Illinois Babies

Question re: Postpartum at Prentice

I tried to do a quick search to find my answer but came up empty so forgive me if this has been asked before.

With the due date getting closer, I'm starting to wonder about the little details that I didn't necessarily think about during our tour, etc.

I know that with "normal" vaginal deliveries, you are there for 48 hours/2 nights. When it comes to food, it appears that the cafeteria is open 24/7 so we could order food whenever we wanted/needed. With that said, how does that work when it comes to billing? Is my food "included" in the room and board or is it ala cart and we need to pay that on top of the regular hospital bill (i.e will it be cheaper for us to order out from area restaurants than to order from the cafeteria)

 Also, you only hear about needing a coming home outfit for baby....So what does he/she wear in the meantime?

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Re: Question re: Postpartum at Prentice

  • Not sure about the billing for the food.

    When our daughter was born, we just kept her swaddled up tightly when she was still at the hospital. (No clothes.) The hospital will provide you hats for them to wear to keep them warm. If I remember correctly, the nurses would swaddler her in 2 of the thin swaddling blankets that the hospital uses.

  • the cafeteria is open 24/7, but you have to pay for that and go get it yourself.  The food that is included in your hospital stay (2 nights after u have the baby), is from the room service.  3 meals and 2 snacks are included in the stay (and you can order as much as you want).  You can only order between 6am-9pm.  The food was actually pretty good! lots of different options! They also have a list of restaurants that deliver to the hospital, so there's that option too!

    I packed a bunch of clothes for the baby, but left her in the undershirt and blankets the whole time.  If you are breastfeeding, the nurses will have you strip the baby down a lot of times if she is falling asleep, so it was just easier to leave her in the undershirt b/c it was super easy to get on and off.  

    ***I would bring a cute blanket, or something else from home (we brought a blanket and hat) because the Bella Baby photographer comes through the day after and does a little photoshoot with your baby.  You can buy the cd of pictures, or buy prints and things after you see the pics.  It really made the pictures super cute having something other than the white sheet to surround the baby in.

    if you have any other questions, feel free to ask! i just did this 6 weeks ago!

    **Kelly***

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  • Your food is all included. You can buy meals from the room service I think for your husband, but I wouldn't. I think it was supposed to be really expensive.  My DH went to the cafeteria or to one of the many restuarants. I know he went to the bar at Elephant and Castle and several people tried to buy him drinks knowing he was a new dad :)

    They will put your LO in a shirt and then then keep him or her swaddled. The nurses had to teach us several times how to get the swaddle right! they will also give you a pink or blue hat.

    BFP 4/23/09. D&E 7/17/09 16W5D. BFP #2 3/10/10. EDD 11/15/10 Babycakes was born 11/5/10! Baby Birthday Ticker Ticker
  • A few other pieces of advice...

    If you are planning on nursing, bring a nursing or sleep bra with you.

     

  • Sorry posted too soon

    A few other pieces of advice...

    If you are planning on nursing, bring a nursing or sleep bra with you.  The hospital gowns can be a bit scratchy especially when you are so sensitive.

    If you have anyone staying with you overnight, have them bring a sleeping bag.  My husband was definitely glad we had one!

     

     

  • Thanks Ladies!

    You were all very helpful. I'll have to go out today and get a nursing bra/tank and I wouldn't have thought about the sleeping bag for the hubby.

     But re: the sleeping bag. At our birthing class, they told us not to bring anything we really care about because it gets so messy/etc. The problem is is that our sleeping bags are for backpacking which means they aren't cheap...of course everything looked nice and clean when we toured the hospital but I also don't want to go in ignorant and naive...Should we bring in a couple of blankets for him or will it not be that bad/he'll have time to stuff his bag back into its stuff sack before the mess of delivery comes? The PP floor shouldn't be that bad right?

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  • Thanks for posting this question, I was wondering some of these same things.

    As for the sleeping bag, you should be fine with just a blanket or two. I've spent a couple of nights in the room with my hubby at Northwestern before (not at prentice obviously) and a blanket would have really come in handy. 

  • kme930kme930 member

    I wouldn't think you would need to worry about your DH's sleeping bag. I think it is fine to bring it! I think the don't bring anything nice comment is about stuff you would use yourself that might get lost in the shuffle or mixed up in the delivery. Your DH's stuff won't be involved! ;)

    And just to be clear on the food - your food is included because you are the patient, but your DH will have to fend for himself. And if he's going out, you may find yourself wanting to eat what he's eating! (Though the room service food is not bad at all!)

    Good luck!!

  • We left the sleeping bag in the car until after our son was born, then my husband ran out to get it.  You don't want to have to carry too much stuff from the L&D room to the PP floor (or from the admitting rooms to L&D for that matter - since you won't likely be feeling like helping to carry that suitcase, etc.), so it's not a bad idea to divide your stuff b/t what you will need through delivery vs what you will need after.

    I ended up with a c-section (after pushing for 3.5 hours) so we stayed for 4 nights.  I'm sure blankets, etc would work as well, especially with a shorter stay.

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