The Delta House

The nurses and doctors in the maternity ward of Women and Infant's Hospital are really amazing people. They are all so specialized in what they do, be it pre-natal care, delivery room care, anesthesia, or post partum care. Even the staff that bring the meals and clean the room were great. It's the parents and visitors, and the ward itself that were quite interesting to me.

When we checked into the hospital that morning, there was another couple that came in just after us for an appointment to induce labor. We were brought up into the birthing room which we were told was the best in the hospital because it was a large corner room with a great view of Providence. How cool was that! When I went to get a coke, I walked by the husband of the other couple who was berating the nurse because his wife had "reserved" that room, and it was instead given to us. She told the guy that this was not, in fact, the Ritz Carlton Providence, and they did not accept "reservations" for rooms.

I went back out to the car to get my wife's bags and saw the most disturbing site I have ever witnessed. There was a woman in a hospital gown standing behind the rain barrier that they put up for smokers with one hand on her IV dolly and the other holding her cancer stick. It was about 30 degrees out there, and I assume that she had given birth within the past few hours. OMG what a grip smokes have on some people!

The second day in the room, a woman comes in with an envelope and asks if my wife had a C-Section or a vaginal birth. I told her it was vaginal and she told me to put $17 in the envelope and leave it at the nurses station for the television usage. Huh? Let's see if I have this right. The medical care, food, cleaning service and pain medication all go on a bill that my insurance company will get, but I need to pay cash for the television? At least the parking was free.

This one is not a complaint by any measure. Shortly after my son was born, they put a Martha Stewart-esque bracelet around his ankle, a baby lo-jack, if you will. It was a little strange to see that, but very reassuring.

I don't know how to say this better, but there were an awful lot of ugly little babies in the nursery. Now, mine might be really hideous and I'd never really know it because he is so beautiful to me, but some of these kids looked like the south end of a north-bound mule. Mis-shaped heads, blotchy skin, weird hair patterns, etc... Scary!

There was a chair that converted into a "bed" in my wife's room. I assumed that it was for the father to sleep in while at the hospital, but when I tried to do that, I learned that it was actually a Medieval torture device designed to mimic the pains of childbirth for the father. I nearly stole my wife's codeine when she was sleeping.