Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Class Started Tuesday

We started our child birth class last night. On the way over to the class Dave asked "do I really have to go to this?" My response was, "It's really important for me to feel prepared for this. If you don't want to come be my 'coach' I guess I could find someone else to hold my hand and be my birthing partner." He didn't like that idea too much, and the instructor was just what we needed.

Our instructor, Andrea, has been a midwife and birthing educator with the hospital I'm planning to deliver in for 11 years. She knows her stuff and is great at not only educating the moms about what's happening and what we need to do to prepare, but also the dads on how to help. The class is every Tuesday for 7 weeks (2.5 hours per class). We were provided with two books to refer to at any time and take with us for delivery. Tuesday's class was more of an introduction than anything. We discussed necessary nutrition, how to minimize certain pregnancy symptoms and practiced some exercises that should get our muscles in shape for the eventual big day.

She gave book recommendations for both parents (I already had purchased the ones recommended for me, but we'll have to get Dave his) as well as three home work assignments:

1. Do one thing every day to improve your nutrition (can be the same thing each day)- We wrote down everything we had eaten that day and assessed where we stood nutritionally in class. I thought I was doing really great, but it looks like I need to eat more grains. So I'll focus on increasing my grain intake throughout this week. I also could probably use a little more protein and fats, so I'll look into adding more peanut butter or more frequent fish into my diet. The no lunch meat has really cut my protein intake back to only at dinner (if we even have meat then). 

Dave does better on grains and protein than I do, but he needs to get more veggies into his diet. So he'll be focusing on that this week. Andrea provided separate "what to eats" for the husbands so they knew exactly what they should be eating too. She's just great at making the husbands feel like they're needed and an important part of the process (which was exactly what Dave needed).

2. Practice our exercises - We learned two different kinds, and I'm supposed to do one of them 10 times a day in increments of 5! That one really isn't too hard, but I'm worried about remembering to do it 10 times every day. The other one isn't hard either, but I'll need to remember to do it. On top of that, I want to start doing a work out DVD two to three times a week. Nothing major, probably yoga and one low impact pregnant lady cardio. I currently walk 10 - 15 miles a week, so the cardio will help build up my endurance and the yoga will give me more flexibility. We'll see when I can squeeze those in... I swear there's never enough time!

3. Pack for the hospital or make your packing list - We have 5 couples in our class; one due in 4 weeks, all the way to one due August 30th. So she said if you're close, pack and if not, make the list and pack when you have a month left. One thing I do plan to work on now is creating two birthing play lists for my ipod. She recommended having a playlist of calm, soothing music to help you through the initial contractions, and a second playlist that's energizing and invigorating for the point when you're just warn out. 

Dave and I ended up taking about a page of notes each, and both walked away feeling well informed and better prepared. I'm so glad after going Dave could see the importance in taking a class, and that we can both work together to be the best prepared we can. His attitude did a complete 180 degree turn by the end of the class on "having to be there".

We walked down to the nursery after to sneak a peak at the babies. The nurses were washing up a brand new baby girl, so we hugh around as they lotion her up, styled her peach fuzz hair, and glued a bow to her head. I headed to the bathroom and was surprised to find Dave still watching the babies in the nursery when I got back. He said there was something special about seeing such tiny little babies and thinking about how soon we would have one in there ourselves. He's going to be such a great dad!

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