Our Visit to Riley

So we had our tour of Riley Hospital for Children and the hospital Shawn will be delivered at. I will labor and deliver in one room and then after I have recovered Adam and I will move to another room. After delivering Shawn he will be taken to a room called the resuscitation island where they have every kind of machine you could imagine plus more! Hopefully he won't need anything but if he needs it it's there. Adam will be able to go with him in there and supervise the situation. He will likely have an intern standing with him to explain everything they are doing. Once stable and there's no need for emergent intervention he will come back to our room for a few minutes so I can see him before he is wheeled over to Riley via a tunnel. He will be set up in the NICU where he will stay until his first surgery. Adam will be able to follow him over to Riley and I will be able to go over once I am stable and can be wheeled over to see him! The only bad thing about Shawn going straight to the NICU is that they don't allow anyone under the age of 18 in there so Zoey will have to wait a little while to meet her baby brother.

After the labor and delivery, Riley will become our second home.  It's hard to estimate with any certainty but Shawn will be in the hospital for at least a month and possibly longer depending on any complications that may arise.  They have many things for us to do while at Riley; they have a library where you can check out books, games, CDs and even go and play games on the game systems! Whenever Zoey will get to visit she'll have a blast going up and down the open glass elevators, riding in the red wagons, and tearing up the lobby like the little tornado she is.  They also have a small Ronald McDonald house at the hospital where you can go and take a nap or a shower and they also have a pantry that we can use to make a meal!  A lot of generous groups also come and supply cooked meals at the Ronald McDonald house for Riley families and we have been urged to take advantage of that.  It's nice to know we won't have to live on fast food and hospital cafeterias while we're there.

Riley is one of those places you never hope to have to go but with all the wonderful things they are doing and accomplishing, it's comforting to know it is there if your little one needs it.