5 Things I Love About Giving Birth at the Hospital

Anytime I think about giving birth, or having another baby my mind goes straight to those hours and days right after baby comes. I have said it before and I'll say it again, I love giving birth. Of course I use an epidural, so maybe that helps, but I love it. If you are nervous at all about giving a birth, you can find my birth stories here and here to get an idea of what my experiences have been. I also wanted to share a few of the positives of giving birth at a hospital.. just to ease your mind!

1. You are fully taken care of. Medications, meals, water refills... Those wonderful nurses take care of you. They time everything so you don't have to think about staying on top of your pain medications. My delivery nurse was my favorite with both of my girls. After giving birth the new nurses are in and out of your room, so you don't chat as much, but I am so grateful to all of the nurses that are there to take care of me at my vulnerable time.


2. The food is delicious and the meals are huge! Maybe I got lucky with my hospitals, but I liked everything they served. They'll have you choose a main course, 2 sides and a dessert! I remember thinking, "If this is what I'm supposed to be eating like while breastfeeding, I am never going to stop breastfeeding!"


3. The quiet alone time you get with your newborn. After having Addie I was excited to be home with McKinlee again, but it was nice to give our second child a little special time and enjoy those precious first days with a few of our regular responsibilities off of our plate. We were able to stay at the hospital for 2 days after each baby. I had heard from a lot of moms that they just want to get home and start normal life. I felt that a little bit, but I am so glad my Dr. had us stay. If you couldn't tell, I'm a fan of the help at the hospital.


4. Your mess is taken care of. There is a lot of bleeding after giving birth, and it's nice that you don't have to deal with cleaning it all up AND taking care of a brand new baby. I like to stay in a hospital gown for the first day. It's nice to not have to worry about getting anything on my clothes. By the second day I feel a lot better and I like to get dressed.


5. You have professional help if baby has any problems. With Addie I only pushed for 20 minutes. Later in the day she kept gagging and had a little blood in her spit up. We told our nurse and the doctor about it and he had them pump her stomach. He said that she had just swallowed a bit of amniotic fluid. After the short procedure she was great. I was so glad to have a dr. there to help ease our minds.

So yes I loved my stay at the hospital, but fair warning- Stafford did not. He wanted to go home so he could get a comfortable night's rest. The poor husbands are stuck on a pull out couch or laying down chair of some sort, so I had my mom come and keep me company for a few hours while Stafford went home to nap and shower. What was your experience like? Am I crazy? I know there are always horror stories out there, but I try to look for the good. Happy Friday! YAY!