Touring NICU Poll

Paradisemoon

My cervix has shortened from 2.4 to 1.2 in the last week and my doctor has said that now would be a good time to tour the NICU. I feel that this will be helpful in knowing what to expect as far as "sights and sounds" but my husband needs a little more convincing. For any of you that toured the NICU before hand I'm looking for any advice or questions I should ask while I'm there.

jocie2581

New option- no we didn't and were fine. I am not sure how much we would have gotten out of it.

chickaboo1974

I took a tour with a class that I was taking. My husband couldn't go since he had a work emergency. I felt very comfortable when the boys had to go to the NICU. My husband was a little afraid at first since he didn't understand the setup. But once it was explained he was okay. I think it's a good idea to tour the NICU.

nblondheim

We took the hospital tour and they took us up to the NICU also "just in case." 2 weeks later my water broke at 26 weeks and we will be needing the NICU! The tour truly put me at ease and I was amazed at the technology they have. We also learned things too. It wasn't overwhelming one bit but they did keep it pretty simple. I highly recommend it!

Brummy14

jocie2581 said:

New option- no we didn't and were fine. I am not sure how much we would have gotten out of it.

This. I think it may have scared the bejeezus outta me. Everything was happening so fast that week prior to delivery, ignorance really was bliss (or, well, better than knowing everything. Bliss might be a bit of a stretch). I learned it all over the course of our NICU stay -- learning what was relevant to our girls, learning something new every day.

xnbride

That seems like a very good idea. We have already become familiar with the NICU with our last two boys (nothing major) but otherwise, I would definitely sign up for a tour.

xnbride

That seems like a very good idea. We have already become familiar with the NICU with our last two boys (nothing major) but otherwise, I would definitely sign up for a tour.

msditz00

I wish I had toured the NICU because I wanted to know where my son was. They were supposed to take me on a your, but started my induction before I was taken so then I wasn't allowed to go. I hated not knowing exactly where my son was. My husband went with him and stayed with him, but since I am the medically knowledgable one in the relationship, it would have been a huge relief if I had seen the NICU first and could have asked questions.

marcobonny

I'm touring the NICU at our hospital next week. I say if you can why not? It would be nice to know where my baby/babies will be after they are born.

kgs0505

We didn't do any tours (NICU or hospital).  We were fine.  Yes, my babies went to NICU, but I didn't feel like I was at a disadvantage because I didn't receive a tour in advance.  Everyone was very nice and answered any questions I had as we went along.  I was on bedrest anyway and probably wouldn't have been able to tour. 

I personally would have been annoyed having a bunch of extra people near my babies in our NICU.  It was small, and one big room with room for only 12 babies I think.  It was a satellite location to the bigger NICU an hour away.  

LegallyBlonde217

I would definitely take the tour.  We did, and I was so much more comfortable going in there the first time to see our twins.  It's an overwhelming place to walk in to for the first time when your child is already in there. 

Blueyed228

I went into labor at 30w and got put in the ante-natal unit for 2 weeks.  They offered a NICU class while I was there which included a tour of the NICU.

Since I was only allowed out of bed to pee and for a 20min wheelchair ride once a day, I took advantage.  It was a little weird having someone elses H push me around in the wheelchair though, lol.

A question I would ask is how many babies to each nurse. 

StacyH0507

I didn't know this was even an option but now I want to look into it. Our hospital does regular tours so I will call and ask about this as well!

SWA80

We did and it honestly freaked me out a bit but I am still glad we did it. It is a large NICU that gets patients from all over the state so it was a lot to take in (so many teeny babies!) but they walked us through exactly what would happen when the babies were taken up and then when we went up to visit. I was really sick after my c-section and couldn't get up to see them for several hours. It helped that I could picture where they were.

PurrCrasher

I work at the hospital I delivered at so I never felt like I needed any kind of tour but when my daughter ended up in the NICU I did find it comforting to know our NICU and not feel like it was a foreign and scary place. It's all a matter of personal preference but for me I found it helped to know a bit more about where she was and who was taking care of her.

Paradisemoon

Thank you for all your feedback. The NICU my babies will most likely be at will be an hour from the hospital I've been seen at. So not only is the NICU situation new, the whole hospital and staff will be new.
 I'm pretty nervous and like most of you said I like being able to picture where my babies are even if I can't be with them.

LottaLattes

Might also see if there are any virtual tours you can take. I took a multiples specific birthing class and they had slides and info on the NICU (the one at my hospital has private rooms, which I was surprised about) and while we didn't end up using it, it was nice to have a general idea about it all.