Birthing classes

Nikki is totally enjoying the pregnancy and I am anxiously awaiting the end of this voyage. As Nicholas waits to make his entrance in this world, we were busy attending a couple of classes in the past week. There was a meet and greet session at the pediatrician’s office. As part of gearing up for the big day we were encouraged to choose a pediatrician now and not wait until the baby is born. Good advice I believe. This physician came highly recommended and I could see why. Nice and relaxed. He made the group feel at home and put all anxieties to rest. So now that we have a pediatrician we are comfortable with, that is one less thing to worry about. I can’t say that I learned anything new per se. But I have a doctor that I like.

We also had a childbirth class which I was a bit skeptical about at first. I thought we would have gotten a member of the Man-Hating Gestapo unit for an instructor but it turned out okay. The instructor was a nurse; old school, who has seen it all and basically understood all the concerns from around the room. She was more helpful than she first appeared and was more than willing to explain everything as patiently as she could. I was actually happy that I went and felt good about us choosing this particular hospital. It seems willing to be as accommodating as possible. I was delighted to learn that the baby will be in the same room as Nikki the entire time she is admitted. That is nice as I sometimes hear stories of babies going missing or accidentally switched.

The class helped us understand what our choices are relative to the hospital policies. We watched a video of a live birth and it was well………….. interesting. I am not particularly squeamish (I hammer up drywall and go deer hunting for fun) but I had to shift around in my seat a few times. Our now darling instructor pointed out that one reason men didn’t have babies was that the pelvic region does not support the birthing process. I thought the comment was funny because as I watched the video I thought there was more to it than that. But who am I to second guess.

The most important thing I learned at the class was what I should be expected to do during labor and delivery. What is that you ask? Freak out.

Although fainting would also be a nice touch…………..