Where the babes are

We (Alex, Wany, Jae and Ellie) toured the maternity ward at St. Alexius last night.
It's no Condell 'New Life Center', but I wasn't expecting anything so new like that.

At Alexius:
Anything to do with mother and baby happen on the 2nd floor, they even have 2 OR's just for C-sections.
But there was the scary part about having only 8 labor and delivery rooms. After delivery, mother and baby get moved to the recovery room - which we may be forced to share with another person if the maternity ward is busy/full. However, even if sharing were to happen, in the event of a natural, no complications vaginal birth, mother and baby only stay at the hosptial for 24 hours. For C-sections the stay is extended to 3 days.

I need to be close to the hospital from home - I need to be able to get to the hospital as soon as labor begins. Also, Alex can get to St. Alexius faster than he could Condell from work. I haven't been spoiled by Condell like my sister, so I have no specific attachments to a previous experience other than having been a visiter there to see Ellie when she was born.

I do not want to switch doctors or hospitals again (having changed from Condell). We'll be looking into some birthing classes offered at St. Alexius and signed up.

I was surprised at how many couples who were further along in pregnancy than we were! This one lady looked like she was ready to pop! And another lady looked like she was 7-8 months along already. I could not believe they'd waited so long to visit, tour, and decide on a hospital.

Ellie was a hit as usual - she even got a 'Super Big Sister' pink T-shirt, which she hugged tightly as soon as it was given her as she said, "Thank you!" to our tour guide. Nerd.