Childbirth Class

This past Saturday, Chris and I took an all day childbirth class.  It was given by the hospital where I am going to deliver.  It was a pretty good class.  She went over what we'll go through during labor, pain coping strategies, pain relief options and several other such things.  Chris found out that he's got it pretty good, too.  At one point we separated girls and boys and he said that some of the guys have some crazy pregnant ladies on their hands who cry all the time and make crazy demands.  Truth be told, we both though I'd be that crazy lady, too, however, I'm actually a very well behaved pregnant woman (excluding a few weeks in the first trimester, but I felt awful, so I think I'm excused).

We also watched a few babies be born.  I was a little worried about Chris at this part, but he did great.  So great that he's decided that he wants to hold a leg while I'm pushing instead of staying by my head.  That's huge progress!  He said it wasn't as bad as he had imagined.  Although I will not be delivering completely naked like some of the women in the video did.  More power to those who do, however I feel like enough of me is going to be exposed to strangers, might as well keep some things mysterious.

After the teaching part, we got a tour of the maternity ward.  I have been in there before when friends have had babies, but Chris had never seen in.  It's fairly new, and soo nice.  The shower in the bathroom looks like it could be in a hotel!  The rooms are huge and private and have a pull out couch for Chris to sleep on.  He was very impressed and it made him feel more comfortable with the whole delivery process.  He is visual, so being able to imagine where we will be helped him out a lot.

The only down side to the class is that now I'm convinced every 5 minutes that I'm going into labor.  For those of you who know me, you know that I can be a little a lot paranoid about some things.  Well, my current fixation is pre-term labor.  Every pain I feel, I wonder if it's actually cramping leading to labor.  If my stomach is upset, it's my intestines cleaning themselves out getting ready for labor (when actually it's probably from me stressing out about everything, leading to nervous tummy).  Oh, my back hurts, that means labor is starting.  I think the main catalyst in all this are the braxton hicks contractions.  I get them fairly often, and despite having a talk with my doctor and getting a clear explanation of how real contractions feel and when to call her, I still freak out.  Which I know is not good for me or the baby.  So I'm trying to take deep breaths and calm myself down so I don't drive Chris insane with my paranoia.  Johnny boy is nice and cozy in there (and kicking me like nobody's business, like, all the time) and he's going to stay in a little while longer.