1st Baby Class

Zach and I had our first baby class Tuesday night. I think we were both not really wanting to go when the night came, but we had signed up (paid for it :>), so we needed to go. We hit more traffic than expected on the way, but still arrived in plenty of time. The class was set to begin at 6:30, but at 6:28 there wasn't a single other person, not even a teacher, in the room. We went back to the front desk and made sure we were in the right spot, and after being reassured we were, we went back and waited a little longer. After 10 or so minutes, 8 more couples and the teacher had arrived. There had just been heavier traffic coming in from all directions, so everyone was a little bit late.

The class was a lot of fun, very relaxed, and informative. The chairs had good support for big pregnant ladies and the teacher instructed us to use a second chair out in front of us to put our feet up :) The due dates of the other ladies range from the middle of March til the end of May, so our baby is right in the middle of the group. Each class has a little reunion meeting one month after the last baby is born to see the babies and check in on how everything went. It is crazy to think that reunion really isn't that far away!

We spent time going through picture diagrams of the stages of dilation and discussing how the cervix does it's job when the time comes. We also got to "push" a doll through a fake pelvis to see how the baby will and won't fit when she is turned one way or another. It really is fun to learn all the details and to know what will be happening that I can and can't see while in labor. We spent the last part of class practicing some different sitting positions and deep breathing techniques. Zach was a good hubby through the breathing exercises and offered physical support for me to lean on as well as massaging :) His practice run is going very well so far :) :)

Our classes are located inside the Berkeley hospital where we plan to deliver our baby. Our Dr's office is just 3 blocks away, but this was the first time we actually went inside the hospital itself. Next week we will go on a tour of the birth center and be able to see the whole labor and delivery area. The birth center has a reputation for being pretty fantastic, so I am excited to go up and see it all on Tuesday! Our teacher told us the hospital delivered over 8,000 babies last year. I don't really know the statistics of any hospitals, but 8,000 babies!! That's a lot of babies!!!!