Hospital issues and where to deliver (long)

Ok so I'll try to make this as short as possible but I'm REALLY torn and would LOVE some advice....

I was planning on delivering at a hospital that is about 20 minutes from my house (no traffic) and has a level III nicu but when we took the hospital tour we found out that they're post partum rooms are semi private and if you end up having to share it DH can't stay the night and has to leave at 9pm each night and also only 2 visitors (including DH) is allowed to visit me in the postpartum room. Neither of us were a big fan of those policies especially DH not being allowed to stay overnight with me and the babies (if we end up rooming in).

So I started to look into other hospitals with a level III nicu in the area and the other best option is Johns Hopkins which is world known for their excellent care etc... The issue is two fold:
1) I'd have to switch ob's which is ok with me since I'm not that married to my ob and I'd still keep my same peri (who I love).
2) it's about 45-1 hour away from our house (with NO traffic but it's highly trafficed roads)

I talked to my OB who said that he can write me an order for a private room BUT if ALL the other rooms are filled and someone else needs a room they'll have to put someone with me.

The bonus to Johns Hopkins is:
- all private rooms
- DH can spend the night and more relaxed visitor policy
-They are set up as a high risk hospital and are prepared to handle anything should the need arise

BUT, They're far away from our house. This isn't that big of a concern to me if I go into labor and I'm full term but If I have to go the hospital for ptl symptoms I worry that if it takes 3 hours to get there the difference of 3 hours will be the difference btw stopping ptl and deliverying the twins early

I could go to Shady Grove (only 20ish minutes away) but I'd be seens as an unregistered patient and while they'd surely contant Johns Hopkins for my records it would be whoever the Dr on call is making decisions...

I am SO BEYOND Torn about what to do. In an ideal world I would rather deliver at Hopkins but with the possiblity of PTL looming (although I've had a very normal healthy pregnancy so far at 25 weeks) I want to be prepared for EVERY scenario.

HElP what would you do?

Sorry the long post but I would love any opinions/input that you all have.

Thanks,
Erica

 

Not sure where you are but any thoughts about Holy Cross (in Silver Spring)? I live down the street from Shady Grove but delivered my kids at Holy Cross. It's about 20 mins from us (with no traffic) and they have a level III NICU as well. Plus, the room was private, my husband and kids were with me the entire team, and visitation was not a problem (not sure what the number of visitors was but there were generally more than 2 people most of the time). Just another option for you. My office didn't really want to deliver at Shady Grove and I was fine with that although it was a heck of a lot closer.

 

I'm in Damascus Md so I think Silver Spring would be a bit closer but still probably a half hour or so away.

I'll look into it for sure.

Who was your OB? and Do you know why they didn't want to deliver at Shady grove.

Thanks so much,
Erica

 

Hi

I went to one of the Capital Women's Care group practices on Shady Grove Road. I go to Dr. Heather Sine but I believe the office is under Dr. Band. Not sure why they preferred Shady Grove. I do know, they now no longer deal with Shady Grove at all. My girlfriend just delivered a singleton at Shady Grove (and twins there also). The NICU was great for her girls (they came at 28 weeks and are now rambunctious 3 year olds). She didn't like the semi-private rooms and it was certainly interesting visiting her this last time. She did have a roommate and while they were nice, it was strange to me to have to share a room and that space. As far as I remember, there were no medical problems with Shady Grove, the doctors at my practice just went that way. I also had another friend deliver at Shady Grove the day after I delivered at Holy Cross. She only had one but due to the number of people in and out of the room with a roommate, she went home early.

 

Thanks so much for the reply, I talked to my Dr and he's willing to write me an order for a private room which means that unles their totally full I won't have to share a room and I'll be the last one to get a roomate.

I too feel it's a little wierd to have to share a room but I think going the Johns Hopkins route is just TOO complicated.

What's the point of delivering at a high risk hospital if you go into PTL and their too far away to get their in time, kwim...

I'm going to talk to my Peri who I love at my next appt on Monday and see if he has any input.

Thanks again,
Erica

 

Good luck to you. Hopefully you will get one of those private rooms they are building over there.

 

I would stick with the hospital you were originally going to deliver at. I delivered at a hospital with the same policies as yours. Since I had twins, they were in NO HURRY to give me a roommate since the two bassinets took up most of the room!!! The nurses said that they try not to give a twin mommy a roommate since 1) there is no room and 2) she will have more nurses, visits, etc. coming in more often to check on the babies.

Since they were twins, we were also told that they would be relaxed about the visitation policy. DH stayed the night the first night, but we were all so exhausted after that, he ended up staying at home the other nights. They were great about letting him stay as late as he wanted though, since it meant that I would have help!

I am not saying that ALL hospitals have this policy, but I would like to think that due to the special circumstance of having twins, you would get a little more leeway. Also, just being closer to your house will be nice for your DH. That way, if you do have a c-seciton and stay all four days, he can go home and shower, take care of the house, etc. It would be really inconvenient to be so far away if you could help it.