Hee..hee..hee..hoooo....

We had our birthing class on Saturday. Nearly 8 hours long. We opted for the one long day rather than the four 2 hour weekday sessions. It includes a continental type breakfast and lunch is provided.

Our hospital does everything by snail mail so it took a good week or two before we got confirmation that we were even in the class. Then Friday Chris gets some calls during his meeting, which he couldn't answer, from someone that doesn't leave messages. So when he called back he'd always get directed to the main menu. A lot of good that does. But we put our email info on the form we turned in so the lady sent me an email in stead. The class was moved from the auditorium to a board room.

So we leave his parents at our house Saturday morning with our pillows and blanket in hand. We drive the 4 minutes to the hospital to park and see other couples waddling to the lobby with their pillows. We didn't know where we were going so we just followed the crowd.

After the maze of hallways and elevators, we find Board Room 1 & 2. There were barely enough seats for the 8-10 couples and 8 San Jose State nursing students enrolled in the class. No way was there room on the floor to do anything interesting. The instructor was very apologetic and did a fairly good job with the room she was stuck with.

The instructor, Tami, was loud and tried to be boisterous most of the time. A RN with 2 breech c-sections under her belt. She gave us a handbook, a car seat packet, and some other handouts. There were slides and videos and props. A CHP came and talked about child seat installment and facts. They covered a lot in 7 - 8 hours. Most was stuff I read about in books that I was given or bought myself. The visuals and interactive explanation helped clear up some stuff but most of it I knew already. Chris learned a lot. I think the thing that will stick in his mind most is "bloody show" and the c-section video. I'll spare you the details.

After all of the textbook info and what to expect or not expect, we learned some massage and breathing techniques. Not as much as I'd thought we'd learn. But I guess you won't really know what works to keep you relaxed through the excruciating pain until you're in the hot seat yourself. Then we got a tour of the facilities and where to go and where we'll end up when the big day arrives.

Do I feel more prepared? Yes and no. You can read all about the mechanics of how a bike works and what you do to steer and balance, but experience is the only way you'll really know how to ride a bike. Its definitely better to know what to expect and learn all the technical details. But how do I know how I'll handle 10x the worst pain I've ever felt for 5, 10, 20+ hours. We'll just take it as it comes. I just have to trust that nature will take its course the way its supposed to and believe my body and baby will do what it needs to so we both come out healthy in the end. And of course with the help of Chris, the doctor, midwives, nurses, and potential drugs they give me. All prayers and positive thinking are welcome too. I think we're in good hands. Now we have to set up everything with a pediatrician.

The baby showers are set for August 4th in Murrieta and August 18th at our house. Invites are in the mail. The San Jose day we're also having a bbq after the shower so I'll send out an evite this week. With August full of both our birthdays, anniversary, baby shower, etc... that's just too many events to plan different parties for. So one big day is good enough for us. We're registered at Babies R Us and Target but we don't need much stuff. If you must, but you don't have to, gift cards or diaper/daycare donations will help out a lot too. Thanks. =)