Childbirth Class

Baby-related appointments are starting to get more and more frequent around here - a checkup tomorrow, a visit with the "maternity connections consultant" (where we'll go over our birth plan with a nurse and talk about social security cards and pre-signing-up for the hospital visit) next week, another ultrasound next week as well... and today was our first childbirth class!

It was held at the hospital where we'll be delivering, which is nice because the teacher has attended a lot of births there and can give details about the philosophy of the staff. In fact, I came away from the class realizing I can cut my birth plan at least in half, if not more, because the staff all sound like they're on the same page as me. (They encourage active labor and delivery as well as immediate skin-to-skin after birth, you can eat whenever you want, they don't do episiotomies, and their c-section rates are much lower than the national average.) So sometime before next week Cory and I will go over the birth plan so that we can cull what needs to be culled and then share it with the consultant.

This first class was all about childbirth-related fear. She had us write down things that we were worried/afraid about, and then read them out loud and refuted them. There wasn't much new information for me, which I found kind of comforting in that I must be relatively well prepared. I'm actually not worried very much about labor and delivery; I'm sure I'll get nervous/excited when it starts but so far I'm not stressing about it.

The teacher also talked a little bit about things to avoid during the last trimester (things like sitting too long or reclining will encourage the baby to turn posterior, which can hurt your back) and tests that we still have to do (like Strep B, and what happens it we have it). Then we spent a few minutes doing some simple exercises on the floor, stretching our backs and finding positions that open the pelvis; and we finished with 10 minutes of relaxation. It would have been more relaxing had the floor not been so hard, but that's OK. :)

Oh, and bonus - the teacher is a doula who is also a dog trainer. She chatted with one couple during the break about their dog, and it sounds like Cory plans to ask what to expect with Linus when Ivy comes home with us. All in all, it sounds like this is going to be a good use of our last several weeks as we prepare for Ivy's arrival.