The Difference in Hospital Care Between Baby #1 and Baby #2

After My First Baby

After having my first baby, I had no desire to leave the hospital. Four days on the maternity unit to “recover” while nurses were at my beck and call was simply delightful. Yes, I was healing from a cesarean birth and had some pain, but the constant care and devotion from the nurses made me feel great!

My breakfast, lunch and dinner was on the house as well as my husbands! After my liquid diet restriction was lifted, we ate like kings. There was a beautifully monogrammed canvas bag awaiting me in my room with a white bathrobe and soft white slippers. Courtesy of the hospital of course, life was good!

Two Years Later I had Number Two

Two years later I went to the very same hospital to have my second baby. Going into labor before my scheduled c-section was a surprise and I had no choice but to head to the ER. After getting there, being admitted and wheeled up to labor and delivery, I got the bad news. My OB was out of town and I would have the on-call physician. At first my heart dropped as I never met the man who was about to a) see me naked b) cut me open and c) be the first to hold my son.

The surgery was fine, the OB was great and off to recovery I went. There I laid in a room by myself.  A random nurse was in and out, but no one stayed. With my first c-section and senior nurse sat at my bedside the entire time I was in recovery. She offered me washcloths, and checked my temperature frequently.

After being wheeled into my room, I had to meet my baby because the nurses were busy and were unable to bring my baby right to me. Understanding I was not the only woman on the unit, I waited patiently. The nursing staff was short and under pressure.

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