The birth of my first was a horribly traumatic experience and I could not repeat it. The worst was my two day old child being moved to a different hospital and being stuck where I was. Needing NICU was a guess at first but a reality when he was born at 27wks. He was never going to go past 37wks, and likely 34 by the time they found the IUGR and pre-e at 26 wks (which happened at 30wks with my first), which changed everything, obviously. I had tons of extra monitoring which likely saved us both. When he was delivered he has been failing NSTs for a week and barely passing BPPs for days. I highly recommend talking to your pcp and/or a therapist about how you’re feeling. Prenatal mood disorders are the strongest predictor of post natal depression, and just having a support system in place will help so much if you need it. Even if it’s just knowing what to look out for and making sure your partner can help you get help. I had ppd with my first and never treated it until a year before I had my second. PPD again but now I have a support system in place and am able to deal with it (and the reality of having a baby in a pandemic) much better.
What you just shared about the local place makes it really sound like going elsewhere is better, especially when you have a place to stay. No nursery is pretty common now, but the lack of other things are flags especially if you have a high risk pregnancy. Hell, I wouldn’t even want to deliver at a place where the people who have lives in their hands are that fucking petty.
I didn’t have high risk pregnancies and both my babies ended up in NICU for a few days. A wasn’t breathing when she came out and so they called NICU staff right over into my delivery room, stabilized her and took her right over there for further checking and monitoring. And S was with me in post partum but went into shock with a slight fever from his fast delivery and had bad jaundice so ended up in light therapy for two days. It was really great being in a place where I didn’t have to worry about having the appropriate people and facilities available for any situation, and again, I wasn’t even high risk. I agree with fish, especially if you have a place to stay that’s free. Edmonton has some great hospitals. I delivered at the Grey Nuns hospital and they were fantastic there. My SILs both delivered where you are and had some issues - except for one SIL delivered at a different hospital 1.5 hr away for her first baby because the anesthesiologist at the time wasn’t comfortable giving an epidural for a larger woman, I remember, but that was 10 years ago now so hopefully that is no longer the case. I’m pretty sure she delivered baby number 2 there though.
My endocrinologist called on Friday. She said she was waiting to call till she had an emergency MRI date scheduled for me (and was already pissed about that not happening yet), but that my numbers look closer to normal so we're holding off on steroids for now. I shared both what had happened with the fall and what the labour and delivery nurse said at the local hospital, and was probably way more emotional and freaked out than she's seen me before - she told me just sharing that I'd potentially blacked out and that I'm constantly dizzy was enough for her to send me for a high-risk referral in Edmonton with a strong recommendation and preference from her that I deliver there, but she agrees that the nurse commenting on it really reinforces the need. It will ultimately be up to the OB/GYN I consult with, but at least things are moving in that direction now. Even if now I'm waiting for another phone call to schedule something this week. Thanks again for the feedback and letting me have my mini-breakdown-word vomit here. I think it helped me verbalize things and definitely helped reinforce that I wasn't being unreasonable.
I have seen some things in my unit in my short time there. Even if you were having a low risk pregnancy and just wanted the peace of mind of a "better" (whatever that means to you) option - go for it and don't settle until you're satisfied with your OB. It's so necessary to have someone you trust. Don't let anyone else, including your doubting voice, tell you different. Good luck