A graduation of sorts

So last night we had the final "Lamaze" class. I put it in quotes, because at the end of it, I'm not sure why it was categorized as a "Lamaze" class. Really, it was a third-trimester class. We discussed Lamaze only on the first week, and only for part of the time. That was a disappointment for me because we were hoping to get more information on natural birthing options. As it was, all I could tell was that our instructor favored natural birthing, but didn't really care what we decided to do.

Here's the roundup.

Week 1: Overview of pregnancy; Nutrition throughout pregnancy; Trimesters; some breathing, massaging, and relaxation exercises.

Week 2: Stages of labor; "the video"

Week 3: Epidurals; spinal blocks; tour of the hospital maternity ward

Week 4: Newborn care; Postpartum care; 10-minute refresher on recommended breathing patterns during contractions.

It was an interesting class, but it wasn't a "Lamaze" class. That's too bad, since we paid almost double the price of the third-trimester class with little to no information about Lamaze. I expected some Lamaze-specific material, tips on breathing with follow-up on subsequent weeks, homework on breathing, stuff like that. For a third-trimester class, it was really good. For a Lamaze-specific class, it was, um, lacking.

Other than that, I'm glad we took the class. I learned a lot of information, and I feel a lot more confident about the concept of birth than I did four weeks ago. I think that I might be able to get through it without passing out, which would be a bonus. I think I'm even going to try to cut the cord myself. This is a major step up. So this class has, after all, been a good thing.

So I think we're ready; at least in terms of knowing more about what to expect. I feel ready, I guess; as ready as we're going to be, since you're probably never _ready_. BW (Beautiful Wife) still needs to finish her thesis, but that will happen this week. Which is coincidentally the week BW hits the 37 week mark, which is considered "full-term." We had a lady at our church on Sunday tell us that you can just tell when somebody is ready for labor, and BW apparently has that look. She thought that BW might have her baby even this week. You could just see it in BW's face, apparently.

I hope not. We still haven't picked a name.