Last night we attended a maternity tour – we were so excited! It actually covered everything about prenatal classes that we already attended (just to refresh our minds). Then after that the speaker talked about the hospital choices within Orange County. Kaiser Permanente has two medical center in the county: 1 in Anaheim and 1 in Irvine. We are going to the Irvine Medical Center since that’s the nearest to us and we always go there for our regular pre-natal appointments.

 Then she talked about their Health Care Providers, and at the same time she told us about pre admission. That will help them to process everything faster by the time we get there during labor and delivery. We also took a virtual tour for both medical centers, which shows the family waiting room, gift shop, cafe, and atm.They also included instructions for parking and more.

It was explained one by one about labor and delivery if we have any preferences and desires. Labor and Delivery rooms are private. They have restrooms and showers and support persons are welcome. Still photos are welcome in the room, but videos should only be taken after birth.

 After delivery, parents have GIFT time, Kaiser created this awesome time for the parents and baby to bond. GIFT stands for G-giving, I-intimate, F-family, T-time. That only means that after delivery, they will check everything, clean the baby, and if everythings good, they will give the baby to the parents and will have about 1-2 hours family bonding time. Daddies are actually welcome to stay and sleep in the room where the mommy and baby will be staying, because they are not considered visitors.

My favorite part is the Infant security. They will give us 4 bands, one for each parents that contains security number, and 2 bands for the baby that contains security number also that matches the parents number. It is their rule that wherever the baby will go, parents should always be there. If the baby will be brought somewhere that’s not safe, there will be an alarm, because the baby’s band has a security alarm too (baby lo-jack). You can only bring the baby within specific area and if you go past the area, the alarm will haunt you! =) There are lots of cameras and monitors throughout the building.

During postpartum and before checkout, there will be a celebration meal provided by the hospital (~love it!). There are visiting hours with 4 visitors welcome at a time. If there’s children visitors, they will be screened at the nurses station, just to be sure that they are healthy. Going home will be so exciting too! If you have normal birth, you can go home within 24-48 hours. For cesarean birth it will be 48-72 hours. At that time, the birth certificate clerk will make an appointment to see Pediatrician when baby is 3-5 days old, issue a Kaiser member number for the baby (they are automatic~cool!), and also provide SSN paperwork. Our night ended with a walking tour in the hospital.

 I took some photos but it’s kinda blurry since i didn’t used my flash. May you still enjoy this photos!=)