Decisions, decisions...

The sonogram was during our first OB visit with Tish's OB/GYN. During the apointment, he did/said somethings that did not sit too well with us, therefore we had thoughts about changing doctors. We decided to take a tour of the hospital he delivers in FIRST before finalizing on changing and here was our experience: The hospital, Los Colinas Medical Center is a fairly new facility. We drive by it often and always decent impression of it. We were told that they offer some free baby classes so Tish called them to find out more info. When she called she was transferred around to different departments who had no clue what she was talking about. FINALLY, she got to someone (answering service hired by the hospital) who said "LOST-Los Colinas Medical Center?", she told us that there is a tour at 6pm every Monday at the lobby.

Tish asked if it is a tour for the whole hospital or just maternity ward? Instead of answering the question, the lady read some blurb off her computer screen. We were told to just look for a group waiting and not ask for anyone in particular.

We arrived at the hospital a little before 6pm. It is a very quiet hospital with little or no activity going on (I guess this could be good or bad depends on who you talk to). It looked more like a medical office rather than a place of healing. The toothless security guard told us that we needed to go up to the 3rd floor (top floor) for the guided tour instead. The Maternity Ward lobby looked OK... it was sorta drab with about the same activity level as downstairs. There were about 6-7 nurses behind the main counter, most of them were chit-chating or reading a book. There was only one person willing to help people out so I had to wait in line just for a question. After waiting in line for 3-4 min. I only found out that we were just supposed to wait for the guide to show up. The guide finally showed. She was in nurses scrub but with a black jacket and black pants (how refreshing was that?)...right away there was a red flag. The girl had zero energy, she said they are organized so she has to check downstairs and see if there are people waiting there for the tour. She came back and we began the tour. I keep refering her as "she" because she never told us her name! The girl didn't really gather us at the lobby, but called on us like we were a bunch of dogs from the ward entrance door!

We were then brought into one of the rooms. They do not ship you to a deliver room there, everything happens in that room. It was a fairly spacious/comfort room and we were "fairly" impressed. Well until she started talking... Check out this line of Q&A's/conversations: (P=possible patient, G=guide)

P: Nice couch!
G: Yeah we used to have really old ones...

P: Where is the shower/tub?
G: It is here, but if you are on I-V, then you cannot use it because the equipment does not reach.

P: Can I hold the baby immediately after the birth?
G: Yeah for a few, then we have to take the baby out to the nursery to weigh...
P: Why?!
G: We only have 2 scales and one of them belongs to the NICU...

P: What time should I arrive since i have scheduled C-section?
G: Who is your doctor?
P: Dr. Smith
G: Well your doctor is pretty forgetful, and he always tells his patients to arrive later than they should.

P: Can we use a CD player in the room?
G: Yes. You can also bring a DVD player. Oh no, you can't... because we just found out our TV's are so old that there are no proper jacks to connect to. And also, you are not allowed to pull the TV's out because one time someone did and the TV landed on his head.

P: Can the baby stay with us at night?
G: Yes, only if at least one person is awake. Studies show that babies often stop breathing during the first 72 hours after birth... (though might be true, but it was just a big damper!)

P: How is the food here?
G: Well we have a caferteria downstairs. And we just started a "room service" thing where you can order food to be brought up. Well not really a "room service", more like cafeteria people dressed up real nice to take your order and bring you food in 45 minutes.

The whole time we were walking, the guide kept saying that their facility is small, and there wasn't really a whole lot to look at. What a way to sell it huh? We passed by what they called the "nursery". It had 4 empty beds in it and looked quite "medical". In a far distance we saw a baby in a movable bed sitting in the hallway between the NICU and Nursery...unattended! Another bummer was that we found out the prenatal classes are only held during business hours. That place was so dead that Tish said if she was giving birth there, the entire hospital would hear her!!

We left the place laughing... the place was such a joke. The tour confirmed our decisions to make a change to another OB doctor. We are now on board with one that belongs to Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, voted by several magazines as #1 for the 10 years in a row. We are excited!