If I have another baby, most likely I will not be having him in a hospital. I decided to have Winchester at Summerlin hospital. I heard great things about it and two of my mom's friends had their babies there, so I figured I could trust them.

The delivery was great. It went smoothly and quickly. Was in labor and delivered within 5 hours. It was only after that that I began to feel not only wary, but that I had made a complete mistake going to the hospital. First of all, immediately after my son was born they drew blood. I understand this is routine (though I don't agree with it), but the guy either didn't properly insert the needle or something because he couldn't get enough blood for Winchester's culture sample. So after stabbing both his hands with no result, they had to cut his foot open at a later time. This was the beginning.

Secondly, they wrapped him in two blankets, put a beanie on his head, I had him in my arms, THEN took his temperature. Because of this, he had a "fever" therefore they needed to monitor him 24 hours and take another culture sample, therefore cutting his foot open a second time. Even if you feel you're not "maternal" in any way, when you hear your child crying like that from pain because some doctors are continually pulling blood from him, a rage builds inside of you that's so strong, you're more than willing to climb out of your hospital bed and punch a nurse in the face.

It was during this time that I still had a section of IV in my arm. I was eating and drinking fine and the IV was beginning to become extremely painful. (I still have a 4 inch bruise on my arm.) When I asked them to remove the IV the nurse refused saying it needed to remain for 24 hours after the delivery, for what reason, I have no idea since I was getting all the nutrition and hydration I needed. It was only after my doctor visited and asked if I was eating and drinking fine that I was given permission to have the IV removed pre the 24 hour period.

The constant nightly visits every couple hours to take my temperature and blood pressure were no picnic either. As if sleeping in a hospital wasn't difficult enough already. Furthermore, I found it extremely irritating that they had to weigh my son in the middle of the night and to do this they took him out of the room. After the previous way they had treated him, I didn't want him out of my sight. Later at night they also had a woman come around to draw yet MORE blood from my son. It was at this moment that the nurse came in asking why she was taking blood when Winchester hadn't had some procedure done. It was at this point that the woman drawing blood told her that the desk said the specific procedure had already been done or didn't need to be done or something. (I'm not really sure, I was more concerned with my son's crying.) But the nurse said it wasn't a problem and began to use the cut the lady made on Winchester's foot to fill out some form or another. The lady drawing the blood actually had the stones to say "it's not bleeding very well, we can make another cut", thankfully the nurse said it wasn't necessary.

The pediatrician looking after my son came in and took his temperature the second day. It had gone down to normal, but she still wanted us to stay another 24 hours just to keep an eye on him. This is when my family became truly irate. My dad, who is in the medical profession, basically explained that the hospital is doing this in order to exploit more payments from the insurance company. Basically, because I didn't have a C-section, my delivery is much less expensive, therefore they need to make up the funds somehow. It's pretty notorious in hospitals to create any excuse to keep patients in order to make more money. As dad said, hospitals and doctors used to focus primarily on caring for patients, now it's about making money off of them.

This third day was the worst for me. Not only was I tired, in pain, and pissed because of what they did to my son, but I was beginning to feel like a prisoner. There was no reason for me to be held there, my father, my husband and I had all expressed my desire to leave and we were denied. It didn't help that with every nurse that came in with the shift change became worse and worse. When I would call to ask for more water, I was ignored. When I asked for a sandwich, I was told that they needed express permission from the nurse first before I was fed. It was basically as inefficient as a government organization, but I and my insurance was paying for this sort of treatment. What really made me irate was the fact that the pediatrician said she wanted to see my son in 1 to 2 days after our release from the hospital. First of all, I already made an appointment with a pediatrician. Secondly, the fact that she has the balls to say that after 48 hours of monitoring and drawing, in all, at LEAST 9 vials of my son's blood, that he still needs close monitoring was preposterous. As if I'd willingly make an appointment with someone like that to care for my son.

There was also a mandatory postpartum class that I had to attend. It was only held once a day at 11:30. I was going to go the second day, but it was cancelled, therefore if I hadn't been required to stay an additional 24 hours due them to monitoring Winchester, I would have had to stay to take the stupid class. Don't get me wrong, the information in the class was useful, if mostly redundant. But it should not have been made mandatory. But the fact that it was required wasn't the thing that disturbed me the most. The most disturbing was that out of the 10 women in there, only myself and one other women did not have a C-section. Since when were 80% of deliveries done by Cesarean? Also, out of the entire class of women, I was the only one exclusively breastfeeding. (And even that was met with a sort of "are you sure" attitude from the nurses and caretakers.)

Finally, at 10 pm the third night, we were released. I was exhausted and more than ready to leave. This is when I was wheeled down to the front desk to pay for the deductible. It was almost $3,000 (paying 10% due to my insurance). Since when was having a baby $30.000? Anyway, when we asked if it was possible to do a payment plan, since I'm going to be out of work for 6 weeks and though we both make decent money, we're far from middle class, my husband and I just got a blank stare and were told the total amount again, as if we were stupid or didn't comprehend that that was what we owed. (Thank god I have some savings that's pretty much completely depleted now, but that's what savings is for.) Finally, after paying the bill, we asked if we could get an itemized receipt. Of course, we had to call a specific phone number and would be mailed an itemized receipt at a later date, you know, for convenience.

Basically, because of this treatment, and the fact that my entire pregnancy and delivery went so smoothly, there was absolutely no need for the hospital. The only real benefit was the epidural. Therefore, if I have anymore children, I'm just going to use a midwife. They're more trustworthy, less invasive, and more personable than what I experienced. My only advise for anyone who may have a child in the hospital, always be on your guard and don't let them touch your child without your consent. If they say "this is what we do", "this is necessary", etc. it's a lie. If you're uncomfortable with it, don't do it, and don't let the fact that they're "medical professionals" dissuade you from your position. You're the parent, you're the patient, you know what's best for you and your child.