The WVU Hospitals staff and facilities were wonderful

Let me just take a minute here to post about how great the staff and facilities were/are at WVU Hospitals OB/GYN clinic and the labor & delivery floor at Ruby Memorial.

Kira was delivered by Lena Cerbone a midwife at the OB/GYN clinic and we were really happy with the care and attention she was able to provide us. We’d been told from day 1 that the OB/GYN doctors and midwives are somewhat short-staffed and that we might not have our baby delivered by someone we knew; however, she made herself available and stayed with us until the wee hours of the morning to bring Kira into the world. I also felt that her expertise made it possible for the delivery to go so smoothly with minimal tearing (I only had a very small tear, no episiotomy necessary) and discomfort to me. She also asked us if it was ok for a student to assist in the delivery, and I think his help also helped it go very smoothly. The student was a pediatrician from Russia who is at WVU retraining to become an OB. This was the first birth he assisted with, I guess, and Lena showed him exactly what to do. This photo is of Lena (right), Mindy and Ilayak(sp?) the student (Left).

The nurses were also WONDERFUL. During the labor during the day, Alicia helped us out a lot. She was there when I started having the intense contractions. She helped reassure me when they were doing the epidural (the first one did not take and they had to do it again.) That was scary – especially for someone who is in a lot of pain because at one point during that procedure you have to remain completely still. When you have severe back spasms occuring every few minutes, you’re not totally sure you can stay still. Anyway…Alicia saw us through that before her shift was over. I am really glad she was there.
Alicia and Kira:

The epidural:

Mindy was the other nurse we had through the labor & delivery. She was there when we checked in and made sure we knew what was going on and we were ok through the night. The next night for the delivery, she helped me so much by counting during the pushes…this sounds like a small thing, but without that is would have been very difficult for me to know how long to push. She was very helpful and thoughtful and we really appreciated having her there.

With all their help, Steve and I felt like Kira and I were in very very good hands.
The room: