered while we were there, so one less thing to do when we go there for real.

Then we went to pick up a shelf at Ikea and look at a few things we need, by then I was beat and ready for home!  After some couch time, we got a little silly.  My mom has a stash of my baby dolls from when I was a kid, and I had completely forgot, but I actually had twin dolls when I was a kid!  They used to cry and then when you put them near each other they would laugh - it was really cute.  Anyways, we brought them home after my shower because I've heard and read about helping your dog adjust and one way to do that is to do things with a doll that you will do with babies.  Holding them, being on the couch, putting them in a carrier, etc.  Doing some of these things now might help us teach Abby about being gentle with them, appropriate behaviour, etc, before it's our real babies.  So I mentioned the carriers - we have 3 right now, and Ergo with infant insert, a Baby Bjorn, and another sling of sorts that I have no idea how to use.  So we both tried one on, put the dolls in, and laughed at how little we know about what we're doing!  I haven't laughed that hard in a while, I thought I might have that moment - pregnant lady pees her pants from laughing so hard!  But I didn't, victory was mine!!  LOL.  H was so cute, seeing him with a carrier on, being all dad like - it was kind of awesome.  Then he says, "Earmuffs" - think Old School - puts his hands over the dolls ears and says, "Jen, I have no idea what the fuck I'm doing"  After an outburst of laughter, I told him I'm not all that sure either, but we're going to figure this out together!  And hey, at least today we have youtube, there are videos for everything!  Our 'first time parent' is definitely showing, haha.  It was a really nice evening, very baby centred with some good laughs - just what I needed after a bit of an emotional week.