The Last Birthing Class

This is something of a play by play of the last 4 Wednesdays, our birthing class nights.

Cary and I meet at Ukrops around 6:00 to have dinner. He tries to select a meal for under $5 and wants me to play this game with him. No such luck. We sit in the Starbucks café and review our day at work while Cary reminds me that my chocolate pudding was $5 alone and would encourage me to find a less expensive meal the next week. To all of this conversation, I would chuckle and love every last moment of my food!

Last night when we met I “ran” to the bathroom quickly before we selected our meals. Cary was waiting for me so I tried to be as quick as I could at 9 months pregnant; while walking toward him he said, “Slow down Sweetie. We aren’t in a rush. Besides, when you waddle like that you remind me of a 95 year old woman who just wet her pants.” Nice, Sweetie.

After dinner we head down the street a few blocks to the hospital and Cary stops by Wawa to get some coffee. I usually meet him in the waiting room of the doctors office (that’s where class is held). Class begins and we learn all sorts of crazy things. For example, in our class last night we discussed/reviewed the following:

-One couple in our class delivered their baby on Monday evening. That was sort of scary to think that 1 in 5 of us had already “bit the dust” and have a kid!

-Our breathing techniques; Cary was making all the necessary hand motions to keep me in rhythm. Sometimes I think this is silliness but when we watched the birthing videos later I realized that a lot of coaches actually make hand motions!

-Medications: everything from neubane to an epidural. Yes, we saw the epidural needle and learned the entire procedure. I think our instructor did a fantastic job of explaining the details of meeting the anesthesiologist, when to anticipate having a decision for medication (approx. 5 cm), how to make a decision on needing medication, any side effects, etc.

-The most important lesson learned throughout the entire medication discussion in class is to make sure we have a happy mom, baby and birth experience. No one knows what the delivery will be like and therefore it important to keep an open mind, go with the flow and make educated decisions. I’m really glad we took this class because I feel more equipped to be able to make educated decisions.

-Post partum stage; Leslie stressed the importance of taking the opportunity while at the hospital to rest, learn about our new baby and use the nursing staff to teach us how to care for Sweets. She encouraged us to keep the baby in our room so we know what she sounds like during the night, when she chokes (WHAT?) and how to handle those situations. When she said “chokes” we all sort of gasped and thought “BABY’S CHOKE?” Yea, I have no clue what I’m getting myself into. We also discussed home support and how family will be involved once the baby comes home and what folks can do to help.

Need I mention I’m beginning to feel extremely overwhelmed right now?!

-Finally we watched the birthing video. What a surprise this experience was for both Cary and I! First, Cary came prepared….he brought Junior Mints! Maybe this was just in case he needed something to not feel nauseous. So the video begins and we are just watching several couples in various stages of labor. It was obvious they were practicing similar breathing techniques. But then the heads started popping out. This is when I started to cry (not good cry, but scared cry) and Cary got excited. It was not good. With every new delivery Cary was like “that is SO COOL!” While my eyes were getting bigger and bigger and I’m thinking, “What have I done?” I sat in shock (which is strange because I’ve seen birthing videos before and haven’t been fazed like this) and realized that I am definitely NOT READY. When we were leaving Cary was practically jumping up and down with excitement and saying “I’m so ready. Let’s do this! I’m excited to move on past this point in life and be a Dad!” Me, “Noo, it’s okay. I’m not ready.”

It all seems a bit overwhelming. Yea, exciting and fun to think about, but it’s a lot to process through at the same time.

The bed felt so good last night!