My Birth Story with Christ Hospital

This blog post is sponsored by The Christ Hospital Health Network although all opinions are my own.

A couple of weeks ago, my family and I welcomed the fourth addition to our family, our baby girl Alicia, at The Christ Hospital Liberty Birthing Center. We had an amazing experience with the staff, the care, and the facility. Here’s my birth story!

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So, I just had my third and final (please God) c-section a couple of weeks ago. If you had a c-section or helped someone who had a c-section, you know the recovery is lengthy and painful. Therefore, patient care after delivery is important and needs to be done with the utmost TLC. Especially for someone like me who does not handle pain very well at all. With this being my third c-section, second scheduled, it was important that I went to the best healthcare facility near me who would make sure that I was well taken care of. Through much research and asking around to my local Cincinnati friends, The Christ Hospital Liberty Birthing Center was highly recommended and was a no brainer the second time around. 

When going in for delivery at any time, it can definitely be stressful and nerve-wracking. Maybe because this wasn’t my first rodeo down this road but I was very much at ease when it came to my delivery at Christ. Since we had our last child together, Christ Hospital added a newer location in Liberty Township in 2018. Although it’s smaller than your typical hospital it is much closer to where we live now.

The facility at the Christ Hospital

My birth story begins with being immediately checked-in and welcomed by the front desk nurse. When I tell y’all that they didn’t waste any time getting me checked in, changed, and prepped for surgery, I am not playing. They didn’t waste any time at all and made sure I was comfortable every step of the way. Not to mention the facility was very clean and didn’t have a lot of foot traffic, which was a plus for us considering the current COVID pandemic we are still living in, and the rooms were hotel quality. They weren’t cold and sterile like most hospitals I’ve been to. The rooms are very spacious and comfortable; there was a sleeping bench/bed for dad, and the shower was my favorite part. It was something out of a fancy hotel!

With any c-section, there are definitely parts that make me nervous and I simply can’t stand. For instance, the spinal. Oh, how I hate that damn spinal. I hate the pressure that goes into my back, I hate the thought of something going into my spine, and I always tend to think the worst things could happen like an earthquake or the doctor could fall and slip into a coma or something crazy. Yes, that is one of the worst things for me. Yet the nurse played my favorite music, was warm and kind, and made the process as quick and painless as possible. She was also a wonderful photographer who took pictures of our baby as she came into the world. I wish I could remember her name. 

My doctor who delivered Alicia, Dr. Heather Boyd with Mt. Auburn OBGYN, was fantastic! I could go on and on about everyone who was a part of this special time but just know, I didn’t have one bad experience with any of the hospital or practice staff. In fact, despite how annoying it has been to be pregnant through a global health crisis like the one we are in now, all medical staff with The Christ Hospital and Mt. Auburn made everything very comfortable. Or, as comfortable as they could. 

The First time I saw my Baby

When you have a c-section, you are numb from the waist down. Although you can still feel the pulling and tugging, which is something else that is also very annoying, you can literally feel the doctors pulling your baby out of you. You almost want to react in a way of pushing, which is weird I know, but it feels like one big push, that you feel but you can’t feel. You can’t see anything because of that big curtain they put up, but you can hear. When she was out, I heard the most amazing cry that I didn’t think I could possibly love more to this day. She has the cutest cry. And then, I saw her. Oh, my heart could have exploded with the love that I felt at that moment. She was the one thing I wanted to immediately protect and love.  

Having her cry and then lay on my chest is almost like she knew that I was her mother. The sense of comfort that came over her was reassuring, to say the least. She was calm and settled, just like she is when she is in my arms even now. I fell in love with her, and she fell in love with me.

 

Once we had her and were placed back in our room to recover, everything was smooth sailing at that point. We received around the clock care from the staff and nurses on call,  we got her pictures taken through Mom 365, and I was even able to have my first meal after more than 12 hours. It was a tuna plate with tuna and fresh fruit, but it was pretty delicious just like all the meals we had. I know that isn’t something you hear all that often when it comes to hospital food, but it was really good. No lie. The menu wasn’t horrible either. 

Another big help I had was receiving assistance from a lactation nurse. With my last son, I breastfed him for 9 months and that is in large part thanks to the assistance I got from the lactation nurse we had at the Mount Auburn location. She was so amazing I still remember her name. Well, this time I received the exact same assistance. The Christ Hospital is a HUGE advocate for mommy and baby interaction and that does not exclude encouraging mom to nurse their babies. This time I really needed help because I noticed Alicia was having some difficulty feeding and it was pretty painful for me. Come to find out, she had a tongue tie and it was pretty difficult for her to latch on. The lactation nurse helped me with some techniques that would help her and not hurt me so much. We ended up getting her tongue tie snipped and things have been much better ever since.

Overall, I couldn’t be happier or more satisfied with the entire experience we received from The Christ Hospital Liberty Birthing Center. Although that location isn’t as big as a major hospital, it doesn’t fall short of providing everything you need as a new mom. As some of you are researching and considering hospitals in Cincinnati to have your baby, if it makes sense for you, please do consider Christ Hospital. If you’re trying to find a gynecologist I recommend Mount Auburn OBGYN. We had a child at both locations and the feedback is the same, the size is just different. Even though this is my last delivery from the baby-making factory, I wanted to make sure I shared my experience with all the future moms out there in hopes my birth story will make it easier for women to make a sound decision when choosing a hospital or doctor. 

To see the videos of my birth story, visit my Instagram page, and view Alicia’s Birth Story in my highlight!