Hospital Tour

Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane is where we intend to give birth so Tage and I took a tour of the maternity ward this afternoon. Wouldn't you know the tour can only be taken on Sundays at 2pm, which fell right in the middle of the Steelers game, and Tage still joined me. We discovered that Sacred Heart offers free valet parking and it only costs $3 a day to park there. Is there anywhere in our hometown you can park for $3 a day? There was a surprisingly large group and the nurses actually had to divide us up. One group consisted of more children and senior citizens in wheel chairs than expectant parents so we (I) opted to join the second group. From the very beginning Tage compared group 2 to a conference call... you know, how there are always people asking absurd questions that no one else cares to know the answers to. (For example, one woman asked how the "days" are billed to the insurance company, as if the nurse would know.)

Not only is the hospital relatively new but the delivery and post-natal rooms are amazing. I've been in a lot of hospitals and more than a few maternity wards and this is by far the nicest I've seen. The rooms resemble hotel rooms more than hospital rooms. They all have huge windows with gorgeous views of Spokane, TV's with DVD and VHS players (important for Tage), a CD player, refrigerator, a couch and, wait for it, jacuzzi tub. Also, all of the rooms are individual, so you don't share a room with anyone the entire time you're there. The birthing rooms are fully equipped to do all of the immediate newborn testing and your baby never has to leave your sight if you don't want him to. The only negative was not each room had a newer bed where the back could raise up. The nurse mentioned they had a couple of them so I'm sure if they aren't swamped when we go in they will be able to accommodate that request. They seem to have the rest of the optional delivery apparatus such as birthing balls and bars. Overall I think we're both pretty content with the arrangements there.

Just over 6 weeks until our extended stay at Sacred Heart!