Ryan and I had our Child-birthing class a few Saturdays ago! It was so much fun. Our alarms went off bright and early and I moaned and groaned and pleaded that we could go back to sleep. Nights have been really rough for me lately. I wake up 4 or 5 times on a really bad night – either flying out of bed to stretch the charlie horses out of my calves, to pee for the thousandth time that day, or from my aching back or hips. Delirium feels like it has started to set in! Ryan was so sweet that morning, telling me women have babies all the time without ever attending a child-birthing class – reminding me that cave-women's babies turned out just fine! I have been really anticipating the class though so I peeled myself out of bed. We dropped our furbaby Chloe off at Grandma’s house (my Mom) and headed to
The class was from 10:00-5:00 with instructor Jo Nell. She was so sweet and such a wealth of information! We were all given booklets that seem to be like the Bible of childbirth...it is stuffed full of information and pictures that leave you with very few questions. We watched several videos throughout the day then we would have a question and answer discussion after each viewing. A few of the videos showed the process of childbirth, ranging from drug-free birth, C-Section, water birth & with drug intervention. They were very interesting! The only two that Ryan and I got squeamish while watching were the steps of an Epidural video and the C-Section.
This class is what solidified my hopes for a drug-free birth!
One awesome tool that we learned a lot about is breathing techniques! Who knew something so natural could help you so much. It helps contractions work better by bringing more oxygen to your uterus. It also helps relax your abs and other muscles surrounding the uterus which aids in the baby's decent. Finally it gives you focus! It is a proven relaxation technique that distracts you from the pain.
We spent a good portion of the class learning different breathing techniques with our partners. Once we had practiced them for a while we did an activity! We all sat on the floor with our partners sitting behind us. We were instructed to find our focal point, and over a period of 90 seconds Ryan was told to pinch the sensitive area on the back of my arm. He was told to either do it in short bursts to mimic quick contractions, or long drawn out squeezes to mimic longer. I fought the pain with my breathing and focus until the time was up. Then Jo-Nell told them to pinch us as hard as they had before but without us breathing/focusing...there was a resounding "OWWWW!" from all the women in the class!! It was a completely different pain! It was such a neat experience, and it really gave me a boost of confidence.
At one point in the class she asked for volunteers for the Empathy Belly. She said she only had three so be sure and raise your hand if you are interested. I was sure there would be more than three volunteers so I waited like a contestant on a game show for the go ahead to shoot my hand in the air! When it came time for the volunteers I grabbed Ryan's hand and raised it high...only to look around and see that he was the only one!! I looked at him and told him it was fine if he didn't want to, but he smiled big and said "of course I do!" and went to the front of the class. What a guy!!
Jo-Nell had him raise his arms high in the air and breathe out all the air in his lungs. At which point she wrapped him up tight in a Velcro corset. She then put the 33 pound belly on for him! There were two pockets under the belly where she placed 7 pound weights to sit high and rest oh so comfortably on his rib cage. The she positioned the 6 pound weight pouch to sit directly on his bladder. She finished it off with a cute little denim smock :) He was such a good sport!! As she attached everything in the back he stood there in front of the class with his hands on his new boobs....haha I said "stop that mister!" and he jerked his hands down and laughed, not realizing what he was doing. He had the class rolling the whole time. She had him sit in a chair, take off his shoe and sock, put them on the ground and then pick them back up and put them on. Then she had him get on the ground and lay on his side, only to instruct him to roll to the other side then get up to a standing position on his own. As she was talking to him she was strategically placing items all over the classroom floor for him to pick up. After he finished all his tasks we continued with class while he wore it for over an hour. All the guys were patting him on the back and thanking him for "taking one for the team!" I was so proud :)
After we finished class we had a tour of the
The class was awesome! We loved the instructor, and felt like we learned so much valuable information in one day. It was a great experience to prepare us as much as possible for the baby's upcoming debut!!
10 Days and counting!!
No comments:
Post a Comment