Birthing Class

Bri and I had our first birthing class on Thursday night. We are taking a six week long class, each class being 2.5 hours long, that covers everything from the birthing process to relaxation techniques and massage therapy to breastfeeding and newborn care. It meets at the hospital we will be delivering at, which is nice since we will be that much more acquainted with it when it comes time to have the baby.

Our teacher was OK, not "with it" enough, if you will, for our liking, but she is very nice and seems knowledgeable. We watched some videos, saw some babies come out, learned about what happens in the body when you go in to labor and the best part, got a massage!

The room was set up in two parts, with chairs on each side and an aisle down the middle, and we went around and did introductions on who we were, where we worked, when we were due, what the gender is (if we knew) and what the name will be (if you picked it yet/released that information). The side opposite us went first, and they were all having boys! All 7 couples are having boys and only 2 knew what they are naming them! It got to our side, the couple behind us went, they too are having a boy and don't know the name. It got to us, we were the first to be having a girl and we, of course, knew the name. Out of the entire class, only 3 girls are to be born and only about 4 out of 15 couples have a name picked out. I was completely shocked by the numbers! I thought girls would be dominant and I thought people would have all the name stuff covered, but I was completely wrong! Most people were so nonchalant about not knowing the name, too, which weirded me out, since I would be like, "we only have 2 months to figure this all out!" I guess this all boils down to the fact that I am neurotic and impatient and have to figure everything out as soon as physically possible. Poor BellaReese, she will probably have Brian's laid back attitude and a mother who is so ridiculously on-top of things and neurotic, and she too will just roll her eyes when I freak out when something changes or something happens I don't know how to fix or if there are little deviance from my original plans...ha! I apologize in advance, little girl!

The best part of the whole class was the last 20 minutes, where we sat in front of our hubbies on the ground and they learned different back massage techniques to help us through labor before we get the epidural and/or pushing time. (there is a name for some of the techniques we went over, but it is french and I don't remember it and wouldn't be able to spell it anyways, ha) Brian was like, "I do all this already! My crazy wife loves massages and head pets and asks for them all the flippin time!" His homework is to practice more and more so he learns what I like and don't like. Haha. I love the homework!

I am not sure what is on the agenda in class for next week, but the week after that, we get a tour of the birthing center, which I am excited for. All in all, it was informative and worthwhile so far. I look forward to more one on one interaction with Brian in terms of relaxation and breathing techniques, since that is what we will need to use the most of. Knowing how my uterus contracts will NOT be on my mind come birth day, but trying to think of how to breathe so I don't kill someone will DEFINITELY be on my mind!