We spent all day Saturday at the Health Unit in a "Prenatal in a Day" class. Holy crap, it went soooo fast! They jumped from topic to topic, passing out handouts and spewing out all sorts of information. I can see now how taking the evening classes and having more time is beneficial! But it was good. We did learn not to shake the baby and that labour will hurt, but we also learned about the art of breastfeeding, the progression of labour, different pain m
edications, interventions in labour (forceps, vacuum extractor, etc.) and a lot more. It was good. I definitely feel more ready now. And I'm quite impressed by the longevity of breast milk- who knew it could last up to 6 months in the deep freeze? Breast milk popsicles anyone? (OK, I think I just grossed myself out!)
I think Andrew had a good time too. We sat next to a girl Andrew's been friends with since they were four and they exchanged funny comments throughout the class. It was pretty comical. The nurse asked us what one of the biggest hazards to drinking while pregnant was and Andrew blurts out "Falling down the stairs!" Laughs ensued. I shook my head with mild embarrassment. But it was pretty funny. Also funny was the other nurse saying you have to jam your breast in the baby's mouth- "Give it a good mouthful of breast" I think is what she said.
edications, interventions in labour (forceps, vacuum extractor, etc.) and a lot more. It was good. I definitely feel more ready now. And I'm quite impressed by the longevity of breast milk- who knew it could last up to 6 months in the deep freeze? Breast milk popsicles anyone? (OK, I think I just grossed myself out!)I think Andrew had a good time too. We sat next to a girl Andrew's been friends with since they were four and they exchanged funny comments throughout the class. It was pretty comical. The nurse asked us what one of the biggest hazards to drinking while pregnant was and Andrew blurts out "Falling down the stairs!" Laughs ensued. I shook my head with mild embarrassment. But it was pretty funny. Also funny was the other nurse saying you have to jam your breast in the baby's mouth- "Give it a good mouthful of breast" I think is what she said.
OK, back to labour... I'm also a little freaked out about getting an Epidural now. I mean, I'm totally up for whatever needs to be done to get Tex out of me, but after watching a birthing video where the woman had an Epidural I'm kind of turned off of them. She was completely unable to control any part of her labour and it kind of reminded me of a cow giving birth. She was even moaning like a cow. It was bizarre. Maybe it was the moaning like a cow that turned me off the most. I half expected some guy in overalls to come in with some shackles and yard the baby out by the ankles. Yikes.
We also went for a tour of the hospital and got to view the delivery rooms, post delivery rooms and the "continental breakfast" room that I'm kind of excited about, even though I know it'll still be gross hospital food. But I digress...
In the delivery room there's a shower and you're allowed to bring the birthing balls (exercise balls) into the shower if you want. However, if you're not careful the ball can block the drain and you can end up flooding the O.R. on the 2nd floor! That doesn't seem very sanitary to me! You'd think they'd fix that, instead of relying on women in labour to focus on not flooding the hospital.
In the delivery room there's a shower and you're allowed to bring the birthing balls (exercise balls) into the shower if you want. However, if you're not careful the ball can block the drain and you can end up flooding the O.R. on the 2nd floor! That doesn't seem very sanitary to me! You'd think they'd fix that, instead of relying on women in labour to focus on not flooding the hospital.
So now that we've passed Baby School there's nothing really left to do until the baby comes except pack our bags, twiddle our thumbs, and work on building my pain threshold. I'm going to start by banging my head against the counter until I can do it without screaming. Wish me luck!
A&M
