Never Too Old to Learn New Things

Grammy and awesome grandson

Spending twelve hours at the hospital yesterday coaching Kerry through labor didn't give me a whole lot of time to think about all things hospital...Which is good, because I didn't want to think about germs, catching something, the hazards that can be present in a hospital, or what the labor and delivery birth charges were going to be. When I had my first child, I remember looking at pages and pages of charges, and a charge showed up for a nicotine patch. HELLO! I DON'T SMOKE! It made me wonder how "padded" the account charges are. It made me think that maybe I should have been taking notes for Kerry every time the nurse came in as far as what meds were administered, except I wasn't there 24/7.

At any rate, I was thankful to be in a hospital, on the OTHER side of the bed, and for a joyous occasion--seeing the birth of a grandchild. But I did learn a couple of new things...I learned that certain squiggles on her contraction chart meant the baby was stressing as I watched my daughter deal with each incoming contraction wave. I learned why there were complications and why the outcome was different than what she expected because of what the baby was going through. Everything the nurses and doctor did was carefully explained thoroughly to Kerry while I was with her, although it was hard for her to pay attention to what they were saying!

You know those cute little baby noises that babies make when they are first born? Little squawks and squeaks? Sparky was ready to nickname the baby "Squeakers" until the nurse said that was the baby trying to clear gunk out of his lungs and this could take an alarming turn if we didn't watch for other warning signs. I didn't know that! It was interesting but alarming hearing all the warnings and dire consequences that nurses have to bluntly inform the new mom that we were blissfully unaware of when we had our children. Don't do this or that will happen. If the babies nostrils start flaring, it's a breathing problem, call the nurse right away! Don't fall asleep with the baby in your bed! Always put the baby on his back. I never had my babies sleeping with me in my bed, but I know lots of people who did. Warning signs posted that the patient is supposed to ask the hospital personnel if they've washed their hands! I thought that was a "DUH!" And lots more contraindications of things to worry about. It was kind of scary. No wonder new mothers are nervous about being able to care for their babies!

I learned that there are excellent doctors and nurses at Kerry's hospital, Willowbrook Methodist, that are doing their best to provide excellent care to their patients. Kerry received  constant, excellent care while she was going through difficult labor from two nurses, Abby and Lisa, and a whole lot of other support staff after she had the baby. She had an EXCELLENT obstetrician. I just really appreciate how hard these folks work, and I'm assuming they have big caseloads and have had pay cuts like lots of other people in other professions, making their job that much harder to provide wonderful patient care when they are spread thin. They were kind and gentle and very caring. I'm gonna send them a thank you note for taking such good care of my daughter.

Some of today was spent relieving off and on two new very tired parents, so they could rest. The baby can't stay in the new mother's room unless there is another adult present so Sparky happily volunteered to stay for awhile at the hospital so the new dad could go home and take a nap. Sparky and Kerry got to spend more quality time together under less duress this time.  :-) Doesn't this little guy look like he's a got a little babushka (Russian scarf) on? Or doesn't he look like those little nesting wooden dolls--I think they are Russian also? They start with a tiny doll fitting into the next larger size one, fitting into the next biggest one and so on?

It was a wonderful day...Sparky is itching to take photos of baby feet, baby hands, and cool poses but there's a professional photographer coming in a couple of days to take the baby's photo. Sparky is going to take notes! :-)  She is already getting the "MOM! STOP taking so many photos!"  Sigh!  Until later.....