childbirth class – part one

Our childbirth class was held over a weekend, rather than a six-week period. Most of it was because of convenience (or lack thereof.) The husband’s schedule was originally difficult to navigate and he wasn’t going to be in town six consecutive weeks during the summer. So we opted for the July weekend class (the only one that was even available when I reserved our spot in May!) Needless to say, we thought we’d be the furthest along in our pregnancy when we arrived. (Thankfully, we were wrong – and most of the couples were right around 34 weeks, just like us. One couple is 38 weeks along. Hopefully, they won’t be having the baby tomorrow.)

Today was our first day of the two-day class. Five hours. I was not looking forward to it, but it ended up being a lot of fun! Two of our friends walked in shortly after us and it was just coincidence that we were all in the same class. They’re about two weeks behind us, and also expecting a boy.

One of the first things we did was discuss our fear levels on a scale of 1-10. I had written down that mine was about a 1. I really am not scared about the birth of our child. I don’t know why, but that doesn’t freak me out at this point. (Later, the teacher had put these stickers on everyone that wanted to participate that changed colors based on relaxation and stress levels. Mine was consistently blue – relaxed – until I checked Facebook during a break time. Mental note: some people apparently stress me out.)

We then went over some of the standard stuff – the birthing process as a whole – and then some various positions that *should* help us to be more comfortable and progress things along. The birth plan was briefly touched upon, and then we had the hospital tour. The tour was definitely the highlight of the day, made even better when the husband asked if I wanted him to stay overnight after the baby was born. (Standard is two nights.) I talked to my dad about this comment tonight, and I think it’s so funny to picture me being dropped off and telling Kenny “see you in a couple of days!” (I think he gets the picture now. He will be staying overnight. With me. And we’ll have someone check on the cat. She’ll be fine.)

Our homework was to sign up through a particular website, and check out what they have to offer us. That’s done.

Now I’m about to start on our birth plan. I’m excited about this. I love lists (like I’ve mentioned several times before) and this is going to be the list of all lists, I believe.

Tomorrow is our second five-hour class, and then I guess we’ll be “certified” to have this baby. Or something like that. 🙂