1.) Everyone was a whole lot more relaxed than they were before. A few other couples were giggling to themselves and I didn’t feel like anyone had their Serious Mommy hat on. So either everyone was just nervous the first week or watching several births full on is a good ice breaker. One of the two.
2.) Matt and I are still the slow kids in the class – this time we forgot our pillows and blankets. Oops. So we rocked out the breathing exercises using our coats as cushions. I’m pretty sure that a good chunk of parenting is creative problem solving so while it looked like we were unprepared really were just practicing. Right.
3.) I suck at breathing. Seriously. All of the hee hee hee stuff made me really dizzy. The instructor said that if you get lightheaded to just slow it all down… but when I did that I was basically just breathing normally. Pointless.
4.) All we covered in class was un-medicated birth. Not that I’m opposed to that or anything. I really haven’t decided how I’m going to go about all of this yet - I’d like to have all of the information before I make a decision. Yet every single video we watched was about someone doing the whole thing naturally. One was at home and one was in a hospital with a dula there the whole time. We’re doing neither of those things. Add to that an instructor who adds “helpful” tidbits such as “well if you have an epidural you won’t be able to move your legs like that.” Or the even less useful “since most of our women have pitocin and you have to be on a monitor with the pitocin you won’t be walking around the halls like that” and I’m left with A LOT of questions. Like what is this monitor thing and why is everyone on pitocin? What the hell? I’m hoping they cover what a more typical hospital birth is like tonight or I’m going to go from slow kid to the annoying one who asks a ridiculous amount of questions.
5.) Powerpoint can be abused. But I think we all knew that already.
And just to leave you with some random... how about a cute Dexter pic:
I miss this little guy. He’s moved in with my parents for the time being since everything in our house is covered in plastic and/or construction dust. We have visitation rights but it’s not the same. Insomnia by yourself sucks – insomnia with a dog companion is much, much more tolerable.
Dexter is adorable. I can't wait to see how the kitchen turns out. : )
ReplyDeleteI heard from my grammy that you're expecting, and I was just popping in to see some baby knits and whatnot. Congratulations and I hope all goes well in your last few weeks!
ReplyDeleteHeather (lois's granddaughter) :)
Good luck! I don't think my childbirth class prepared me for anything. I do have a bit of experience (4 kids) with the first three being without pain meds and the last one, with an induction, getting an epidural. (The epidural was after I was confined to bed and many hours of labor. After the epidural, the baby was born in 30 minutes!) There are pros and cons to both. Perhaps it would've been wiser to have an epidural with my first. But the best thing to do is keep an open mind and know that nothing really prepares you for parenthood. I'm sure you will have great support in your spouse and family.
ReplyDeleteNone of my business, but found you via a twitter post... so here goes.
ReplyDeleteI am a birth doula & can help answer your question unbiasedly, if you'd like. Normal birth is birth given w/o interventions, meds, etc. You can do this- get through the confusion, I mean...
There is a lot of info out there, most IS actually biased. The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth is objective & gives you the run-down on all these interventions. Then you can decide what to do, after being informed. Empowerment comes from knowledge. Take in all you can w/o overloading! lol
Take care & hope you have the birth you would like to have.
Also, if you can: See the Business of Being Born video. It is on netflix, if you have an account.
Kelly Kravitz, CD
http://doulasurround.blogspot.com
birthing class = retail training.
ReplyDeleteyou spend all this time learning the 'right way' to do things and as soon as you get to the real thing, it all means absolutely nothing.
good theories, not common practice
Forgetting the pillows and blankets will prepare you for when you forget the diapers or wipes. Not that I ever did that just sayin ;)
ReplyDeleteask lots of questions, you are paying for the class after all. most of them will be too scared to ask the questions even though they probably have the same ones. it's good to be prepared because you just don't know until you there and they can't really give you exact answers because as they keep saying.... every birth is different... hope you enjoyed tonight's class!
ReplyDeletePitocin I understand from my studies is used at induction of labor and to control postpartum bleeding. Having said that (and not really been a squatter myself) I would say that's a good thing. Anyways, you maybe undecided on what to do now, but when you get there you decide from what I'm told. One lady in the yarn group had hers at home in her bathtub.. the whole at home thing would bother me. Anyhow, cute pic of Dexy. Pets do make a difference don't they. :)
ReplyDeleteI also saw that Business of Being Born video on Netflix and to listen to them tell it, the majority of hospital births in the US seem to involve Pitocin in some way. I don't know if that's true or not, but that's the way they made it sound (and also got into this whole discussion of the bigbad medical profession, yada yada.) I'm not in the situation myself, so I really shouldn't have an opinion, but I can tell you in general, I don't feel any need to have my teeth worked on without anesthesia, and I'm not sure I'd want to have my ladybits un-anesthetized either. Just my opinion, you know I always have one.
ReplyDeleteWhat I remember from my mother/baby work, potocin is what they use to induce, but it also makes your labor more painful. The monitor is to check the baby's progress (heart rate and position) and see if everything is going smooth. Don't overload on info though, there are pros and cons to natural and drugged birth, do what you and the dr feel is right.
ReplyDeleteAlso: if they bring in the mirror, don't look. because, eww
Awwwwwww, and I bet poor Dexter missed ya too!
ReplyDeleteI had an epidural with both of my kids. I knew going in that I wanted one. The monitor is just like a little belt that goes around your belly during labor to monitor the baby's heart rate. You can take the monitor off and walk around if you haven't had an epidural yet. Once you get the epidural, you're numb from the waist down and can't move.
ReplyDeleteAs for breathing, what worked best for me was just slow breaths, when I remembered to do it. None of that hee hee hee stuff. That way leads to hyperventilation and madness.
Pitocin is to induce labor. I had some for the baby's birth to make my contractions stronger for pushing.
Got questions? I can answer some since giving birth was just 7.5 weeks ago for me.
-the breathing in class made me dizzy too
ReplyDelete-i developed my own method of breathing during labor that worked for me
-you may think you have a plan ahead of time and then either stick to it or totally change your mind, depending on how things go
-imo, the best you can do is inform yourself on the options and keep an open mind when the time comes
-awesome that a doula found you and commented...wish i had known one before i gave birth as i have heard others say they can be great when it comes time for l&d
-don't you worry about feeling like the 'slow' kid in class or about asking a bazillion questions...that's what the class is for so you might as well get your money's worth
I'm sure you will do just fine!! After all, women have been giving birth way before birthing classes were around. I had one epidural and one 'natural'--both were fine. I just wanted a healthy baby and didn't stress out too much about the other details--maybe I'm just not as 'informed and well-prepared' as others. It all worked out fine and btw my first was born after 5 hrs of labor and my second after 2--I know I was very lucky. I just want you to hear a non-horror story about labor!
ReplyDelete