Childbirth Class #2

Yesterday was class #2 of the 3 classes that are supposed to get us ready for this whole labor and delivery thing. Topics of discussion for class #2: Hospital Tour and Labor Rehearsal.

Tim & I had taken a hospital tour in June because I wanted to see it early so we already had a good idea of what we would see. It was good to have a tour with one of the staff (we had a wonderful volunteer the first time) as she gave us insight into the whole process. I must say that the security in the Mother / Baby ward is amazing. Baby, Mom & Dad have matching ID bracelets. Baby also has a fabric monitor on its' leg that will cause the entire ward to shut down (doors and the whole shebang) if it gets too close to a window or unauthorized door. That's good news for us because who wants your baby stolen? We saw the actual Labor and Delivery room where you are during delivery and then I think for about an hour after. Then we saw one of the postpartum rooms where you stay for the duration of your hospital stay. I think they have about 15 delivery rooms. As most of the ladies in our class are due about the same time, there were a few of us that asked questions of what happens if there are no delivery rooms available when you need them. Fortunately that has never happened but IF it did, the postpartum rooms can be converted. Whew - don't want Elijah to be born in the hospital hallway!!

Next up was Labor Rehearsal. I was very confused about how we would do this. The first thing we did involved frozen water balloons. Our instructor handed one to each woman in the class. We were instructed to hold it in our right hand, squeeze and tense every muscle in our body for a minute. It hurt - the balloon was so cold and it started burning my hand. Then we were told to change hands and let it rest in our hand for the minute and relax (go to our "safe" place). That was much easier to do. The entire point of that was that we need to relax during contractions as much as possible because tensing and stressing only make them worse. I thought it was a good exercise and definitely proved a point. Our actual Labor Rehearsal consisted of going through 12 points in time during labor. Each couple received a note card with a time and description of what was going on. We talked about what was happening at each point and what could be done to help with each situation. Where it made sense, she had us practice positions to alleviate pain and talked to the spouses about things to do and say to help. Tim & I had the easy one. We were the last stage and had the baby in our arms. It was quite nice - no pain at all!! The exercise took us from contractions every 20-30 minutes through birth. It was a good way to put everything together. We did the entire exercise as if there was no medical intervention. Apparently if you are induced with pitocin or have an epidural, you're confined to the bed because of the need for constant monitoring. Hmmmm....still wondering how I'll do. I know Tim will be great and help me through whatever happens. He helped get me in this and he'll help get me out. =)

Next week's class is supposed to talk about c-sections and how to take care of your newborn after you leave the hospital (bathing, changing diapers, feeding, etc). I'll be 34 weeks on Tuesday - it's hard to believe that we'll be putting this information to use very soon.