people visiting you in hospital

Well friends to be exact. Too many, even coworkers say they want to come see me in the hospital & I just don't know if I will feel up to it depending on the situation. Should I just tell them nicely to call first? Wwyd?

Re: people visiting you in hospital

This is just my opinion, but I LOVED having visitors when I had my son! I had a section, so I was there for a few days. There were quiet times and times when my room was packed!

Re: people visiting you in hospital

i didnt want visitors (except for immediate family) on the first day. i had a csection & that first day is such an adjustment i didnt feel up for a lot of visitors. thankfully no one really started to visit until day 2

Re: people visiting you in hospital

when i had dd, most people asked if they could come by - so be honest
if its someone you prefer not to see say you arent feeling the greatest and prefer if they visit you at home the following week
I think we had maybe 2 or 3 people that showed up "unannounced"

people visiting you in hospital

I am telling my friends that we are only having family at the hospital.

people visiting you in hospital

DS #1; EVERYONE came to visit; it was none stop alllll day... It was awful because I was so exhausted and didn't feel good the first day, and just felt like I had to constantly entertain...

DS#2; a lot less people came... LOL... I guess the novelty wears off with your second.... But it was nice, I did tell friends that I did not want vistors the first day...I wanted just my parents/ IL's/ DH and DS#1...everyone left pretty early that night and I got to rest...

After that, I told people to call and so I could see how I felt... most of my friends came late afternoon/evenings- and it was nice cause that's usually when family left (cause they'd go home with DH and DS).... I remember a few nights it was just me, baby and my 3 close girl friends... I loved having company!

I think telling people- day 1 is off limits and to call after that, is FINE! After having DS#1- I never visit anyone the 1st day anymore!!!

Message edited 2/7/2014 11:21:48 AM.

people visiting you in hospital

That is totally up to you....see how you feel at the time. You have no idea now what you will feel like then.

I had close family and best friends visit, but even then everyone called ahead and didn't overstay their welcome. I delivered close to midnight after lab round an entire day. Didn't get into my room until very, very late. The very next morning people were there.

I also limited the time window for visitors even though the hospital had no hours. I needed a chunk of time to nap, bond with dd, etc. It was a lot for me and dd to have nonstop visitors.

people visiting you in hospital

I'd tell people to call you first. I wouldn't visit someone in the hospital without asking if it's ok first, but I'm sure others don't even think about it.

Re: people visiting you in hospital

This is one of the main reasons I will be delivering DS #2 at St. Charles... there is only ONE visiting hour. 7-8 PM. I don't care how many people want to come visit... I can handle an hour. Grandparents and siblings of the baby are allowed a separate visiting time each day as well... 2-4 PM. So it really works out perfectly. I don't know how people deal with all day visiting hours and having their room be a revolving door!

people visiting you in hospital

I would tell people to call first. I already discussed my feelings about hospital visitors with my DH- I only want family and very close friends to visit. I know my friends are excited to meet my little lady but I want a couple of days to rest and adjust to being a mom.

people visiting you in hospital

I told people beforehand that I am not comfortable having visitors. It's a personal choice and the one that I am ok with. I also do not like visiting people when they are in the hospital, for anything. It became a non-issue for me because I was discharged 12 hours after delivery. But we had an emerg del and there were a lot more people in the waiting room than I was even comfortable with.
Just tell people how you feel, they will understand.

Re: people visiting you in hospital

I think a lot of people say they want to come, but never do.

You can always tell them to call first, to make sure you are up for visitors.

Re: people visiting you in hospital

Agree with others, tell them to call first.
Honestly,, when I gave birth I preferred people visiting at the hospital than at home. Usually the hospital visit is much shorter than a home visit

Re: people visiting you in hospital

I feel like a lot of people say they want to come to visit but realistically if you have a vaginal delivery you will only be in the hospital for 2 days and most people won't make there. Not to say that you won't still have a steady flow of visitors. I had a lot of friends say that they were coming but in the end most didn't make it to the hospital before I was discharged. Just let people know you have a lot of family that will be there and they will get the hint.

Re: people visiting you in hospital

I didn't like having visitors after DD was born but I had a really crappy birth experience and was a bit of a train wreck. I was also in a shared room. I might feel differently next time but who knows. I'd give people a heads up and tell them to call.

people visiting you in hospital

if you deliver at any north shore hospitals, there are no visiting hours.
i literally had a family member show up at almost 10pm.
i was in the bathroom and someone came in and i thought it was a nurse.
so people really don' t think sometimes about calling beforehand.
and i had people just show up at all times of the day.
i really wish LIJ had visiting hours because of this!

Re: people visiting you in hospital

I asked my family (other than my mom and dad and my MIL and FIL) to save the visiting for when we are home. We only have to stay 24 hours, and its super important to me that I can concentrate on nursing, so I don't want too many people there right away. I have a huge family, so if I didn't say anything, I could see a lot of visitors.

people visiting you in hospital

I'm one of those people who like to visit in the hospital, so I really can't mind if people come to see me. I feel like it's such an exciting time!

Re: people visiting you in hospital

I thought I would be totally anti having visitors in the hospital, but I had a great birth experience, felt great, and enjoyed having everyone come and celebrate.

Re: people visiting you in hospital

Besides family, I didn't plan ahead. I was actually in quite a bit of pain and on lots of painkillers the day after my csection so I'm glad I decided to play it by ear. You're in the hospital recovering from birth and having this new little life to take care of. You can tell people you will have to let them know at the time what works and they'll just have to understand!

people visiting you in hospital

the first time, i didn't know what to expect. i had an emergency c/s, and was on painkillers & beyond loopy. i was trying to EBF, and random family members were bottle feeding my baby formula. i was too zonked to even realize what was going on. and then there is video of said zonked face. my idiot BIL too video of my half naked self, cross-eyed & partially awake, in a room full of people. it was awful.

this time around, i am not sharing the day we go in, or the day she's born, until after 2 days passed. in fact, i read somewhere you can tell the nurses to mark you down as "no info on patient", so if you have some boundary crossing people in your life trying to hack into your room, they won't be able to find you.

oh yeah, I'll be on lock down. but only because of my last experience with a c/s. i might feel completely different if i get a smooth vbac this time.

Re: people visiting you in hospital

I didn't even think of this before hand with my DS. I had a c-section and had visitors starting that very night. Even though I was exhausted and in pain, I was so happy to have people there. I liked having the visitors.

people visiting you in hospital

We told everyone ONLY immediate family the first day and visitors could come the next day. He went to the NICU and I had a section so it was good that we didn't have visitors that first day. I asked people to call first just so I didn't have too many people in the room at one time, especially since we would go down to the NICU and we couldn't bring more then 2 people at a time with us. I found that while we had a lot of visitors, a lot of people who say "O! I want to come visit you" aren't going to do so. More people came to visit at home which was nice because I relaxed and the visitors helped themselves and even helped with the baby.

Re: people visiting you in hospital

We told people to call in advance, and to call my DH -- not me!

Re: people visiting you in hospital

I had a regular delivery and even though I was exhausted I didn't mind the visitors. It made me happy how excited they were to see the baby. And those that came didn't overstay either.