Breathe in -- breathe out

I survived our first prenatal class.

It wasn't that bad, actually, except for the part where the woman behind us kept talking about how she is on blood thinners, and she has to give herself shots, and she just jabs the needle straight into her belly, and she is worried that she might puncture the sac and start spewing forth amniotic fluid, which she thought might have happened earlier today because the fluid that came out was white (her DH thought it was kind of cloudy), and what color was amniotic fluid anyway? (Now picture me turning green in the face, my wife leaning over and asking, "are you going to be okay?")

I so don't have the stomach for childbirth. A full 12 hours after the event, and it still makes me sick to my stomach to listen to.

The more I think about it, the more I'm glad that my wife is planning on a natural birth (assuming all goes as planned). I don't think I can handle LOOKING at the epidural needle, never mind being in the same hospital as my wife when she were to get the shot.

I think the thing my wife learned last night that she liked the most was that birthing room 1 in our hospital has an in-room jacuzzi. She wanted to know if we could call ahead and reserve the room.

(Me on the phone: "Yes, hospital? Labor and Delivery please. Yes. I'll hold.... Yes, Labor and Delivery? Oh good. Hey, we're planning a birth in 6 weeks, well, we're due in six weeks, and we wondered if we couldn't just schedule birthing room 1 for sometime that week. In fact, just block off the whole week for us, okay?")

Joking aside, it was a good class, albeit long (2.5 hours). I should have thought to bring snacks, as we were both starving at the end.

The class covered a bunch of stuff we already knew (don't smoke, drink, do drugs, take over-the-counter drugs, and be sure to take a multi-vitamin). Truth be told, it was actually kind of late for that kind of advice. (Birth is "scheduled" in 6 weeks, 2 days, lest you forget.) Then she talked about eating healthy, and all the kinds of food you should and shouldn't be eating.

This part was amusing because I've been doing Weight Watchers now for about 8 months, and I've become very aware of the food I eat and the quantity I eat. The class leader was talking about how easy it is to get your grains, and she said, "do you realize that a serving of cold cereal is just a half a cup? That is like this much" and she made a small cup with her hand. "Nobody ever eats just one serving of cold cereal. I'm sure you all eat at least 3."

And I'm thinking to myself, "Well, the cold cereal I had this morning is 3/4 cup for one serving, which is 30 grams. I had about 35 grams plus milk, so I think I came pretty close to my one serving."

So while I think the nutrition part is important, it wasn't new information for either my wife or myself.

Then we did the massaging (my wife loved this part). We ended with some relaxation techniques, something along the lines of hypno-birthing. That was really interesting, and it is something we want to look more into. It's not voodoo-ish or anything. It's just a relaxation technique where you learn to relax yourself and be aware of what is happening in your body, and then when labor happens, you work with your body instead of against it. It was very interesting, and very relaxing.

All in all, it was a good class. Now our prenatal classes are 1/4 over. Which is a good thing, because by the time class is done, we will be within 2 weeks of our "scheduled" delivery.

I better go reserve birthing room 1. Jacuzzi here we come!