Medical clinic or luxury hotel?

Have you ever eaten a fancy meal in a hospital room? Have you ever gone on a date at a medical facility?

That's essentially what Sarah and I did last night on her last night at the clinic. As part of the "package" of having a baby at the clinic where Sarah has been since Wednesday night, she got to have a fancy dinner with a guest. Luckily she chose her baby's father (at least I've been thinking I'm the father since Thursday - I think Alexandria looks like me)!

We got to choose the day of the meal and whether we wanted to have lunch or dinner. And we had three choices for each of the three courses. The main course we both chose included a sirloin steak. The dessert I chose was very rich - two fairly big-sized slices of a mocha cake. To top it all off, we had a small bottle of champagne (our other choice was a bottle of Bordeaux) to share!

They set the meal up at a small round table with full place settings and linen napkins and a tablecloth. We had it in room 132, next door to Sarah's room, with one hospital bed pushed aside and some of the fluorescent lights off for ambiance.

For nearly an hour, we ate what will probably be our last meal in peace. One of the nurses babysat Alexandria in the nursery.

A couple of days earlier, we got a gift from the clinic too - a small teddy bear.

This clinic has been a very nice place to have a baby. I've been worried the whole time about the hospital where we will have our next child. Chances are good that we'll have any future children back in the U.S., where mothers (and fathers!) don't receive such lavish treatment.

Sarah has had good nurses caring for her these past several days. The one who cares for Sarah primarily during the day is a very knowledgeable woman and has been kind to both of us. She's been a good teacher to us for all of the different cleaning techniques for Alexandria and has encouraged us well as we learn them.

Sarah has had Alexandria in a bassinet in her room next to her bed most of the time since Friday, the day after the birth. But at this clinic, mothers have the option of caring for their babies (changing diapers, etc.) on their own or having the nurses do it all or anything in between. Babies can stay in the nursery under the watch of the nurses and be brought to their mothers only when they need to be fed if the mother wants. So it has been a posh place for Sarah to stay in.