childbirth education, or, how to shove out that kid

this month is full of all our classes. and more doctor's appointments that i could imagine, but lots of classes. last wednesday we had a class on keeping baby safe from harm including infant cpr. there are so many ways for kiddo to get hurt/die! how did i ever make it through my own childhood? at least, the instructor reinforced what i have always felt: you take reasonable precautions and understand that while kids are going to get hurt, they are remarkably resilient. i remember when our niece ella was born and brian was terrified to hold her because he thought he might break her. we all tried to remind him that he did have to support her head but other than that she was pretty mooshy and unbreakable in his arms.

it was recommended that we babyproof our house now (outlet covers, blinds strings, et cetera) because we will be too exhausted when kiddo comes, and then by the time we get around to it she will be crawling anyways. we're supposed to do it from the ground up - lay on the floor and see what she sees. how am i supposed to lay on the floor? come on, now.

infant cpr was good to learn. i had to do cpr a couple years in a row back in high school and college, but it's been a while since that last refresher. hopefully we'll never need to use it, but i'd rather know how and never need to do it than need to and not know what to do. brian gets his cpr updated every year for his job, but i think the emphasis on infants (as opposed to seniors!) was good for him too.

we also took our birthing class yesterday. a lot of it was "review" of information we had already gotten out of our myriad books and the late pregnancy and natural childbirth classes we took last month. we spent a lot of time practicing birthing positions, relaxation, and breathing, and it was very good for me to actually actively practice those with brian. it gave me a lot of confidence in him as my labor coach... which i had previously been somewhat worried about. brian's response to stressful situations is to get all jokey to diffuse the tension, which doesn't help me at all. i feel like he isn't taking things (me) seriously when he does that. but he showed me that not only could he be jokey to help ease the stress, but he could also provide the strength and calm that i will need to get through those hard, painful contractions.

the class also reinforced my decision to birth this baby as naturally and drug-free as possible. i'm not against the idea of having stadol or an epidural if i can't endure the pain... i'd just rather avoid it if at all possible. not only is one attached to the iv drip, confined to the bed, and continuously monitored when on medication, but it can really slow things down and increases the possibility of needing other interventions like amniotomy, vacuum extraction, episiotomy, or cesarean section. NO WAY do i want them to cut me open. after watching the (animated) video of a cesarean and hearing the risks of medications and interventions, brian was even more supportive than ever of my decision to go natural.

i think the best thing about the class was how much it reinforced to me (and hopefully to brian) how we are in this together. and we want to be. there is no one else i would want more to be by my side when i give birth to this baby than brian. this whole pregnancy thing has been a bit of a roller coaster ride, up and down, and our relationship has definitely had its ups and downs along with it. and we know things are about to change dramatically, both within our relationship and in our lives in general. these next 5 weeks, postpartum, and especially labor/delivery are going to be really difficult and i know i'm going to need all the hand-holding in the world to get me through. i'm really thankful that it's brian's hand that i'll be holding.

we are at: 34 weeks 6 days.