Childbirth Class #2

Long day of work yesterday so I had no time to write. But we had our second childbirth class on Monday night. As much as it disrupts our routine to go out from 7 to 9 pm on a weeknight (we are usually getting in bed at 9pm!) I really enjoy the class. The instructor is great - she's really positive, and friendly, and empathetic... watching her try to delicately explain that you may poop on the table during labor but it's not a big deal was too cute. (She instructed our labor coaches to just say nothing if this were to happen.)

I was also really pleased with Mr. I's enthusiasm, especially during the labor/breathing exercises. He was suggesting labor positions for me (we had to try four different ones) and gave me some very nice massage action... let me tell you that the "double hip squeeze" feels AWESOME even when you are not in labor. Getting a backrub after a hard day of work is sweet. Aside from feeling like my bladder is going to burst through most of the class (even though I get to pee halfway through), the two hours totally flies by.

We did watch a couple of birth videos and they were not as lovely as what we saw in The Business of Being Born; however, they were interesting enough. Mr. Ibis said that just watching them he felt very emotional and kind of frightened when the babies came out, like a preview of the feeling of how much life is going to change once that new person is here. And for my part, I was holding back tears when the babies emerged, despite the fact that the videos were pretty dry and straightforward. Amazing how birth videos can have that effect... blame the hormones, always blame the hormones.

Speaking of The Business of Being Born, during break we were chatting about the birth videos and mentioned to the instructor (I guess to the room in general) that we'd seen it. There are two other couples in the class who mentioned wanting natural births, one who'd seen it, and to the other we highly recommended it. The teacher had seen it and also thought it was excellent.

We're hoping to maybe possibly make friends with some of the people in our class, but man... what a group. There are a few promising souls, but a lot of our classmates seem borderline comatose. Mr. Ibis and I think that many, maybe most, of the people who were born and raised in Nebraska kind of seem like they're clinically depressed. Maybe we still just don't understand the culture, or maybe the harsh winters take their toll over time. But the whole "friendly Midwesterner" doesn't really seem to apply. For example, we rode the elevator up with the couple who sits in front of us, so Mr. I tried to make some little friendly joke... they just kind of chuckled uncomfortably and didn't reply. Hardly anyone speaks in class even when prompted by the teacher. She did an icebreaker exercise asking us different personal questions about pregnancy and birth, and most people just kind of mumbled a rote answer, kind of missing the point that it was not a pop quiz but an attempt to get us to bond as a group a little bit. Oh well.

Last night I wanted to go to the monthly La Leche meeting in my area, but I had an extra long day of work and was just way too tired. Hopefully next month I can make it, particularly if I am not working by then (please let me not be working by then). I don't know, it will be just a few days before Christmas so maybe it will be canceled. Otherwise I guess I'll just go when the baby's born!

My shower is tomorrow evening and Friday I have my growth ultrasound... busy week!