First Class

We went to our first "prepared childbirth" class at Hoag Hospital on Tuesday. This is the place where we will have our baby. Hooray for ocean views while I'm pushing!

:-)

So back to the class. Basically, they go through what to expect when you begin labor and all the different stages. Then they tell you what will happen when you get to the hospital, etc. Finally at the end we began to learn some breathing exercises while our partner massages us.

I thought the class was pretty good. I know most of it, but then again I've been reading like every baby book under the sun, doing a bunch of research online and talking to people who have had babies at Hoag recently. So for me the breathing exercises were new and also the fact that I get my own room to have the baby in (hooray! I have a sailor's mouth. Which means i curse up a storm when I'm in pain or pissed off...so a private room for me is GOOD).

As for the men in the room. Let's just say that you can tell NOT ONE of them read the baby books and they all got their information from hearsay. Imagine a room where women pulled gum out of their mouths or twisted their hair on the end of their finger tips in boredom, while the men sat in awe with their eyeballs popping out of their heads. The top 3 topics that most men seemed to be concerned about:

1. When do i need to rush home from work?

2. Will my wife defecate all over herself?

3. What do i do if she doesn't want me to touch her?

I guess this is why women give birth. Whoever or whatever created us knew that we'd be doing all the research and preparation for this big event.

Disclaimer: My eyes did pop out of my head when she had us look down at our name tags (which were large round circles, the size of a bagel) and said: "Your name tag is 10cm dilated." I did swallow a lump in my throat. Its so different reading it and measuring it on a ruler vs. someone showing you a visual (I literally had a cervix pinned to me. Yeah, it would freak you out too!). As for my wonderful husband, Matt, he did very well. Some eyeball poppage but only at the biggies.

We shall see how how class number two goes next week! :-)