Prenatal Class This, Tool

For those of you who understand the reference made in the preceding title, way to go on having seen the movie Bring It On way too many times. Perhaps we can discuss your becoming a Godparent candidate. ..

For all other people out there, you should know that Oli and I had a very successful weekend of prenatal classes. Our nurse educator was chilled out and all natural. No psycho suggestions of super cleansing, although she did bring up nipple confusion. To my exteme delight, she suggested that babies really only need to be fully bathed 3 times a week. Anyone who knows me will immediately understand my glee; I've always been an "if you're just going to get dirty again, why bother?" person (within reason!). Overall, I now fully trust the Advocate Christ Hospital nursing staff to take care of baby, me and even Oli a little.

We engaged in the classic sitting-on-pillows breathing routine and watched several videos that showed educational clips of what different types of baby feces look like and of what to do when your baby is driving you crazy (pass him/her off to your partner and leave the house). Of course, the coup de grâce was the video entitled "Deborah's Delivery" in which we saw one gracious woman's labor from home to delivery. Kindly, there was no screaming, despite Deb's choice to go sin drogas, but Oli and I were both pretty depressed for poor old Deb when after 6 hours of breathing through contraction after contraction, the girl was only at 5cm waiting to open 5 more! Hours later when it was time to push and Deb felt she had nothing left to give, her super hero parter encouraged her through 'til that baby girl popped out and had her first feed. I have to say Deb's delivery was an exemplary demonstration of how to offset the whole pain-fear-tension cycle, as seen above.

As for our own labor and delivery, prenatal class has made us aware of the options available to us regarding delivery positions and now I'm considering the squatting position over the supine postion; we'll talk to Dr. Doah about it. And sorry to anyone who will now have nightmares of me squatting out a baby. Shame on me.