Hospital Tour
We’ll be delivering our baby at Commmunity Hospital of Monterey Peninsual (CHOMP), since my doctor’s practice is in Monterey and he only has priviledges at that hospital. We took a tour of the hospital with two other couples who were all due within a week or so of each other.
(I didnt take any photos but i found these from someone else’s web site)
We met by the koi pond, which sounds nice and all but it actually is kinda stinky and noisy to tell the truth. It is in the lobby of the hospital. The hospital looks like it was made in the 60s or something – really flat with low ceilings and their square logo is plastered everywhere on the wall pattern. A little strange. But its got a pretty nice ambiance overall. I think public perception of the hospital is highest compared to any other area hospital (Natividad or Salinas Valley)
The birth center is easy to find, right past the snack bar! Jeff noted this on our after-tour-survery that this was the “most important thing” he learned. (Hey you can see the logo on the wall here! See what i mean, excessive use of that pattern! LOL!)
Right at the entrance of the hospital is a Dennis the Menace statue. The creator lived in Carmel and donated a lot of artwork to the hospital. You’re suppsoed to rub the toe for a safe delivery. (Be sure to hand santize after that!) Maybe they should rub more areas of the statue more often – look at how golden only the toe is!
Here is the waiting area. It’s weird how they have wicker furniture. My OBGYN office has wicker furniture similar to this too.
I dont have a photo of the room but i found out that most of them have a big wall of windows, which is nice. There are only 2 rooms that don’t – which is the one we toured. Each room is private and has their own bathroom (shower) and a bench area that converts to a bed for Daddy. They told us pretty much everything we need to know about what to expect on the day we arrive, like where to go, what i’ll need to get dressed in, pain medication (Fentanyl, epidurals), what the baby will wear once it’s delivered, etc. It was a lot more information than i expected so that was good.
We have to schedule a pre-admission interview that we’ll do about a month before the baby is due, i assume to fill out paperwork and such. Overall we really like the hospital and the staff (our tour guide was a labor/delivery nurse). It took us only about 20-25 minutes to get there. Hoping we dont have to spend a long time here in the hosptial though — quick labor for me? Maybe something like 5 hours sounds good… or could be 25 hours… oh man.