Childbirth Class

Well, I promised I would let you know how the childbirth class went. First, I'll give you an update on my uncle. He made it through the surgery just fine and is currently in rehab. The vein in one side of his neck will be forever blocked but the other side has gone from 75% blocked to 35% blocked, so a vast improvement. Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and well wishes!

Now, back to the class. I can't decide if going to this class all in one day was a good thing or a bad thing! It was intense and exhausting! By 2 or 2:30 hubby and I totally wanted to bail! I really enjoyed the class and learned a lot though. I think the most important thing I learned was just the stages of labor and what to expect. I think it will help me when I've gotten to that point of no return when you want to quit!

I really want to try to do this thing naturally but I have no problem asking for an epidural if I feel I need it. If I get to the point where I am losing control or just plain can't rest even between contractions, or god forbid have back labor, I won't beat myself up for getting one. The reason I want a natural labor though is mostly because I want to avoid anything that will slow it down. The only way to end the pain for good is to get that baby out! I also know I don't want the regular IV meds because I generally hate pain meds. They always make me nauseous and I hate nausea more than I hate pain. By a long shot! Plus, then I'll probably have nausea and some pain. So forget that! Not to mention it makes the baby groggy and I would like to nurse her right away, if possible.

Other than that the most helpful info I got was on car seat installation. It turns out that the nurse who taught the class is also certified in car seat inspection. I took advantage of that! I asked so many questions she asked me to stay after class. She told us that in Maricopa County (where I live and includes Phoenix) the rate for non-use or incorrect use of car seats is over 90%!!! Frightening!

Our cars both have the LATCH system but neither has it for the middle seat. Which is common and so stupid because the middle seat is by far the safest place for a car seat. I had heard you could use the hooks from the outside seats to install in the middle seat but she said to absolutely NOT do that. Glad I asked! So I asked her which is then preferable: (1) attach the car seat in the middle using the seat belt or (2) attach the car seat on an outside seat using LATCH. She said to use the middle seat with the seat belt. The seat belt is no more or less safe than LATCH, just less convenient to use. I also asked her to go over common things she sees people doing incorrectly with car seats. The #1 thing is not locking the seat belt after securing the car seat (pull it all the way out and feed it back in so it is locked).

We were exhausted but stayed after class for a half hour to get the car seat info. Hubby was so annoyed with me for staying, which pissed me off. I looked at him and said, "This is important. Don't piss me off." I never talk to him like that so he knew I meant business! Afterwards, he apologized and agreed that it was good for us to get that info.

I guess it is good to know what to expect, and then expect the unexpected! I have my 35 week appointment on Thursday and I want to ask about her position again. I am still feeling movements in exactly the same places as usual so I wonder if she is still breech. All the learning about labor might be for naught if I need a C section! But I hope not! We'll see...