Last Tuesday and this Tuesday Chris and I went to childbirth preparation class. It was two 2.5 hour sessions. Overall, the class was pretty helpful. The first days class was mainly geared towards Chris...the instructor talked about how to calm the Mommy-to-be, what pressure points feel good for relieving pain, and how to try to get us to focus on the husband / breathing, so we're not overwhelmed by what we're feeling / our bodies are going through.
She talked about avoiding 'tigers' or things that normally upset or are annoying to the wife. Things like bad breath, saying certain things, trying to be funny when the wife wants to strangle them, etc.. All very useful information and good points to make!
They don't do the lamaze breathing stuff anymore...we just all sat around the table and talked, but she did tell us how to breathe during a contraction, and that we should start and end with a cleansing breath. Then she told us that we needed to practice our breathing so we were prepared. She told us to go home, grab a handful of ice and let it sit in our hand for 30 seconds while staring at it and focusing on the ice. She said then grab a handful of ice with your other hand, practice your breathing, and make it so you don't notice the pain of holding the cold ice.
At this point, Chris just started laughing. He said we've got this one in the bag. The first time Chris sprained his ankle when we were playing volleyball, I told him he needed to stand in an ice water bucket for 15 minutes, then leave his ankle out for 15 minutes, and repeat 3 times. He made it about a minute before taking his foot out and saying it was too cold and he needed to gently get used to it. I told him to stop being such a baby and just do it. He said I didn't understand how cold it was, so to prove a point, I stood in the ice bucket, with both feet in, for 15 minutes while I watched TV. After all of the injuries / breaks / etc. I've gone through, blocking pain from ice isn't really that big of a deal to me anymore.
I still don't think I'll be prepared for the pains of labor, but it was humorous! On the way home from class we were talking / laughing about the ice thing, and I told Chris that it's funny that I'm scared of labor, which many many women go through...but I'm confident enough in my body to run a marathon, and even a half marathon at 8 weeks pregnant, which is a pretty small percentage of people that do that. It actually helped put things a little more in perspective for me though...if my mind is capable of going somewhere else while my body endures the pain of running 26.2 miles, my mind should be pretty strong with going somewhere else during contractions...at least until I get my epidural!
We ended the first weeks class by getting traumatized. They showed us a video from the 1980's of a fully naked woman giving birth. The video was shot from the vaginal angle. We're Engineers. I'm squeamish. I have absolutely no desire whatsoever to see Kalia come out. I want for her to get from my belly to my chest, and the doctor deal with the goriness of whatever goes on inbetween. After the instructor turned off the video and turned the lights back on, Chris and I looked at each other with the exact same expression on our face. Our mouths were slightly opened and our eyes were huge. At least we're on the same page when it comes to the viewing!! We'll both be staying on the north end and the doctor and nurse can stay on the south end. There are a lot of things about growing a baby that is beautiful...the gory details of birthing isn't one of them! :-)
We also went to the hospital and met with the anesthesiologist to watch a video on getting an epidural and to fill out the paper work. Chris was semi-freaked out by that one too, but I really wasn't. I guess it's better that way than the other way around, huh?!
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