class recap

The bad news: What we thought was "Preparing for Childbirth" is actually "Lamaze" which we purposefully did NOT sign up for...

The good news: Our insurance will reimburse us $65 for a Lamaze class.

We had our first "Preparing for Childbirth" class Tuesday night from 7-9pm. We entered rather hesitantly, with only the instructor and one other couple in the room. As the room started to fill up, we recognized three other couples who had been in our "Baby Care Basics" class the week before -- the super-eager question-asking couple, the low-key & friendly couple, and the middle-age-father-with-a-moustache-who-didn't-really-want-to-be-there couple.

After an ice-breaker (Brandon just looooves those), our instructor Lisa Clarke introduced herself to us as a certified Lamaze instructor (uh oh) and the mother of three boys (Grant, Gavin & Jude - cute names). She also mentioned that this was her first class back since giving birth to Jude 11 weeks ago and her husband was home with all three boys. She also passed out Lamaze Magazine. That's when we knew we were in trouble. :)

She began by discussing the "three stages" of labor and knowing when you're actually in labor. She showed us some charts and graphs as well as demonstrated the dilation process with several models going from 1 cm. to 10 cms. There were also videos shown intermittantly, but nothing gross yet. That took about the first hour, and she was very casual about the whole thing. Meanwhile, I am furiously taking notes and wondering "Is she ever going to talk about pain relief that doesn't involve heavy breathing and focusing???"

During our 10-minute bathroom break, Lisa's husband called once to say that Jude was crying and he couldn't get him to stop. To which Lisa replied "What do you want me to do about it?" Great...

After the break, out came the mats and all of the Mommies got to lie down on the floor with our pillows and the lights turned off. And we started "relaxation" exercises. I wasn't sure if I was being hypnotized or if I just wanted to take a nap like I was in pre-school or something but it was kind of awkward lying there with all of these strangers. As soon as Brandon was told to massage my shoulders, I stopped wondering and just tried to enjoy it. And next thing I knew, it was over. (10 minutes early. Guess Lisa had to get back to her boys.)

I am hoping that the next few classes include other ways to prepare for childbirth (as the title of the class suggests) like "what happens if you are induced?" "what about c-sections" and, oh yeah, "what kinds of drugs can I get and when???"

I guess we will just have to wait and see... At least we are only paying $20 for the class now instead of $85. I think that might've been the most valuable lesson we learned that night.