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Oh, no! I wasn't planning on undertaking ANYTHING after delivery. I was planning on making them before the surgery and having my MIL bring them the morning of the surgery. There is no way that I would ever consider doing it afterwords, especially after a surgery. You guys make a lot of sense. Thanks for the great ideas!

What I was thinking about doing is little bags like the ones in the photo. They contain brownies and hot chocolate on a stick. And attached to the ribbons and a pen. I thought I'd do about 130 and divide them into three bags of 40 each for L&D, OR, and Post Partum and then do a smaller bag with around 10 for Recovery (since they're down on another floor). Do you think that would cover it for all the shifts? ETA: Or, I also bake quite a bit and have an amazing sourdough bread and homemade jam that I make. I also thought about doing four or five loaves for each floor with three or four jars of different kind of jam and and a jar of sweet butter in a basket for each one also. (again, with the pens in there too!) and maybe some individual packets of tea and coffee. ETA: Gee, guess I should attach the photos, huh? http://www.epromos.com/product/8830719/happy-face-promotional-pen.html http://theintrepidbaker.wordpress.com/tag/hot-chocolate-on-a-stick/

Hello! I am having a c-section and I know there is a lot of staff involved before, during, and after the delivery. I will be in the hospital for three days and I wanted to get a little something for the staff. I know I'll have the L&D team who preps me, the nurses and crew in the OR, the nurses who care for me during the stay, and those that are in the nursery taking care of the baby. The only problem is that I have NO idea how many people I'd need to get gifts for. The hospital I'm using I know does two 12-hour shifts for their staff and they estimated that I'll have probably 5 nurses that will see me with around 5 aides during my three day stay. (Accounting for a day and evening shift nurse and aide as well as accounting for my c-section being scheduled at the end of one nurse's work week and the beginning of the second nurse's week.) They said I'll also have the same housekeeping person during my stay, so I've got that figured out. However, I have NO idea how many people prep me for delivery, how many nurses will be in the OR (though I do know they'll have 4 people working in recovery afterward), or how the staff of the nursery works. Can any of you give me an idea of the number of staff involved in prepping someone for C-section and in the c-section or nursery? I'd really apreciate any help I can get and, if I can get a ballpark figure, I'll do proably double that just to be safe! Edited to add: I'd really like to do gifts for all the nurses on the maternity ward (even those not caring for me or my child) so if anyone can give me an idea of how many nurses and aids work on each shift, that would be amazing!

All those ideas sound great! I do agree about all three shifts too! I'm thinking about maybe buying three HUGE boxes of chocolate candies for the nurses' station for each shift and then enough of these kinds of pens for everyone to have one: http://www.p-wholesale.com/upimg/3/208a1/pen-lg-p002-788.jpg Do you think these would work or just some regular good quality pens?

Thanks for the opinions! My OBGYN is insisting on a plan, so I figure this would be better than. "Take the baby out." LOL. I'm really going to give this to them as he told me to present it when we go in at 5:30 in the morning. LOL.

I've had two c-sections previously and didn't have a birth plan for either one. However, everyone keeps telling me I need one since something is always forgotten. I think it's nuts, but even my doctor suggested it. So, give me your honest nursing opinions on this plan please and let me know if there's anything annoying, unnecessary, or what. Thanks in advance! I'm having a C-section. My doctor said to write a birth plan. Here it is. - Pre-Op: As long as my butt isn't hanging out while I waddle to the OR, we're good to go. - Surgery: If daddy isn't taking pictures, feel free to poke him with a sharp object. If he drops my camera, call the morgue. They'll have a new body shortly. - Extras: Tie my tubes. I'm going to have a husband, a newborn, a 5 year old, a teenager, and his entire varsity football team at my house every freaking day. I don't want any more people there. Yank the suckers out if you have to. - Post Op: Is really boring. Can I smuggle in a book to read while they're sewing me up? I'm guessing not, but I had to try. - The Baby: You're in charge. Family members are not. Hide behind the glass. They can't reach you there and you can pretend you can't hear them. Do whatever you need to do as far as eye drops, etc. Whatever you have on hand for her to wear for the photo is fine. - My room: My needs for my room are very specific: Coke. Mexican food. Not your responsibility at all, but if any family members ask what they can do to "help" while they're waiting on the baby, that's the answer. - Rowdy children: My 5 year old is high spirited. (i.e. a pain in the butt when he's bored) If he's annoying anyone, two words will take care of this . . . "Flick it." (His grandparents bought him an iPad for Christmas. His favorite game is Pocket God where you flick little island characters into a volcano. He insists on calling the game flick it. My teenager encourages this since he and his friends get a laugh out of hearing him say, "I need to flick it." I'm sorry. They're boys. It's a lost cause.) - Feeding: I will be bottle feeding. Why? Breast fed babies are bigger. You've seen the teenager. He's 6 foot and 203 pounds. He sucks up food like a Hoover vacuum. I don't want a bigger one. (Seriously though, both I and my boys had severe lactose intolerance as infants. The pedi said it's probably safer to start out with lactose free just in case.) - Pain meds: I'm bad about not taking any pain meds. I'm also a night owl. For some reason this combination annoyed my obgyn to the point where he threatened me with a longer stay if I didn't take the Percocet and go to sleep with my last delivery. Since I don't want to argue over it, or stay an extra night, just pry the baby out of my hands and give me something that will knock me out. You can give me something the next morning too since that second day soreness kicks you in the butt. Preferably something non-drowsy, but whatever you have is fine. Seriously. I'm only doing this so the doc won't gripe. To recap: You're in charge. Ignore my family. And thank you all so very, very much for all you nurses do. In the words of my teen, "You guys are da bomb!"

I'm not a nurse, but I am an expectant mother. We'll be going in for a planned c-section and so I wasn't sure what to get the nursing staff. Individual gifts are out since we don't want to forget anyone, so I was thinking about some kind of treat or gift basket or something. I know food is always good, but what do you get? I'm in Texas and it's still hot, hot, hot here. I've thought about everything from ordering a subway platter for the ward to just a gift basket with junk food, etc. Any suggestions on your favorite gifts would be great. Please keep in mind that I want to get something for the L&D staff, the nursery staff, and the maternity ward staff since I'm having a c-section. And, if there needs to be a different set for each, please let me know that too.