Flashback on Being Raw in the Hospital, Post-Cesarean

I was reading over my old posts, and realized I never mentioned how things went after I gave birth, as far as eating raw in the hospital.

Fortunately for me, I did not give birth in the large city hospital, as planned. I had some bleeding a few days before my cesarean was scheduled, and my o.b. told me to go to the local hospital in the small town we were living in. I was kind of glad, since I'd been to that hospital and my experience had been good. It was a newer, clean hospital that really focuses on the patient. I'm blessed that all went well, though, as they did not have a NICU or anything like that. I took an ambulance there (we only had one car at the time, and we didn't have the time to rouse five children and put them in car seats). After being evaluated, they realized I was going into labor, and scheduled an emergency c-section. The doctor and anesthesiologist were awesome to me, as were almost all the nurses.

The really noticeable difference came after the birth. In addition to kind nurses (what a concept!) the nutrition staff was great. The nutritionist told me when ordering food, to order it like this: salad 3X. This would tell them I wanted a triple size salad (the portions in hospitals are miniscule). I also wrote in exactly how many packets of dressing I wanted (I was eating high raw at the time, and used cooked dressing). The dressing packets were the size of ketchup packets...I kid you not! They kept me fairly well fed. There was also a fridge across the hall for me to store the salads my husband brought. So all in all, the smaller hospital was a much more pleasant experience for me. Thanks be to God that my little one wanted to come a bit early!

However, the next time (no, I'm not pregnant....yet) I will be prepared ahead of time. I plan to bring a plug-in cooler, and have my husband cut up fruits and vegetables and put it in baggies, and prepare salad raw salad dressings for me. I will also try to keep a steady supply of dehydrated crackers and other snacky items on hand, so there will be some at the ready in case we have another surprise. I've always said the one good thing about cesareans is the fact that you know when the birth will be and can plan around it. Ha ha!