28 week appointment with Pat

Yeah, it was kind of a waste of time, but oh well. She reviewed a bunch of handouts with me and tried her best to answer a few questions, although each answer ended with, "but you should really talk this over with Amy or a doctor at one of your upcoming appointments."

Anyway, I learned a few things:

(1) Hershey Med prohibits any photography and videography during active labor (pushing, through cord cutting). So that rules out delivery photography (not that I had pursued finding a local photog), and it means no one will ever see my struggling, screwed up, sweaty, howling face or my birthing lady parts. Camera can come right back out as soon as the cord is cut, though.

(2) Baby boy will come to me as soon as his cord is cut, and the hospital strongly encourages trying to breast feed him within his first hour in the outside world. Apparently a successful attempt right after birth increases the odds of successful breastfeeding in the following days.

(3) Baby boy will stay in my room the whole time, unless and until I ask them to take him to the nursery or if he has to leave for medical reasons (circumcision). The hospital thinks moms can bond and learn the most by being with the baby as much as possible in the hospital.

(4) Although the vinyl chair/bed in the room isn't the most comfortable thing around, Brian is welcome to stay with me as much as he wants. As my hubby, he's the only one who gets 24-hour access to me and baby. He's also welcome to shower in my room (they provide fresh linens) and he gets one free meal. Probably not all that big a deal, but I was surprised at the little perks they extend to him.

(5) For the rest of you all, visiting hours are 24-hours a day in labor & delivery, and 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. once we move to a room. But whenever possible you're supposed to avoid visiting from 2 to 4 p.m. each day, as this is "quiet time," when they want new moms to rest.

(6) The hospital is open to a birth plan, but the docs don't require or request one from patients. Big relief, considering I don't feel that I know nearly enough about this process to even take a stab at a birth plan. That's what the docs and nurses get paid for, right -- to tell me the appropriate birth plan? We will take a class on anesthesia in early July, but beyond that Brian and I will rely soley on the experts.

(7) The typical hospital stay for natural birth is two days, and for c-section it's three days.

As for birth control, I have to talk it over with a doc, but I think the plan will be to go without any kind of pill for a few months, at least. News to me, but apparently breastfeeding hampers ovulation, so moms who rely solely on breast milk for baby typically don't ovulate for a long time after delivery. Pat suggests that our intent to breastfeed combined with my history of erratic cycles when not on the pill may be sufficient reasons to see how my cycles progress on their own for the first few months. Then I could consider going back on the regular pill or a breastfeeding-safe "mini-pill."

Oh, and I got the results of last week's blood test: I'm not anemic (iron levels are fine), and my blood glucose was 120 (anything under 140 is normal).

Next appointment is next Thursday morning, with Amy. Next Thursday is also our first childbirth class at the Med Center, so I'll start and end my day with baby news!