Childbirth Class

We have been going to childbirth class throughout the month on January (there were 4 classes total). I was a little disappointed because I felt that it was too early - but the other options were May (erm - too late) or much later in the year. I guess this is one of the disadvantages of living in a small town - the resources can be limiting. I keep getting asked from other friends, if I am going to such and such a class............. and my response is always - nope - nothing like that where I live. I mean come on - our closest Target is over 100 miles away (I think I have told you that before).

Anyway back to childbirth class - let me give you a quick week by week summary.

Week 1 - still sick........ we drive to it and the whole time Jesse is saying, if you are coughing and spluttering they might ask us to leave - so I am thinking - what?, but there isn't another one - I have to make it through this - I stock up on cough drops and drink water every 5 seconds the whole 3 hours we were there. I managed to suppress the coughing until the very end. When we arrived, we were greeted by a super bubbly instructor, who is also a Douala AND a lactation consultant. We introduced ourselves to the other 2 couples (small class) and then she just dove right into it - telling us stories (mainly about her), which were very entertaining. I will mention here that she claims to have had 3 very easy birthing experiences and she wanted to let us know that there is a spectrum, and she is all the way to one end, most people are in the middle, and then there is the 'dreaded' other end! She talked and talked and then we watched videos of women giving birth! ............. Was I traumatized - no... don't be silly - its not like I don't know how a baby (a) gets in there or (b) comes out of there! I am pretty realistic when it come to this, plus I had just taken pics of a birth not that long ago - and I really didn't mind that whole experience either! We got a few more bits and pieces of info and away we went!

Week 2 - this was by far my favorite week - so the week before, she told us we would be learning relaxation techniques to use during childbirth....... and for us to bring pillows! When we got to class, there were all sorts of fun toys to play with - big exercise balls, massage things etc etc. She said this part of the class would last an hour and the men were going to learn some techniques to help us through the pain! (hope Jesse was paying attention here). Anyway, we laid down (we - as in women) and then she started to teach us techniques of massage, and pressure points etc etc and it was pretty wonderful. I mean come on - who doesn't want to be massaged for an hour! I think I may have fallen asleep for a few minutes and after the hour was up I was feeling pretty relaxed. I am wondering though - how many of these techniques are really going to work or get used when it comes to the 'day'. After that she talked some more about different experiences and it was relatively low key!

Week 3 - new instructor - she was a super fast talker so the class didn't last as long - but this was a cool week. We toured the birthing clinic - were told what to do upon arrival - which I know I have already forgotten, and watched her bathe a newborn. The newborn was pretty cute, super alert - but man - the second she took him our of that swaddle and got him naked, he produced lungs that any endurance athlete would be proud of! He was cute, even when crying, but I really wanted her to hurry up and swaddle him back up so he would stop. I mean hadn't his day been traumatic enough, he's just pushed/been pushed out of this warm tight space, into this cold open space and now here we all are staring down/cooing at him while he gets his second bathe of the day! Poor little guy. Of course he's going to let us know hes not at all happy!

Week 4 - breastfeeding........... we learned why its good, why we should do it, that its OK if it doesn't work out. Key when it comes to feeding is the less stress for mom and baby, the happier baby and mom will be! I am all for that....... and that's the philosophy I am following. We watched baby/child CPR. I have taken this class a thousand times, yet each time I always find myself second guessing! you would think it would be second nature now. Finally, we discussed car seats, types of car seats, installation of car seats and listened to some horror stories about not using the car seat correctly etc etc. Yup - we will probably have someone check that it is all set up and ready to go.

So that was our childbirth class, in a nutshell. I really like it, looked forward to going to it....... and highly recommend it to anyone that is pregnant (especially with baby number 1). I didn't think is was really necessary, but after week 1, I soon realized there is so much more to giving birth than you can ever imagine!.

The further along I get in this pregnancy, the more frequently this question pops up: Am I having a natural labor or an epidural?

I have no idea ................. seriously though - I honestly don't feel like anyone that is pregnant can answer this. I have said all along that I am and will remain open to anything. We learned in that class that if you go into the birthing experience with a plan that is not flexible then you will end up feeling inadequate and frustrated when things don't go as you hope them to go. I feel like there is ALOT of stigma behind pain medication during child birth, truth is if a woman has been in labor for 30+ hours and needs it, then let her have it without the judgement. I know, I know women have been giving birth for hundreds of years without anything to ease their pain.......... my response - many people died during those times and medication and technology have since evolved!' So I guess to answer the question, my birth plan is to get through it the best way I can and deliver a healthy baby................. if that ends up with or without pain meds remains to be seen :)