Hospital Food?

[taweavmo3]

Hi all! I'm 20 weeks preggo right now, with baby #4. I haven't been diagnosed with celiac, but my daughter has it. I went gluten free for a while to see how I felt, and I felt much better. I stupidly ate regular pasta, and had a major reaction, and have stayed gluten free since. So, I haven't messed with testing at all. I have no actual paper proof that I have it. Now I'm scared about getting glutened while in hospital after I have the baby. I'll be having a c-section, so it'll be a 5 day stay. I'm wondering how accomodating the hospital cafeteria will actually be, and if I'll need my OB to actually write for a gluten free diet???? Has anyone dealt with this yet? Thanks in advance, I do plan on calling the hospital to chat about this, and asking my doctor. The last thing I need when recovering from surgery is to have another reaction!

[lovegrov]

Definitely talk to the dietary folks ahead of time -- BUT, have a stock of your own food and have your husband bring food. Some hospitals do great but many are clueless. For my first "gluten-free" meal I got chicken smothered in a thick mystery sauce on top of noodles and Boston cream pie. I was sick as a dog and new at it and still knew that wasn't gluten-free. When my doctor (who was my brother in law) complained they told him to have me take the chicken off the noodles. And this was at the same hospital where my wife was a nurse.

richard

[Guest Viola]

Yes! Do have your own foods and have someone bringing you fresh stuff. Hospitals, even if you talk to the dietician have a problem with the diet. One nurse brought me a sandwhich with gluten free bread, it had egg salad filling and they had no idea what was in the salad dressing they used. The problem is that they fix so many meals and they understand salt free, and liquid diet, but with gluten free the understanding seems to stop at the bread.

[angielackner]

i am 34 weeks pregnant, and in a similar boat...i know our hospital's dietary dept understands something of the gluten free diet as when i called to ask about eating a hamburger there (my mom works at the hospital and i sometimes lunch with her), they said the hamburger was gluten free and they even had rice buns if i asked for one! it was delicious...but anyhow, i am still going to speak with dietary ahead of time, and bring lots of my own food...plus my hubby or mom can run out to one of the area restaurants and get me something too...i just wish i could take a toaster oven...i just dont like the whole foods sandwich bread all that much unless its toasted...but i'll work with it.

so definitely talk to dietary as you get closer...and bring plenty of your own foods and scope out what places are around the hospital that you can send people to to get you food

good luck!

angie

[cgilsing]

I'm 27 weeks right now and have just decided that I'm not going to trust the hospital with that task! THe last thing that I want is to be sick for the week after the baby is born so I'm not going to leave anything to chance. I'm going to fix a couple meals beforehand and freeze them so that my husband can just come home, heat them up and bring them too me. If I have any problems and need to stay longer I'm going to have my mom come to my house and cook for me. (Thank god for Mom! She is the only other person that I can trust to cook gluten-free.....except for my husband, but he isn't much of a cook )

[KayJay]

I had the worst time getting food while in the hospital. I had a c-section too!

My doctor wrote on my chart gluten-free and the nurses knew this. But when they brought me breakfast they would put a roll on the plate or bring me cereal. I would say I can't eat this could I just have eggs and fruit it took them 2 hours to bring me a plate of food. The second time they brought me the same food that I still couldn't eat. I would get so frustrated because I was really hungry. Then at lunch the same thing happened. Finally the kitchen called and my dh said do you have any meats or anything that does not have gravy on it! They said No not today! It took them another 2 hours for lunch and I ended up with sandwich meat and cheese. So they asked me then what I wanted for dinner and I got plain chicken and a potato. It was crazy and I was so hungry by the time that I got to go home. That time I got my chicken and potato I was just about to leave to go home. I only had to stay 2 days and I was glad because I really needed to get a meal. You would think they could have gotten better before I had to go home.

Next time I will bring my own food and not even worry about the hospital food. It was really bad.

[Roxyk]

I have been in close contact with our hospital. I started with the head labor/delivery nurse, the anethesoligist (I can NOT spell that word), the pharmacist & the dietian. All have come up with plans for me. START EARLY talking to them. I was all set to go at 36 weeks. It is worth it to put in many phone calls to make sure they understand everything.

I'm due on the 13th, so I'll let you know how it goes.

[KimmyK]

I had my daughter (now 21 months old) in May of last year in Clark County KY. I was induced and knew that I had Celiac. My symptoms and diagnoses came with my first daughter born in 2001. When I filled out the paperwork for my hospital admission, I put on my chart (under the allergy section) that I was Celiac and could have ABSOLUTELY NO wheat, rye, barley, oats, or products that were associated with or contained any product or byproducts of these ingredients. I delivered my daughter at 12:20 and the director of the cafeteria for our hospital was in my room at 12:30 asking specifically what I wanted for lunch, dinner and breakfast during the rest of my stay. I was able to ask for chicken, salad (brought my own dressing from home), fresh vegetables, steak, etc. and had NO problems while I was there. You may ask to speak specifcally to the head of the cafeteria to take care of the problem... Hope this was helpful...