How long did u/do u want to stay in hossy for ?

Hi All:)

curious how long did u stay in hossy for after the birth or how long u would like to stay in for when u have ur baby-if you can choose of course.

I am hoping that i can go home hours after the birth if me and bubs are doing ok, and she is breastfeeding ok.

if i am very tired maybe one night at the most.but i really hate hostpital and would feel much more comfortable being at home .

my mum thinks im silly and a lot of ppl around me seem to think that as im a first tiem mum that i should spend a few days there.

what do u all think? i would love to hear what stories :)

I was in hospital for 5 days after DS, and I loved it. It gave me a chance to focus 100% on BFing, and general baby stuff, without having to worry about cooking/cleaning etc. Plus the food in my hospital was great :)

I'm planning to stay for as long as I can this time around too - for the same reason that it means I really only have to focus on new bubs. And for the food...:lol:

I too was in hospital for 5 days and certainly wouldn't of liked to have been in there any shorter! as it was i still hadn't mastered the art of BFing when i left! but was more than happy getting outside in fresh air and to be in own bed (even though that was never for long)

2nd time around im hoping to do the same, this time to master bfing and to have some one on one time with bub alone!

With my first I was in for 4 days but with the others was home the next day.

Regards,
Dianne

I was in hospital for 1 night & that's only because DS was born at 5pm, otherwise I would've gone home that day.
I was lucky to have my own midwife that visted everyday & my DH was home too. Plus I had a fully stocked freezer so basically didn't have to lift a finger :lol:
If you do go home early, just make sure you stagger your visitors out. I did find that we were inundated & that wore us all out. In hindsight I would have no visitors for the first week!!
When I first told my DH I planned to go home the day of the birth, he was against it. But once I explained my reasons & he thought about it he felt the same.
My reasons were that I wanted to be in my own bed, I wanted my own wonderful shower & bath, I didn't want to put up with room mates or their visitors, I wanted to eat what I wanted when I wanted it, didn't want to waste DH's days off in hospital, didn't want DH to have to go home & just basically be in my own space surrounded by things that make me happy & comfortable.
Good luck!!

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With my first I was in for 4 days but with the others was home the next day.

Regards,
Dianne

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was that by choice? could you of stayed longer?

Sorry shell1 - hope you don't mind me asking that question!

DS1 - 4 days (forceps birth & episiotomy)
DD1 - 12hrs (born at 11:55pm so thought I would get some sleep and go home next morning)
DS2 - 5 days (difficulties with BF and with DS losing weight)
DD2 - 4hrs

DS - 2 days could have left the next day but after his passing i just wanted some time on my own
DD1 - 3 days due to her losing weight
DD2 - 5 days due to c/s

5 days - I had a C/S but like BhoysGirl I really wanted to stay there that long. I was in a Private Hospital and my room was big and spacious like a hotel room, the food was great and it allowed me to focus solely on my baby and ask any questions I needed to at the time of thinking them. We had issues starting BF too, if I had have gone home I am sure I would have given it all up as a bad joke. There was a B/F room there at the hospital that always had an LC on duty and I could escape there when the visitors got too much, and I knew that I was getting expert advice for my particular situation.

But in saying all that, if you really hate hospitals and want to go home then that is exactly what you should do. As long as you and baby are healthy enough of course. I think if you are in an evironment where you feel uncomfortable it will impact negatively on your bonding experience with your baby. I know people that went home hours after the birth and they had excellent follow up care over the next few days. Just make sure that you are going to get the follow up care you need.

I wish you well in whatever decision you make!

DD1 2 days
DD2 24 hours

but both girls were in hossie for another 4 weeks as they were both premmies so it felt like I never left

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I was in hospital for 5 days after DS, and I loved it. It gave me a chance to focus 100% on BFing, and general baby stuff, without having to worry about cooking/cleaning etc. Plus the food in my hospital was great :)

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you sound like me haha i stayed 6 days with all my kids think maybe 7 with oen first born was vb and it was 6 days i was a heavy bleeder... the nurses offered and i took it with both hands i needed it..

second time round was the same but i had c section and had some troubles recovering.

third and 4th well with kids on top and home to be concerned about i socked up that every moment i could have with me and bub as i knew after csections again i would not be able to recover well at home. As its hard to rest with other kids.

i was in 4 nights with DD. felt that after the 3rd night i was going a bit stir crazy and felt a bit 'lost to the world'. but have to say that it was good to be there for the milk coming in as i had a LC and midwife to guide me through the mega-boob madness.

Hi,
I was in for 3 days with my DD, had a c-section and I asked to leave a day early, could have stayed an extra night but wanted to get home and feel more comfortable.
This time I have been told that the average stay is 48 hours for a vaginal birth and 72 hours for a c-section.... am not sure I am kind of thinking I will get more rest in hospital whereas if I were to go home I might be tempted to do too much too soon particularly with DD to run after. I guess I will see how comfortable I am in hospital!
You do what you feel is right for you.

i was in for 2 nights and tbh i wished i could have stayed in longer - at least until my milk came in on day 4 and to get more "supervised" time with dd. personally i thnk they kick mums out far too quickly.

I'm with you Shell, I want to be in and out as quickly as possible. I hate hospitals and leaving my care in the hands of others. Stupid I know but that's how I feel.

I am sure that will all change when I have a little bundle in my arms that I don't have a clue what to do with though :lol::lol::lol:

Sue xx

3 days with DS, due to a bit of blood loss. Had my own room though and the food wasn't too bad :)

But this time I wanna be in and out as soon as possible as I have problems sleeping so if the other ladies in the ward snore I'll never sleep without tablets! So I really hope I either get my own room and no blood loss so I can come home asap. See how we go :)

I was in for 5 nights (had a ECS) and am really glad that I was. As a new mum it is really hard to get breastfeeding going and work it all out (especially when the baby blues hit on day 3), DH and I found the help of the midwives over those first few days invaluable. Also I found it good for bubs too, he became jaundiced on day 3 (yep right when the baby blues hit) and because the midwives noticed it (before I did) we were able to get on top of it really quickly and he didn't have to be admitted to SCN for light therapy.

So I guess my advice is stay as long as you can, the first day or two I was walking on air, but then the curve balls started coming on day 2 and 3 and it was great to have the help of the midwives.

I had hoped for a natural intervention-free birth, and wanted to stay for as short as possible - only one night, if that. I registered for the early discharge program.


As it turned out, I had a hard labour and emerg. c/s. I stayed 3 nights after the birth (which was at 5.15pm), and that was so long enough for me I was just wanting to go home and be in familiar surroundings. We would have been home after the 2nd night but Jazz was jaundiced and they wanted to be on top of it rather than let us go home and then possibley having to readmit her.
I had midwives visit me for about 2 weeks. I had a really good MCHN visit in hospital and showed Shel and I breastfeeding techniques, and Shel helped me get it right at home. Midwives were overworked and understaffed so I rarely saw anyone between my routine checks anyway even when I pressed the button. I had my own room but just wasn't comfortable.

I've spent some time in hospital before, and not good memories. I also lost my grandfather two days before Jazz was born and I just felt very cut off from Shel and family being stuck in hospital and I jsut wanted to be home and grieve. Those two things might have also factored into it too.

Next time I would love a home birth so I don't have to be in hospital at all. Or to be in hospital for only as long as medicaly necessary. 5 days would be too much for me. But play it by ear, you never know how you'll feel.

after DD1 i went home early on day 3 (she was born 6.21pm wednesday i left 11am friday), wished id stayed longer due to immense pain from labour and episiotomy, but it was my choice as i wanted to be in my own bed
after DD2 i went home on day 4 (she was born 7.51pm wednesday, i left around 3pm saturday) i had to stay due to PPH and blood transfusion, DD was also jaundiced and had to have 2 lots of bloodtests before we could go, would have happily stayed another night as my milk came in that night and OMG :o my poor boobies!!

With DD1 - 2 days
With DD2 - 12 hours
#3 - if it's a hospital birth, than I'm hoping for 6 hours, but I'd love a homebirth, so I won't need to go in at all.

DD1 - 5 days (1st baby, she wasn't gaining weight and bfing not going well)
DD2 - 24 hours (Only because I had surgery after birth)
DD3 - 6 hours (No reason to stay, she was bfing beautifully and the ward had swine flu going around)

With all babies I had a midwife visit me for 5 days after coming home.

To a first time mum I would suggest at least a couple of nights, and the hosp generally will to. You get so much valuable information and learning from the midwives. Learning to bf may take longer than you think and having someone right there to ask is great. You can relax and not worry about other things cause you get waitered on :D. But I guess it may depend on your maternity hosp to.

This time round I want to stay at least a days because it means I can catch up on rest and sleep without having to deal with DD to.

Hi,

I stayed in 5 nights with Noah as I had a c-section, but I wouldn't have changed a thing. I was in a lovely room and DH could stay whenever he wanted. I had so much help and support with bfeeding etc and there was a control on visitors which DH and I appreciated so much. It meant that people couldn't just pop round to visit us whenever they felt like it. For a first time mum, I would recommend staying in at least until your milk has come in, just because it's when the milk is coming in that you'll feel most overwhelmed and emotional.

I hope that whatever you end up doing you are able to enjoy those first weeks with your beautiful new baby :D

hi love.

i just had my first bub and stayed four nights/five days and was very glad for the support in the hospy in that time.

we had trouble breastfeeding and i really needed the help. Also was completely clueless about babies (still am! lol) and the midwives were a great source of support, information and advice - although sometimes conflicting.

If i wasn't xmas week and i had family arriving from far afield i would have opted to stay an extra night just to really sort out the feeding issues with Ash. But in saying that i was ready to leave the hospy when i did and glad to get home.

i was in a private hospy with pretty good food, DH could stay 24/7 and we all slept in our own private room with private bathroom etc. If i'd been public and on a ward, i think i would have run away pretty early.

hope that helps you make your decision. Do remember that you may have to prepare to stay longer depending on feeding, bub's progress, your recovery etc. you know what babies are like... they like to ruin our best laid plans!

I think I have the record! 7 nights!

I had a cs and I was private. I had my own room and bathroom, good food and DH staying with me. It was very comfortable.

I found all the advice very helpful. Especially since my milk was slow to come in and DD lost a lot of weight. The staff were very good and there for me day and night.

I had been advised to stay until my milk came in and I think that was good advice. Breastfeeding was very different once I actually had milk.

I hope to have a vbac this time and not need to be in hospital as long, maybe 5 days. But I won't be going home early. That will be my time where I can focus on the new bub and re-learn how to care for a newborn. DD with be spending quality time with dad and grandparents.

I want to try and spend as much time as I can (will probably have to due to kidney problems) as this is my first and I have no idea what I am doing and at the hospital where I am having bubs they have people called in house grandmas they come round every day and show you and help you with everything, so it will be nice to get some advice,

I do say though after spending a few days in hospital recently they really need to do something about the nutritional content of the food, HELLO people we are New mummies and still baking ones we NEED our vitamins, it was good that my mummy brought me her cooking lol

I stayed in 3 days with DS and I wanted to stay in Hospital as he was my first and I wanted to have some help on hand at the click of a button. They showed me loads of things too and even enabled me to rest more than if I had of been at home. I think with public (don't quote me) you are entitled to 5 days care, so you can choose to stay in hospital for as many days as you need, but you then get the rest of the days as follow up at home. I had two days of home visits with the hospital midwife to check my stiches and on DS. I fully intend on doing the same with #2.

Good luck with what you decide.....just roll with it and see how you feel.

With DD I had her at 10:24pm on the Tues and left hossy after lunch on the Thurs, so 2 nights. This time I hope to only be in over night then back home to DH and my beautiful DD.

With DS1 I was in hospital three nights/four days - loved my stay and appreciate the help/advice I received where BFing and settling baby were concerned.

With DS2 I discharged myself on second day as baby BFd beautifully from the word go and was extremely settled.

I was in private system, and had uncomplicated vaginal deliveries, which certainly helped with my quick recovery too.

Good luck with things.

I was in for five days and hated every minute of it. I was in a private hospital in a private room but even so it felt like there were staff coming in every five minutes and I just wanted to be left alone.

The midwives all gave completely conflicting advice and some of them seemed keener on expressing me rather than actually teaching me to BF. Then I had midwives who where the opposite extreme and thought that for me to 'get' it, they should shove DD's head and my boob together for 1.5 hours straight, then wake me up an hour later to start it all again. A living nightmare.

I would have been much better leaving hospital, relaxing at home and getting a lactation consultant to visit.

I'm likely to go back to the same hospital :wall::wall::wall: because I love my obstetrician but will try to get out of there asap.

I was in for 4 days with DS 1 & loved the help I received etc. Was very comfortable with my own room, bathroom etc.

With DS 2 born just last week I stayed 3days......my DS 1 is very full on & I wanted the time to bond with my new little man & get the BF right this time. We don't live anywhere near family, so spent most of the time alone without visitors & LOVED IT. Was very refreshed when I got home.

So many great replies and all so different

I think that if i was booked into a private hossie i would be up for staying for as long as i could as well, as it seems that if u stayed in one u had a lot of space own room good food etc and ur partner could be there

i would love to get extra advise as much as possible since its my first bub

and if i have trouble Bfeeding i would like to get some help, but im going to a very busy public hossie and it will be very diff from a private hossie thats the only thing im thinking of.

It will be crowded noisy prob have to be with other women iv heard the food is very bad in the maternity ward as well lol

I think i would be better off at home :) but i will see of course depending on the delivery,state of bub and how im feeling

I had a drug free natural birth and had hoped to only be in hossy for 2-3 nights max.... unfortunately we had alot of attachment and BF'ing issues right from day 1, which meant I needed a fair bit of attention every time DD needed a feed (she had a very weak suck).... DD also lost too much weight by day 3 and they asked for me to stay 2 more nights to see her gaining some weight (i had to express and do top up feeds 3hrly round the clock!) so I stayed all up 5 nights.... I was so ready to come home by the end of it!!
And my hospital food sucked!

In all honesty, if I was you, just wait til you have bub, see how well bub is feeding first and how confident you feel THEN decide when you will leave..... you don't really know how the birth and feeding is going to go yet so try not to think too far ahead.... that's just my advice to you from my experience anyway.

I hope your BF'ing journey kicks off to a great start and you have a wonderful birth!

Dont u just wish Bfeeding was as easy as it is in the silly movies ..lol

the bub popps out after a little push and feeds with no worrys at all

PIFFFF

Both this time and last, we did midwifery group practice - where you get a mw early on in pg, and she does the majority of appts, the birth and 6wks follow-up care afterwards - you give birth in the birth centre, and the idea is to be out within 24hours.

Last time, however, that didn't go according to plan - DD came out a bit flat and with a huge, huge swelling on the front of her head (mw said later that it was the worst she had ever seen, even with vacum or forceps and we had neither). So, anyway, because of the swelling, and problems bf'ing, the hospital wanted to keep us in a bit longer, so we stayed 2 nights.

I was public, and was in a shared room with one other woman - it wasn't too bad, apart from one time when she seemed to have a whole mothers group visit at once! The food was good, and the mw's, well some were good, some not so good - i found that the ones who were hospital employed were better than the agency mw's (and I've heard some bad stories about agency nurses at private hosps too so its not just a public thing!).
I hadn't thought to pack a book or magazines but I was bored when DH wasn't there, so if you do plan on staying in a few days, take something to keep you enternained.

This time, I'm hoping that I'll be home within the 24 hours - although I'll see how I feel - if I have another long labour, and I'm exhausted, I might ask to stay in for a bit longer to catch up on some sleep before I head home to my full-on DD, who will be 22months when this one pops out.

As for visitors - when DH sent the "we've had a baby" text, he also added that we'll let everyone know when we're ready for visitors - for the most part, this was respected, so we'll do the same, especially if we go home early.

HI girls.. well I think I might be a minority here but I'm going to stay in hospital as long as I can stand... with my second DS I stayed in for 5 days! I'll will have to play it by ear but I think I'm gonna need that hospital time to sleep and take it easy... as soon as I get back home I'm back into mum role (which is fine) but I just think I need a couple of days to catch up on sleep and do nothing but feed!

At least then when I get home I'll be rested up and good to go!!

:D

Im wanting to stay in a few days with my first, i just want to be able to really get a grip on BFing and all that jazz, although if im comfortable with how all is going who knows? I dont know if there is a minimum with your first, although a friend of mine was out within 2 days of having her first at the same hospital i will be birthing at so maybe there isnt?

Plus the extra help/rest cant be too bad?

With DD I was in 5 days. I thought I wanted to be in for at least 3 but I was so wrong. For reasons I couldn't do anything about I ended up in another hospital with 4 ladies on the ward and just could not sleep at all the entire time I was there - I was therefore a wreck, and cried every night when DH had to leave. This time I'm hoping to get my nice birth-centred based single room hospital if no complications and am not sure how long I'll stay but think I will miss DD too much for it to be more than one night, if I have to go to the other one again I will leave the minimum 6 hours after birth if I can.

Yeah I should have said too, I was at John Flynn and had my own room which made a huge difference... I'm not sure how I'd be if I had to sleep with other ladies and babies!! ? The lady in the room next to me had a baby that screamed 20 hours a day and even just hearing that through the wall was enough! :o