Child Birth and Breast Feeding class, and the rest of the weekend
I think I had a (noticeable) Braxton-Hicks contraction last night. The top front of my stomach went really hard for a few minutes. It was so strange.
I had been somewhat dreading going to a child birth class. I heard from so many people that the focus of the class is usually on medical interventions (ie C-sections) and drugs etc. I knew I wanted to do a breast feeding class. There is a lot to know before hand and I've been more worried about that than actual childbirth. We had both the Child Birth (CB) class and the Breast Feeding (BF) class yesterday.
We arrived at Bethesda NNMC (National Naval Medical Center) where I'll be delivering yesterday morning. We watched the waiting area outside OB gradually fill up with other couples. At 9am a woman came and opened the door for us and we walked through OB (where I get my exams) to a classroom at the back. Donna (instructor) started the CB class by going through attendance and asking us when we are due, sex of the baby, name of baby, partner's name, his branch of military, and then asked the birth partner a CB related question. We went first and Chris was asked how long labour usually lasts. He thought 6-8 hours. Donna told the class 12-14 hours is average. Of the 12 couples there we were the only ones who didn't want to know the sex of the baby. Only about 1/3 of the class was due before me, most were due later in June and July.
The class focused on anatomy, the physiology of labour and delivery, what to expect, and comfort measures. Only about 10 minutes of the class was about drugs and C-sections. Although epidurals etc were mentioned sporadically through the class Donna was completely impartial as 90% of women have an epidural when giving birth but almost the whole class had expressed an interest in going drug-free. We learned about pre-labour, stages of labour, when to go to the hospital, that sort of thing. I knew most of it but was really thankful Chris was there since he doesn't know much about any of this. He was interested in what we learned and mentioned during lunch that there seems to be a lot of class participation. I told him he's been in army classes for too long although when he teaches he tries to engage the class by asking questions. We did have a birth video that surprisingly didn't freak me out but I can't say Chris was all that happy to see it ;o)
Chris is home for lunch...
Chris just left, coffee in hand. It smelled so good I have decaf brewing right now.
I would have loved to have talked more about comfort measures and breathing etc. Truth is this class use to be 6 weeks long but now it is only one day and so there is a lot to cover. I plan to talk to my yoga instructor tonight about birth classes. She does private in-home classes but they are expensive. I need to get an idea of how many hours it will be. In March she did a comfort measures workshop for couples. I really hope she does another one soon.
After the CB class we switched to BF. Even the few couples who had planned to leave stuck around for it. I think that speaks well for our instructor. I found it very reassuring to say the least. We learned about positioning, latching, preventing nipple damage, that sort of thing. I did learn stuff in this part of the class. Plus the classes go a long way to helping Hubby understand what is about to happen. Afterwords we were talking to Donna and she commented that I knew quite a bit. I told her that my yoga instructor is a certified Lamaze instructor and she's been a great source of knowledge.
Backing up a bit, Friday we went to Noodles & Company for dinner. I enjoyed my mac n cheese and it was cheap and quick. We stopped in at Michael's to pick up a couple frames for the nursery and then at DSW where I was unsuccessful in finding comfy shoes. Once home Hubby left to play poker and I chatted with Lisa and Candace online. At about 1am I went and picked Chris up. He had a lot of fun.
Saturday we didn't sleep very late. I had plans to run a few errands but they never got done. We just had a low key morning/afternoon. I finaly showered and started an early dinner. We grilled chicken and potatoes on the new BBQ and it was really good. After dinner we headed into the DC area to a good-bye party for a friend of Chris' from high school. It was a nice day and evening and I enjoyed the party. They were really nice too. The hostess had one of her roommates pick up Italian soda for me and I even got to have a roasted s'mores. I got a kick out of the guest of honour, she was in complete disbelief that was born in the 70s.
We called it an early night so I could go to sleep at a reasonable time. Chris went to the midnight release for the new Nintendo DSi. He got home shortly after. Morning came too early, then it was off to the hospital for class. Class wrapped up around 3:30 so we had time to stop by IKEA on our way home to return the shelves I had bought there. We grabbed pizza form LIttle Cesar's and settled in for a quiet night.
I think that's alll for now. I'm going to relax with my coffee here and work on laundry when it dings.
I had been somewhat dreading going to a child birth class. I heard from so many people that the focus of the class is usually on medical interventions (ie C-sections) and drugs etc. I knew I wanted to do a breast feeding class. There is a lot to know before hand and I've been more worried about that than actual childbirth. We had both the Child Birth (CB) class and the Breast Feeding (BF) class yesterday.
We arrived at Bethesda NNMC (National Naval Medical Center) where I'll be delivering yesterday morning. We watched the waiting area outside OB gradually fill up with other couples. At 9am a woman came and opened the door for us and we walked through OB (where I get my exams) to a classroom at the back. Donna (instructor) started the CB class by going through attendance and asking us when we are due, sex of the baby, name of baby, partner's name, his branch of military, and then asked the birth partner a CB related question. We went first and Chris was asked how long labour usually lasts. He thought 6-8 hours. Donna told the class 12-14 hours is average. Of the 12 couples there we were the only ones who didn't want to know the sex of the baby. Only about 1/3 of the class was due before me, most were due later in June and July.
The class focused on anatomy, the physiology of labour and delivery, what to expect, and comfort measures. Only about 10 minutes of the class was about drugs and C-sections. Although epidurals etc were mentioned sporadically through the class Donna was completely impartial as 90% of women have an epidural when giving birth but almost the whole class had expressed an interest in going drug-free. We learned about pre-labour, stages of labour, when to go to the hospital, that sort of thing. I knew most of it but was really thankful Chris was there since he doesn't know much about any of this. He was interested in what we learned and mentioned during lunch that there seems to be a lot of class participation. I told him he's been in army classes for too long although when he teaches he tries to engage the class by asking questions. We did have a birth video that surprisingly didn't freak me out but I can't say Chris was all that happy to see it ;o)
Chris is home for lunch...
Chris just left, coffee in hand. It smelled so good I have decaf brewing right now.
I would have loved to have talked more about comfort measures and breathing etc. Truth is this class use to be 6 weeks long but now it is only one day and so there is a lot to cover. I plan to talk to my yoga instructor tonight about birth classes. She does private in-home classes but they are expensive. I need to get an idea of how many hours it will be. In March she did a comfort measures workshop for couples. I really hope she does another one soon.
After the CB class we switched to BF. Even the few couples who had planned to leave stuck around for it. I think that speaks well for our instructor. I found it very reassuring to say the least. We learned about positioning, latching, preventing nipple damage, that sort of thing. I did learn stuff in this part of the class. Plus the classes go a long way to helping Hubby understand what is about to happen. Afterwords we were talking to Donna and she commented that I knew quite a bit. I told her that my yoga instructor is a certified Lamaze instructor and she's been a great source of knowledge.
Backing up a bit, Friday we went to Noodles & Company for dinner. I enjoyed my mac n cheese and it was cheap and quick. We stopped in at Michael's to pick up a couple frames for the nursery and then at DSW where I was unsuccessful in finding comfy shoes. Once home Hubby left to play poker and I chatted with Lisa and Candace online. At about 1am I went and picked Chris up. He had a lot of fun.
Saturday we didn't sleep very late. I had plans to run a few errands but they never got done. We just had a low key morning/afternoon. I finaly showered and started an early dinner. We grilled chicken and potatoes on the new BBQ and it was really good. After dinner we headed into the DC area to a good-bye party for a friend of Chris' from high school. It was a nice day and evening and I enjoyed the party. They were really nice too. The hostess had one of her roommates pick up Italian soda for me and I even got to have a roasted s'mores. I got a kick out of the guest of honour, she was in complete disbelief that was born in the 70s.
We called it an early night so I could go to sleep at a reasonable time. Chris went to the midnight release for the new Nintendo DSi. He got home shortly after. Morning came too early, then it was off to the hospital for class. Class wrapped up around 3:30 so we had time to stop by IKEA on our way home to return the shelves I had bought there. We grabbed pizza form LIttle Cesar's and settled in for a quiet night.
I think that's alll for now. I'm going to relax with my coffee here and work on laundry when it dings.