Hospital discharge after 24 or 48 hours?

[etwahl]

On my admittance forms, there is a section where I can check off one of the following choices:

leave after 24 hours if no complications
request to stay 48 hours

Which should I choose? Would it be better for me to be at home sooner or to stay an extra day in the hospital?

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

STAY STAY STAY! That is my opinion. There is so much that you won't know until you encounter it. LEAN on those nurses for help and support. And you can sleep sleep sleep. I know others labored at home and were never in a hospital, but I don't think I could've swung that. JMHO.

[Rachels]

I agree. I loved getting home in only 6 hours and curling up in my own bed with my baby, but I had DH and my mom both here with me. If I were on my own, I'd want to lay into that backup and stay the 48 hours! You are in charge, though, remember. You're not signing your life away by checking a box. If they're not helping you, or you're not resting, or you just feel ready, you can change your mind and go home.

-Rachel
Mom to Abigail Rose
5/18/02

Agree with Joanne and Rachel - stay the full 48 if you can. We had latch issues that the LC really helped with. And like Rachel said, you can always leave early if you desire. But I say STAY!!

Tammy I would too...look at it as "reserving a room at the INN"...I suspect you can always change from 48 to 24...but if they are full or "reserved" it might be harder for you to change from 24 to 48...

I joke with my friends since I am coming home so quick (if all goes as planned) that I'll be pressing the TV remote...."NURSE"...."OH NURSE"....:)

[nigele]

STAY for the full 48 hours! Even though I wanted to get home with Thomas ASAP, I found it really helpful to have the lactation consultants and nurses on hand for any questions and problems that came up.

[etwahl]

Thanks everyone. That was my inclination as well. I just wanted everyone's ideas on this. I'll be marking down 48 hours :)

Tammy,
Mom-to-be Mar 8, 2003!

[egoldber]

I really recommend staying. Since I ended up with a Csection, I was actually "entitled" to 96 hours (4 days), but I left after 3. I really should have stayed, since we were still having breastfeeding problems, but my day nurse was very upsetting to me, so I wanted to leave. I retrospect, I should have told her to kiss off and found another LC to help me.

HTH,

Yes, STAY!

I had a c, and I'm so glad I was able to stay beyond the normal time for a vag. delivery (4 days instead of 2). It's like getting free training, help, information, etc. In addition - they can keep a closer eye on your baby and weight gain. Alot of times, latch problems (or anything else) might not show up for a couple of days later.

Brace yourself though. it won't be very restful. They will keep coming in to do your vitals and monitor the baby. Drs will come by, interns, residents, etc... I welcomed everyone (except for the pushcart lady trying to sell stuff that I didn't want anyways). I asked the nurse to put up a "do not disturb" sign on my door so only drs. would come in.

susan

twin girls 7.20.02
charlotte & else

[Zansu]

Check off the 48 hours box, but don't completely discard the idea of getting out as soon as you can.

I was fully prepared to check myself and DS out AMA (against medical advice) after 24 hours. I didn't have to, for which the hospital should be grateful b/c it would have been a h*ll of an argument; we stayed about 30 hours after he was born.

I had a number of issues, but the last straw was being woken up at 4:30AM and being ordered to nurse. I was asleep, DS was asleep and DH was asleep. Yet the nurse barged in, turned on the light, and issued her order. The reason: she wanted to make sure DS's chart showed that he had eaten before she went off shift. She was not concerned about DS; she just wanted to make sure all of her paperwork was completed.

Also, hospitals are nasty germy places, and the less time spent in them means less exposure to all sorts of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

JMTCW
Suzanne