Birthing Class

Matt and I attended a weekend "intensive" birthing class instead of going to several weeks worth of classes. So we spent Friday night and all Saturday learning about the labor and delivery process, breathing, positions and such. It went pretty well, for so much baby in such a short period of time. The teachers were enthusiastic, but not annoying, women with many children of their own. There was plenty of good discussion following peoples' questions, with plenty good questions. Some of the birthing video were a little freaky...freaky as in real shots of crowing heads and vaginas. I am perfectly have with my natural vantage point not allowing me to see my own body stretched and abused so, though I know and believe that is what it was designed for! Maybe I'll want a mirror in the heat of the moment for motivation, but I'm not so sure about that right now. Waxy coating on baby=non-human looking infant-rat looking thing. That's ok, I'll just count on that rush of love for my own rat looking infant to sweep me away :) One woman even commented, "that doesn't look like a baby," while he doctor said "it does from my point of view!" which I found to be quite funny. Another good part was the woman who truly believed during transitional phase (hardest part) unmedicated, that when she decided that she was done with this painful labor process that she could just give up and decide to go home...ummm that baby still needs to be born whether you want to do it or not....it just seemed so logical to her that she could walk away.

I have already put some thought into what things I would like to be a part of our birth (birthing plan) but I feel more ready to sit down and work on it, just have to do that now! I am really glad that we signed up and went to this class mostly for Matt, just so we could go into detail about the stages of labor, what I will be like at each stage and what I will need from him at each point (like when jokes might help, and when they might get him in trouble). It was cool to see computer animation of how the baby twist and lowers through the pelvis and birth canal to actually fit. I need to keep thinking and reminding myself that he can and WILL fit and hope that can help me relax at the right moments to make that work.