Childbirth classes

We had our first of four childbirth classes last night from 6:30 - 9:00. I was kind of dreading it, but it turned out to be a good experience. We have a great, laid-back instructor and the other people in the class (about 11 couples total) are pretty cool.

We learned about the history of labor and delivery, the role of the "coach" (husband or partner), the anatomy of a pregnancy (how our bodies are being affected, i.e. lots of squished organs), and signs of pre-term labor. We ended the class by participating in a couple of breathing and relaxation exercises. Some of the deep breathing techniques might be effective, but I'm not very good at any of the meditative stuff - I can't empty my brain and so my mind just wanders while everyone else is pretending to float on a cloud.

Our labor and delivery room will have a DVD player and CD player so we'll probably bring some funny DVDs and music of our choice.

Probably the funniest part of the class was when the instructor was making suggestions for what to bring to the hospital with us - such as a robe and slippers for the women, etc. On her list of suggestions for the father's overnight bag she included swim trunks, which puzzled most of us. She said many women decide to take a hot shower during labor because it helps relax them - each of the labor and delivery rooms has a private bathroom with shower. And often the husband or partner will decide to hop in the shower with their wife to assist her and make sure she's okay.... and on too many occasions, a nurse has walked into the bathroom to check on mom and found herself face-to-face with a naked husband! So now they recommend the men bring swim trunks :-)