So, I'm having another baby. Due December 5, 2019.
Recently I've gone on two hospital tours to determine where I will give birth, because, despite still wanting to have a home birth or something similar, I recognize that it won't be feasible. Plus, at this point, I'm so exhausted and can definitely use the couple of days that the hospital offers after delivery just so I can really chill out. My five and two-yearold wear me out, y'all. I'll let their daddy and granny (who will hopefully be here) tend to them while I kick it, recover, and order room service with new baby.
In short: I'm tired.
Well, anyway. I've toured two hospitals: Kapiolani Medical Center (THE Women and Children's hospital for the state of Hawai'i, and where former president Barack Obama was born) and Queens Medical Center, the Hawaiian hospital founded by Queen Emma and King Kamehameha IV in 1859 to address some of the medical issues being faced by Hawaiians during that time.
The latter is where my first two children were born, and it was a great experience. I just went on the tour to refresh myself from the first one I attended in 2014 and to essentially talk myself out of giving birth at the other hospital. The primary reason that I'm even considering Kapiolani is because technically it's closer to my home, so logistically it makes more sense now that we live in Honolulu and not way out on the west side. The vibes (mellow, down to earth, straightforward) at Queens are more my style, though, so chances are that's where I'll go. They put up with all my skeptical, I-don't-really-go-along-with-the-program mom stuff and don't give me a hard time about my birth plan. I feel comfortable there, and comfort in any way you can get it is what you want during the birthing process.
Just as an aside, Kapiolani-being the nature of hospital that it is--delivers 500 and something babies a year, whereas Queens delivers 100 and something.
Well, these hospital tours are always so cute in terms of the other soon to be mothers and fathers who are in attendance. Other than myself, the expectant parents are looking forward to greeting their first child. During both recent tours I was the only one present who already has children. So, it's typically the case that the others there are a bit nervously excited, as they're not sure what is to come or what to expect in terms of their impending future as parents. They're ready to meet their little bundles of joy and do all the lovey-dovey baby things that ensue after birth.
Kapiolani doesn't allow children to attend hospital tours with parents, so when I went to tour the facilities, the girls stayed home with their dad. Queens, though, welcomes all family members on their tours, including siblings. (This is another reason I like the vibes of Queens. They're definitely ohana--family-oriented from the jump.) I took my girls with me, and all of the soon-to-be parents there had a chance to see how real it can get with these little ones just a few short years down the road. I mean, I'm not saying that my girls showed their natural behinds (as my folk would say) but they definitely gave a taste of what could be the case when wiggly little restless bodies are expected to be in certain settings for an extended period of time.
Life's a party with my girls, usually no matter what and no matter where.
Although they smiled at and made cutesy small talk with the girls, I know in the back of their minds they were wondering, "Is this what I'm getting myself into??" Ha! I'd also like to tell them that it won't necessarily be so. My babies, with their wild and free spirits and boundless energy, can often be the exception among other more calm children/people in a given environment. BUT, I would also tell them that, despite their best efforts at Home Training , they just might someday find themselves in a position where they're 38 weeks pregnant with their second or third child, are somewhere among other adults trying to accomplish something and get information, and are having to simultaneously wrangle in (i.e. hold/corral sideways, upside down, whichever way!) their 2-almost-three-year-old who absolutely refuses to stop running around screaming in glee for no other reason than she's alive, happy, and feeling fantastic. This or similar could just be a reality somewhere down the road. And if it is, you probably will have also learned by then to not sweat it too hard. Some days will be better than others, and despite what society might want you to believe about your parenting abilities, sometimes these kids are just nuts!
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