Child Birth Classes

Birthing classes! These classes take place at the hospital where I'm delivering, which is about 20 minutes from our house but about an hour from my job. They are on Monday nights. Mondays I have to rush home, feed and let Maddie out, then rush to the hospital. We had the first class Monday and we have three more classes to attend. I'm an avid reader, I read anything and everything I can get my hands on in order to feel more prepared for new experiences. As a result I didn't learn anything new Monday *sigh*, but I'm hopeful for the next three weeks!

There are about 10 couples in our class and one thing I was very surprised about is that Ben and I seem to be the youngest couple there (with the exception of maybe one other couple). I think we're young, but not THAT young (if you don't know I'm 25 and he's 28), so it kind of caught me off guard that most of the other expecting parents seemed to be in their 30s or 40s. It's a sign of the times, people are waiting longer to have children. I guess that will be us next time since we're planning on waiting several years to have another child, we'll probably both be in our thirties by then (WOW!).

At the beginning of the night we went around and introduced ourselves and the women were supposed to say what was the worst part of pregnancy and the men said the best part. It was hilarious. Nobody else said the worst part was morning sickness, but then again I don't think any of those ladies are still getting sick like me :( Most of the men said the cravings were the best part because they would go get their wives fast food in the middle of the night. Poor Ben, I crave salad. And string cheese. Ben said the best part was being able to watch my stomach from the outside and being able to see the baby move. That is pretty cool!

We learned about dilating and effacing, and talked about our biggest fears and such. Then at the end we began the "relaxing breathing" techniques. I should mention, I worked 7:30-5:30 and came straight to the hospital. Ben worked 6 am to 6 pm and came to meet me. So by 8:30 we were kind of tired. Ben sat against the wall with my back against his chest and we breathed in deeply 1-2-3 and out 1-2-3 repetitively. All of a sudden Ben's body goes slack and his head was on my shoulder, he was out like a light! Poor guy he was just so tired.

That's all to report, I'll let you know how the next childbirth class goes. It was worth going to. While I didn't learn technical stuff I'm glad Ben is interacting with all these other Dads-to-be and hearing about their fears and experiences. And I do want him to know what's going to be happening in the labor process, because I'm pretty sure I won't be up to explaining the details to him as it happens (ha!).

Less than 2 months to go now! She'll be here soon!